Stray Thoughts Summer 2019
Ask the Trainer
Kenneling/Crating a Young Puppy
I
will save you the suspense. We are 100% in favor of
kenneling all puppies when they are unattended. A puppy
generally does not have enough impulse control to resist
chewing things they shouldn’t and this can lead to big
trouble! Many puppies consume things such as medicine,
carpet and clothing when they are left unattended and
this leads to a lot of unnecessary surgeries and even
deaths. When someone tells me that they won’t cage a
puppy because they wouldn’t cage their young child I tell
them that is perfectly fine. Just take the dog everywhere
with you or hire a sitter like you would for a young child!
You should never leave a three year old child unattended
running around your home and you shouldn’t leave a
young puppy in that manner either.
The first thing you need to consider when kenneling your
pup is the size of the crate. It is imperative that the kennel
is tall enough to let your pup stand all the way up with
their head stretched high. If they can’t stand all the way up
the kennel should be replaced immediately. They should
also be able to turn around fully while inside the crate.
For a very young puppy you want the crate to be just big
enough, but not too big. If it is too big they are more likely
to have accidents in it. Many crates come with dividers
to make them smaller for young dogs. Once they prove
that they can hold their bladder through the night you can
remove the divider or buy a larger crate.
Once they are able to sleep outside of the crate you are
probably excited to start leaving them out when you
leave! Don’t go too fast at this point and remember that
your dog’s life is at stake. If they swallow something they
shouldn’t while you are at work it could have devastating
consequences. I generally wait until sometime between
ten and eighteen months before leaving a dog out of the
crate while I am not home. I will start with a ten minute
trip and then increase the time by ten minutes each time
I practice. Don’t go from ten minutes to suddenly leaving
for eight hours! That is asking for trouble.
The second thing to consider is where you should place
the crate. People have many different opinions on this
matter, but I prefer to crate very young puppies in my
bedroom. They have just been separated from their
mother and siblings and the first few nights can be really
scary for them! If they are right next to your bed they are
less likely to be scared and stressed during the night. This
allows you to calmly sooth them with your voice when
they wake up so that they hopefully go back to bed! As
the weeks go by you can move the crate farther from
your bed and then eventually move it to your desired
long-term location.
Remember that although crating a dog isn’t something
that every pup loves (at first), it is for their own safety. Our
job is to help them grow into happy well balanced adult
dogs and part of that is making sure they stay safe when
they are too young to be making decisions on their own.
If you size the crate properly and acclimate them to the
house by letting them sleep in your room at night the
process will go very smoothly. This means that you and
your pup will be on the road to a long happy life together!
The third thing to think about is when will they be able
to go without a crate? I generally start leaving the crate
door open at night with the bedroom door shut once I
trust the pup to sleep through the night and not cause
mischief. This can be between four and eight months of
age depending on their temperament. After a few weeks
of them sleeping in the bedroom with the crate door
open and the bedroom door shut I will start leaving the
bedroom door open if they have earned my trust.
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