What's in a Crate?
What’s in a Crate?
Hopefully your fur-friend! But if not, read on for the benefits of crate training!
Otis and Fin pups demonstrating that “crates are great places because it’s where we get fed!”
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What’s in a crate? Well hopefully your favorite canine companion, but I know there is a lot of angst and misinformation out there about crate training, so hopefully I can shed some light on the matter and help you see the value in teaching your buddy this life skill.
So You’re Not Using a Crate
Trust me, I get it. You walk into your living room, and look down at your best friend, and just picture those sad eyes staring pleadingly back at you from behind the metal bars of a crate grill. Cue the Sara Mclachlan song in the background, and next thing you know, you think the knock on your door is from PETA coming to cover you in red paint and label you a dog abuser, instead of the Chinese delivery you ordered. I had all these thoughts back in the day, and this was with Riley, who patented sad eyes. But after years of experience, and an introduction to the dog sport world, I’ve slowly come around on this topic.
Let me give you an example from this weekend, that to me, is the lynch pin for why all dogs should be crate trained. I was visiting the new home of a friend (Congrats Meg!!!!) along with my pack, and a mutual friend and their pack (yes, 5 dogs, one home, Meg is the best!). One of these other pups channeled his inner Buddy the Elf, and let us all know in no uncertain terms “There’s a horrible noise coming from the evil box under the window” aka. the radiator was running. My friends, in their infinite wisdom, read his body language, realized it was not normal, and decided to do something to help him out…they set up his crate. And he willingly went into his awesome man-cave to hang out and seek refuge from the Demon Box, with the door wide open, until he decided it was safe to come out again. This, right here, is a crate training win! Crates are intended to be a safe space where your pup can retreat to when things become overwhelming; think of it like giving your kid their own room. Sure, sometimes you close the door so you can have peace and quiet, but its not like you locked them in the cupboard under the stairs, they’ve got their bed, and all their toys, and maybe a tv, so they’re doing just fine.
If this doesn’t convince you, let me give you a more pragmatic example. I am outnumbered by dogs in my household, and also like to travel. This would not be possible if my dogs weren’t crate trained. Each of my dogs has their own crate to travel in the car, which is not only safer for them if I’m ever in an accident (no projectile puppies), but also prevents them from locking me out of the car or stealing my sandwiches (I’m looking at you Casey). It gives me the flexibility to leave them in the car on show days, with windows and tailgate fully open to ensure they’re nice and cool. My friends and family are also much more likely to let me bring the pups along when they know I’m bringing crates. As a new homeowner, I feel like this is just part of being a respectful guest. I don’t want to worry about whether your pup will eat my wall-to-wall carpets or burrow through my guest room door if we leave for a few hours.
Successful Crate Training
Hopefully I’ve given you some food for thought about why you should crate train, but you may now be wondering how to actually implement crates into your daily life. These are my tried and true tips for success!
Set up a routine - use your crate for structured down time, popping your puppy in when they are ready to nap. This is multi-functional, it provides your puppy with a small, contained, semi-boring space that helps them settle down, and if they’re already a bit sleepy, they’re much more likely to quietly settle in the crate.
FOMO is real - your puppy wants to be with you, and wants to be where all the action is, and god forbid they miss out! That’s why I like to make sure they don’t think aything exciting is happening while they’re crated. In the house, this means their crate is in a quiet room where my family and dogs aren’t constantly going in and out. I use a blanket or towel over the crate to keep them from seeing anyone walking by, and I use a noise machine near the crate so they can’t hear us either.
Note - if I have to crate a puppy at somewhere like an agility class or trial, I will often crate them in my car. I don’t want them sitting in their crate getting excited about other dogs running or passing nearby. That’s how we create barrier frustration. If you need to crate in the building, try to be as far away from the action as possible, and use the blanket and noise machine.
Give them a calming chew - remember, hard chewing releases endorphins which will calm and soothe your puppy. Things like frozen bones, frozen kongs, and other safe chews are a great idea for helping your puppy settle in the crate.
Let sleeping dogs lie - if your puppy is settled, don’t go over to the crate and make a big fuss, toss cookies in, or disturb your puppy. The goal here is to teach puppies that crate life is boring and totally normal, not to expect reinforcement so they are always on edge.
A note on chewing - this probably goes without saying, but be careful what you put in or around your crate. Expect that anything within teeth reach might get chewed, and if you have a puppy likely to ingest these things, less is more.