Crate Training for Puppies and Dogs

A crate is a pen or kennel that acts as a safe place for your dog to sleep in. Dogs who have been trained find their crate to be a cozy, familiar place they can retreat to. As well as being a great place for your dog, crate training is beneficial for you the owner too. You know your dog is safely confined and they can’t soil or become destructive around the rest of the house.

Crate training is not essential for a well behaved, happy dog, but it can certainly help. However, if you and your dog are happy with them sleeping in your bed, on the sofa or somewhere else entirely that’s absolutely fine too! In this post, we’ll guide you through the exact steps you’ll need to take to get your puppy or dog feeling confident and comfortable in their crate. For tips on choosing the right kind of crate for your dog, check out Karen Pryor’s guide here.

Is crate training cruel?

When trained with positive reinforcement and at the dog’s own pace, no. The crate should be a comforting safe haven for your dog and never a punishment. You want your dog to feel the same way about their crate as you do about your own bed! Always keep a close eye on your dog’s body language to make sure they’re not getting distressed. A crate can be cruel if you leave your dog in there for longer periods of time than they have been trained to cope with. Leaving your dog in a crate for the vast majority of the day should also be avoided. Dogs are social creatures who cannot thrive in isolation.

How long it takes to crate train your dog will depend on a number of factors. These include your dogs age, any positive or negative history with the crate and the amount of time you are willing to put into training. For a typical day’s schedule of crate training, take a look at what Victoria Stillwell suggests here.

Crate Training and Toilet Training

Teaching your puppy to be comfortable in the crate can support toilet training. A pup who is feels comfortable and safe is unlikely to relieve himself in his own crate. Most puppies would sooner hold it than eliminate in their sleeping area. Being in a crate reduces the pups opportunities to go in the areas you don’t want them to. However, over-relying on this can lead to a relapse as they can only physically hold it for so long. You don’t want to ‘poison’ your dogs love of the crate by leaving them in there for too long and giving them no choice but to eliminate in there.

Can crate training help with separation anxiety?

You might have heard that dogs who don’t like to be left alone might cope better in a crate. In our experience with separation anxiety, the opposite is actually true. From the dogs perspective, the crate simply acts as another barrier between them and their owner. Further, they can become highly distressed when that owner leaves and may injure themselves in attempts to escape their crate. Oftentimes, these very same dogs would actually be able to cope a lot better on their own if they had a little more freedom in the house. If your dog is struggling to cope home alone, we can help.

Crate Training Protocol

Throughout sessions 1-15, handler should be sat next to the crate. You don’t need to speak to your pup through these activities, just let them focus. Working through this protocol will help your puppy learn that not only is the crate a great place to be, but being alone is fine too!

Session 1

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and immediately re-open. Treat.
• Toss a treat out of the crate, let your puppy go and get it and repeat from the start for three rounds. 

Session 2

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and keep closed for 2 seconds. Open and Treat.
• Toss a treat out of the crate, let your puppy go and get it and repeat from the start for three rounds. 

Session 3

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and keep closed for 5 seconds. Open and treat.
• Toss a treat out of the crate, let your puppy go and get it and repeat from the start for three rounds. 

Session 4

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and keep closed for 10 seconds. Open and treat.
• Toss a treat out of the crate, let your puppy go and get it and repeat from the start for three rounds. 

Session 5

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and keep closed for 5 seconds. Open and treat.
• Toss a treat out of the crate, let your puppy go and get it and repeat from the start for three rounds. 

Session 6

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and keep closed for 15 seconds. Open and treat.
• Toss a treat out of the crate, let your puppy go and get it and repeat from the start for three rounds. 

Session 7

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and keep closed for 10 seconds. Open and Treat.
• Toss a treat out of the crate, let your puppy go and get it and repeat from the start for three rounds. 

Session 8

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and keep closed for 30 seconds. Open and treat.
• Toss a treat out of the crate, let your puppy go and get it and repeat from the start for three rounds. 

Session 9

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and keep closed for 5 seconds. Open and treat.
• Toss a treat out of the crate, let your puppy go and get it and repeat from the start for three rounds. 

Session 10

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and keep closed for 45 seconds. Open and treat.
• Toss a treat out of the crate, let your puppy go and get it and repeat from the start for three rounds. 

Session 11

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and keep closed for 60 seconds. Open and treat.
• Toss a treat out of the crate, let your puppy go and get it and repeat from the start for three rounds. 

Next steps

Continue to build duration up to 30 minutes. Once your puppy can handle 5 full minutes in the crate happily (this can be sleeping, resting, lying down quietly or playing with something appropriate inside the crate) you can begin increasing the increment’s in 1 minute blocks. Once your puppy can handle 30 full minutes in the crate independently you can begin building in increments of 15 minutes, up to 4 hours. Do not leave your puppy in the crate for longer than 30 minutes at a time during the day until they are fully house trained.

Leaving your puppy alone in the crate

Session 1

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and stand up. Sit back down, open crate and treat.
• Repeat exercise 3 times.

Session 2

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door. Stand up, turn around. Sit back down, open crate and treat.
• Shut crate door. Stand up, walk to door. Walk back, open crate and treat.

Session 3

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and stand up. Walk out the door and immediately walk back again. Open crate and treat.
• Repeat exercise for 3 rounds.

Session 4

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and stand up. Sit back down, open crate and treat.
• Shut crate door and walk out the door, pause for a second and then come back. Open crate and treat.
• Shut crate door and walk out the door, pause for 3 seconds and then come back. Open crate and treat.

Session 5

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and stand up. Walk out the door for 5 seconds. Come back, open crate and treat.
• Repeat exercise 3 times.
• Shut crate door and stand up. Sit back down, open crate and treat.

Session 6

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and stand up. Walk out the door for 10 seconds. Come back, open crate and treat.
• Repeat exercise 3 times.
• Shut crate door and stand up. Sit back down, open crate and treat.

Session 7

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and stand up. Walk out the door for 15 seconds. Come back, open crate and treat.
• Shut crate door, stand up and turn around then open crate and treat.
• Shut crate door and stand up. Walk out the door for 20 seconds. Come back, open crate and treat.
• Repeat exercise 3 times.
• Shut crate door and stand up. Sit back down, open crate and treat.

Session 8

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and stand up. Walk out the door for 10 seconds. Come back, open crate and treat.
• Shut crate door and stand up. Walk out the door for 40 seconds. Come back, open crate and treat.
• Repeat exercise 3 times.
• Open door and treat.

Session 9

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and stand up. Walk out the door for 10 seconds. Come back, open crate and treat.
• Shut crate door and stand up. Walk out the door for 50 seconds. Come back, open crate and treat.
• Repeat exercise 3 times.
• Shut crate door and stand up. Sit back down, open crate and treat.

Session 10

• Drop treats into crate and encourage puppy to get them.
• Lure pup into down position and treat.
• Shut crate door and stand up. Walk out the door for 30 seconds. Come back, open crate and treat.
• Shut crate door and stand up. Walk out the door for 60 seconds. Come back, open crate and treat.
• Repeat exercise 3 times.
• Open crate and treat.

Next Steps

Once your puppy can handle 2 full minutes of your absence, you can then start building it up in 30 second chunks. Once your puppy can handle 5 minutes of your absence, you can then start building it up in 1 minute increments. Being able to watch your puppy through a camera, webcam or strategically placed mirror is helpful for ensuring they are not getting distressed in your absence. If they are, go back to a previous session that they could cope with and build it up slowly from there.

Trouble shooting

If your puppy begins to get distressed during a session, let them out of their crate when they are quiet and go back to the previous session. Avoid rushing through the sessions as you will get better results in the long term if the learning is really solid now. Whilst your puppy is in the crate, you want to act as uninterested as possible. You could even watch a timer on your phone-aim for nonchalance!