Advice with puppy crate training

[rodeosweetheart]

Hi All,
Well, we got a puppy yesterday, because I have wanted another golden retriever for a long time (my son's first word was our first golden's name!) and with the new grandbaby around, I thought a very kid friendly breed would be good. We went and got her yesterday, she is ADORABLE,and she is a real baby, and we are keeping her in the kitchen right now (and in rest of house with supervision) but I wanted a review of the whole crate training thing, since it has been a while.We brought her home in the cat's kennel, and had a bigger one in the kitchen for her but she went right back in the cat's kennel because she feels very safe, and the other doggie was getting in her bigger kennel and she can't fit in the cat kennel. Put up baby gate and left door off cat kennel and she slept in there last night and cried twice and we took her out potty. She could come and go in the kennel.

Anyway, we have used kennels for going riding in the car and I would like this dog to be able to travel happily sleeping at night in her kennel in the motel. The terrier sleeps on the bed, but will go to her kennel if she is stressed, or when we have someone working on house, etc. I can put her in there.

So advice appreciated with how to pull this off. We work at home, the puppy can be all over house when potty trained, no problem. I am going to take rug out of my study so she can be in there during day while I work, and kitchen is open to house so she can see and hear everything. I just like a kennel for things like motels, workman, if you have company and want to put dogs away quietly, visiting my 87 year old parents, etc.

because we work at home potty training should be pretty easy because we can take her out constantly. Although it is 6 degrees out and snow and UGH. But she seems to like the snow.

So for you guys who have successfully kenneled, should I get a couple of the mid size ones (the cat one will be outgrown in a week) and out one in kitchen and one in study? The big kennel that was the Pyrs is in there, and she will ultimately be in there, and we actually have one for the car and one for the house. (We are huge fans of kennels in car for safety in the car). But do you go right to the big kennel, or should I get her one smaller one so she feels safer (when she outgrows the cat's). Do you carry the kennels around the house--does it have to be ONE kennel that makes them safe, or just any kennel? We use the plastic ones because our dogs have always liked them better, because they are cozier I guess. Do you shut the door at night? J know that is part of the housebreaking thing, but I have always left door open and let them have run of kitchen so they could relieve themselves out of the kennel--does this defeat purpose of kennel training?

Again, what I'd ultimately like is to be able to go into a La Quinta and when it's time for bed, have her happily go into her kennel and shut the door, and no crying to be up on the bed. We never really got that with the Pyr, but I don;t think I did it right. And that's because we really like to travel with our dogs, hate to leave them behind, but would like really perfect little travelers that people like to have around. And that will be great guests at my parents, out of range of their 20 year old cat, who rules the roost completely.

So for those of you who kennel, how do I get to that goal?

Thanks, and thanks for your patience in reading this!

[goldensmom]

Congratulations on you new family member and it is a good time of year to potty train a puppy. We found that our litter of 8 whelped in January trained easily in cold weather because they were out and in in a flash. As the weather got better they began to sniff and roam. I wish I could advise you on crate training but our puppies trained themselves. We had an extra large crate in the corner of a quiet room that we would put them in when we were away from home. The crate had blankets, stuffed animals and a water dish. When at home we’d just leave the crate door open and found that the puppy would go into the crate when tired, to get away from the big dogs or to get a drink.

Cuteness Alert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZv70PG9eXM

[rodeosweetheart]

Aww, that is so cute!! I will put up a photo of the new baby when I get my husband to send me one from his phone.
And yes, it is now 2 degrees and she goes fast and comes back in.
I like the large crate with door open approach; that is what we did with our other dogs for most part and they associated crate with safety and coziness.

[Teacher Terry]

WE always crate train our dogs for all the reasons that you mention. Also when we travel we can crate them, cover it with a blanket and then turn out lights and tell them nite-nite even if it is during the day and they will sleep & not bark. That way we can do some things without them. I would just buy the size crate that will accommodate them when full grown. I also do not like to drag the crate from room to room so had more then one. At nite we put the crate in our bedroom & locked them in. They would wake us up by whining and then we would take them out to do their business. That way they always had success. Goldens are awesome dogs!

[rodeosweetheart]

Thanks, Terry, that sounds good, especially the part about not dragging the crate around. The old one for her full size is really big and hard to take upstairs.

She already has decided she likes the big crate so the cat's crate has been taken out. The breeder rubbed a towel on all her family (they had 4 goldens and 3 pups) and she's asleep on her little family towel in the big crate with the door open right now--she went in to take a nap. I did buy a really neat cuddly pad for it, that feels llike fur--got it at tractor supply and it is very tactile.
Am still trying to figure out how to upload a photo of her.

[Gardenarian]

Congratulations on your new puppy! We adopted 2 dogs at the same time, one older, one puppy, and they like to stay in the same crate together. (They are small dogs.) We don't use the crate often - only when no one will be home later at night and they tend to howl - but they are happy in it if we put in a couple fluffy blankets. And I agree that putting a blanket over the crate is very calming - they go right to sleep. We also use the crate in the back of the car; it fits in snuggly.

I saw at the pet store that they have hamster-like water bottles for dog crates. Seems like a good idea if the dog will be left alone for a while - mine always knock their water over.

[mschrisgo2]

It sounds like you are on the right track. The only thing I can add is to be sure to casually close the door on the crate at some time each day, especially after puppy gets to be several months old. That way, they become accustomed to a closed door and don't get upset as they get older (and summer approaches and you want to go some where).

I have cocker spaniels and I'm a big proponent of crate training. IMHO it is far easier to keep a crate-trained dog safe. And they are also less traumatized at the groomer's or if they have to stay at the vet's.

I gave an all-day presentation one time with my dog in her crate under my presentation table! She was happy to be so close to me, and she never made a sound, of course, because she'd been trained to always be quiet in her crate. No one knew she was there, it was an air-conditioned venue, and I had peace of mind knowing that she was safe- in the heat of the summer when they were having rolling electric blackouts.

[rodeosweetheart]

Thaniks, Gardenarian! The water bottle thingey sounds interesting because I've had lots of kicked over bowls when putting water in there. MSChrisgo2, how cool about the presentation! I will start closing the door at night. She only cried twice last night--once at 2 and we took her out, and once at 6 and husband got up with her, so I guess that';s really only once. Will try closing the door at night so she gets used to that. That is where our system broke down with our Pyr--did not want it closed at the motel.

[goldensmom]

I saw at the pet store that they have hamster-like water bottles for dog crates. Seems like a good idea if the dog will be left alone for a while - mine always knock their water over.

Yes, that will work. We attach large rabbit waterers (borrowed from the rabbit hutch) to the side of the crate. It is so cute to see them drinking from it.