Dog Crating Made Easy

It is common for puppy owners in the UK and dog owners in general in the States to use crates or comfortable cages or pens to restrain their dogs when it is inconvenient for the dog to have the run of the house and garden.  There is an art to making the dog love his crate.  It should never be seen in a negative light by , it should never be a punishment tool.  The dog should see the crate as his special place, his retreat, his little house.

The best thing to do is to introduce the dog or puppy to his crate on day one, and keep the door open unless you really must close it because the dog would otherwise be totally unsupervised. At night it is common to close the door.  There should be adequate space in the pen for the
dog to stand up and turn around, as this is the way that dogs "make their beds".

You could try throwing food treats and toys into the crate, thus making a fun game of going into the crate.  It also sets up positive associations in the dogs mind as good things are found in his special place.  You might hide treats around his bedding when he is not looking, then he comes to the crate and finds all these great things to eat in there - hey, this is the best place ever!  Vary the treats and toys to avoid over-predictability.  This keeps the dogs interest. 

A crate may not need to be used for the dogs whole life, but it is very useful at the puppy stage, or with an insecure rescue dog, who may otherwise mess in the house or chew the furniture when he's not being watched.  It certainly helps the owner get a decent nights sleep! 

Once properly and patiently crate-trained you might want to keep the crate as the dog will have come to like it.  Or you might decide it's time he has the freedom of the house.  There could be a few accidents or incidents in the transitional stage though, because the dog must learn that the whole house is now his extended crate, and he must not chew certain things (but he's allowed to chew his own toys) and he must not mess in the house.