Crate Training Tips

[Sharibaby]

By March 7th we'll have our 2nd Cane Corso. For our 1st we got her at 6 months so never did the whole pup away-from-mommy-in-training stage. I'm just looking for tips on what the first few weeks could potentially be like, what could help with crate training and what do I do really as far as does he sleep in it right from the beginning and how do I know he needs to go to potty verses wanting out and with us....new to the puppy stage!! I bought a 48' crate, is this too big, would a 42' be enough? It has a divider so he doesn't have a huge space while being a pup. Can I make him comfortable, put in chew toys etc? I know during the day how to somewhat introduce the crate and get him used to it slowly and make it positive but for night I cannot just leave him roaming the house so I have to put him in the crate all night..... any tips greatly appreciated

 

[Boxergirl]

Welcome and congrats on your new pup. That's a big crate, but if you divide it so he has just enough room to turn around and lay down you should be fine. I also don't put anything in with puppy, like blankets. I usually have one really good thing, like a stuffed and frozen kong, for crate time. Chew toys that are indestructible are fine. Just make sure they're big enough that he can't swallow them or break pieces off, etc. I like to leave the crate door open and reward with high value treats any time puppy chooses to go in. I feed all meals in the crate.

Will you have any time off with him in the first few days? What will your work day look like and how long will he have to be crated during the day?

My daughter is a trainer. I'll ask her if she has a handout for crate training. If she doesn't, I'll make her work on one. It's definitely something she needs for her puppy clients.

My unasked for puppy training advice, lol ... Teach puppy to sit for everything and reward. Anything you like - reward. It's much easier to reinforce the things you DO want rather than try to discourage the things you don't want. The good thing about that is that most of the things you do want are incompatible with the less desirable behaviors. If puppy is sitting, then he can't be jumping. Any potty accidents are human accidents. It means we weren't watching closely enough. If puppy can't be given 100% attention, then he should be crated.

I could go on and on, but I won't. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions. It can be hard to go from an adult to a puppy. There's a learning curve that can be surprising if it's been a while since you had a pup. And post pictures! We need puppy pictures. Lots of them.

 

[Ben Curtis]

By March 7th we'll have our 2nd Cane Corso. For our 1st we got her at 6 months so never did the whole pup away-from-mommy-in-training stage. I'm just looking for tips on what the first few weeks could potentially be like, what could help with crate training and what do I do really as far as does he sleep in it right from the beginning and how do I know he needs to go to potty verses wanting out and with us....new to the puppy stage!! I bought a 48' crate, is this too big, would a 42' be enough? It has a divider so he doesn't have a huge space while being a pup. Can I make him comfortable, put in chew toys etc? I know during the day how to somewhat introduce the crate and get him used to it slowly and make it positive but for night I cannot just leave him roaming the house so I have to put him in the crate all night..... any tips greatly appreciated

As far as keeping the pup in the kennel over night, and how to know the difference between potty and wanting out. I've had great success in setting a schedule for the first night. In the beginning you want the schedule to be often enough so the pup does not have any mistakes. That first day pay attention to how long between going to the bathroom. How long after meals, and so on.

I don't remember exactly but I think I let mine out every 2-3 hours or so that first overnight. Then any wining they are doing is them wanting to be out, and not potty.

Straight outside, no petting, nothing. If they go potty quickly, they are rewarded. If not, they go straight back to the kennel.



After that first night of the schedule, I start letting them out when they whine.

Straight outside, no petting, nothing. If they go potty quickly, they are rewarded. If not, they go straight back to the kennel. If they are still continuously whining, then I stick more to the schedule, that I am slowly spacing out.

I've never had a puppy that didn't have this pretty well figured out by night 2.


That's how I've had success in the past, but there are many more here in this Forum that know much more than I do.

 

[Boxergirl]

That's great advice from Ben Curtis. I crate train and I use one during the day, but I haven't crated a pup at night in a lot of years. We like good sleepers. As in good bed sharers. I take my pups to bed with me from day one and we have the best bed mates. Great spooners. No hate please, lol. When I did crate at night I did it pretty much like Ben said. I'd add that I use a potty word and after a short amount of time the dogs tend to go on command. My daughter's boy that she trained to be a service dog was eliminating on cue by about 12 weeks. People are more impressed with that than all the other nifty things he can do.