Why we crate train our dogs

We “crate train” all our dogs. This means that we can put them in a crate for a period of time and they will sit there/sleep contentedly until we let them out. There are a number of benefits to crate training your dog or puppy

  • Convalescence – If your dog is unwell or suffers an injury, if they are crate trained you can restrict them to crate to allow them to have sufficient rest for their injuries/illness to heal
  • Socialisation – one of the major benefits of crate training is that it allows your puppy or dog to come into the house to get used to all the sights and sounds without being constantly underfoot. Puppies are more content and well adjusted if they receive this type of interaction with you and your family life.
  • Toilet Training – A lot of the time, toileting accidents happen because puppy needed to go and no one was around to notice. Crate training won’t completely solve this problem but it will help. Dogs, by nature hate to go to the toilet near their bedding (or eating) area. Puppy will usually whinge and whine in their crate if they need to go to the toilet. You can then let them out before they have an accident.
  • Showing/Visiting Friends/Travelling etc. – You may want to travel somewhere with your dog where it is just not practical for you to hang onto them on a leash the entire time or it is not safe for you to leave them off the leash. Crates are very portable. Many you can fold up and take with you. Once you get to the dog show, a friend’s house, your accommodation etc, you can set up your crate and know that you dog is safe and secure whilst they are in it.
  • They like it! – Our dogs love their crates. They happily go into their crates and are very content whilst in there. With our older dogs we can leave the crate door open whilst they are inside our house. When they are tired they will put themselves in the crate for a rest!