Some may wonder what the big deal is about crate training. I think it’s one of the best things you can teach your puppy!
For instance traveling with your pet is so much safer for him and you, when he is confined to a travel crate. He’s not jumping from lap to lap or window to window and distracting the driver. Or getting into stuff that he shouldn’t be in the back of the car when there’s nobody to watch. And how many of us have seen stories where someone was in a car crash and the dog was thrown from the vehicle and ran terrified from the scene? So, so sad. I personally know of a family that lost there little dog in a car crash. He was not crated or seat belted in (they have special dog harnesses now) and he was thrown into the dash and died instantly. It was so tragic.
How many of you would leave your two year old child home alone? Yep, pretty sure nobody raised their hand on that one. 😉 Well, your new little puppy is kind of in that mental age range. You can’t hardly expect to leave the house with puppy roaming freely and hope he doesn’t chew on that electrical cord or gnaw on the brand new pair of shoes. This is where a crate comes in handy. A safe place for puppy to be while you leave home to run your errands. What I don’t recommend is that you leave the puppy for hours and hours in his crate. That’s just not fair. He needs to potty and stretch his little legs. But for short periods of time, the crate is the answer. For longer periods of time (until puppy is grown and completely trustworthy) I would suggest a “Containment Area”.
We’ll all know that canines are pack/den animals. That is, they live in packs (you are now his pack). And that dogs in the wild make dens for themselves and their pups. Guess what that crate becomes? Yep, a den for your pup. When we make the crate a happy, safe place and not a place of punishment, it becomes his den. You will find as puppy matures, that he will use it to get away when he needs to. Or he may go in for a nap or drag one of his toys (or several) in to chew on. 🙂