Puppy Crate Training - My Experience With Whining

It was a few years back and I had just gotten a brand new German Shepherd puppy. I had already gone to the store and ordered some things online for him, and I was ready to go. Now from day one, the puppy crate training process would start. I was lucky in that the breeder had already gotten him used to his crate and he was shipped in the same crate that I would be using to train him in. But....if you don't have that luxury it's not a big deal at all.

First off I would put the puppy in the same room as the crate with the door open and just let him run around and check it out, but don't force him inside. Put a small rug or rubber mat in the crate to make the bottom comfortable. You also want to put some "safe" toys in the crate as well. When I say safe toys, I mean no stuffed animals or squeaky toys that can be chewed apart and choked on. These can be very dangerous to your new puppy. Next start by throwing some treats into the crate and let your puppy go in and get them, and come out when he wants. This will help to get your new puppy comfortable with it's new crate. You want to make it a comfortable place for your puppy to be.

Now back to my story. I would play with the puppy and interact with him and then I would take him outside and praise him for using the bathroom outside. I made sure to take him out every few hours throughout the day and for the first couple months once during the night as well. So, the first night came and I put him in his crate for the night to go to sleep. Man was I in for a surprise. He screamed his head off, whining non stop. I had the crate in my bedroom so I slept on the floor next to his crate which seemed to work to quiet him down. The one thing you do not want to do is to let your puppy out of the crate when it's screaming or whining. All this does is to let the puppy know that all it has to do is scream and you will let it out.

I would recommend putting the crate in your bedroom for the first couple months or so, it just makes the process a little easier. Also, your puppy seems to feel more comfortable with you in sight and smell. After that it is a good idea to move the crate to another location in your house. A nice feature of the plastic crate as opposed to the all wire ones is that they keep the dog hair and dirt inside. Another tip that I found to work was to put a radio on softly in the room while you are gone.

I would start to shut the door to the crate while I was in the room and praise him for being in there. After a few times I would leave the room and come back and then continue to gradually increase my time out of the room. Be patient, it does work, and they will eventually stop screaming or whining or in my case both! Stick to your guns I know it's hard to resist a little puppy whining.

Every time after I would let him out of the crate I would immediately take him outside. Then as soon as he started to use the bathroom I would praise him. This would start to teach him my process of puppy crate training. He started to learn very quickly, and if he made a mistake in the house I would only correct him if I caught him in the act. This wasn't hard for me to do because I never left him unattended in the house. If you have to use the bathroom or take a shower just put your puppy in it's crate. I would simply and calmly walk over to him while he was relieving himself grab him gently by the scruff of the neck and give him a little shake (this is exactly what it's mother would do to him to correct him). The I would take him outside and when he would finish his business I would praise him again.

I found this process to work and work very quickly. I am not a professional dog trainer by any means and I was able to successfully crate train my puppy in no time at all. Just remember to have patience and don't get angry at your puppy. They are not doing it in spite and they really do want to please you. I definitely lost some sleep the first few months but it was well worth it in the long run!

If you want to find out more, go to this website here: Puppy Crate Training.