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Crate training


Manish
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I have been swatting up on training a pup and many places suggest crate training. It all seems a bit prison like but I suppose if its what the dogs knows it wont know any different. What I would like to know is what is the general feeling on crate training among our (shooting) community?

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Whilst I kennel my dogs they start in the house with a crate. It is their safe place, warm and comfy with chews, blanket etc. They are fed in there and just see it as home. Put out for toilet they soon pick things up and just get used to going in there. They won’t be disturbed and can’t get into mischief or danger. Make it a positive experience and they will treat it as one. It’s no different to a basket save it’s enclosed. It’s only you that sees it as a prison.

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6 minutes ago, Dave at kelton said:

Whilst I kennel my dogs they start in the house with a crate. It is their safe place, warm and comfy with chews, blanket etc. They are fed in there and just see it as home. Put out for toilet they soon pick things up and just get used to going in there. They won’t be disturbed and can’t get into mischief or danger. Make it a positive experience and they will treat it as one. It’s no different to a basket save it’s enclosed. It’s only you that sees it as a prison.

I see your point about the prison thing. Should the crate be in the living room or a quite place?? And can the dog still have a basket in a communal area? 

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I never managed to "fully" crate my last 2 springers.  They used it as their bed but I couldn't shut the door on it without them going ape.  I concluded that if it was causing them distress it was doing the opposite of what is intended by crating them, so I just left the door open.

They both toilet trained pretty easily and quickly regardless.... except the dog was a p**s-pants up until he was way past 18 months!  He used to get incontinent when excited, which was pretty much whenever you moved a muscle.  His best effort was one night at about midnight: I got up from the chair at my desk in the front bedroom upstairs and happened to mention "walk".  He ran, leaving a trail of pee on the carpets, out of the bedroom, across the landing, down the stairs and through the hall, living room, dining room and across the mat in the conservatory... and then squeezed out the last two drops when he reached his designated toilet spot in the back garden!!

I got to bed at about 1:30am that night after cleaning it all up!  The ironic thing is I'm a carpet cleaner by trade but I didn't think the neighbours would have appreciated my machinery running at that time of night, so I did it all by hand with a spray bottle and a ton of kitchen roll 😫

I think it's well worth giving crate training a go.  I'll be doing it all again with a new pup soon.... hopefully I can learn from previous failings and enjoy a bit more success this time!

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4 minutes ago, Jim Neal said:

I never managed to "fully" crate my last 2 springers.  They used it as their bed but I couldn't shut the door on it without them going ape.  I concluded that if it was causing them distress it was doing the opposite of what is intended by crating them, so I just left the door open.

They both toilet trained pretty easily and quickly regardless.... except the dog was a p**s-pants up until he was way past 18 months!  He used to get incontinent when excited, which was pretty much whenever you moved a muscle.  His best effort was one night at about midnight: I got up from the chair at my desk in the front bedroom upstairs and happened to mention "walk".  He ran, leaving a trail of pee on the carpets, out of the bedroom, across the landing, down the stairs and through the hall, living room, dining room and across the mat in the conservatory... and then squeezed out the last two drops when he reached his designated toilet spot in the back garden!!

I got to bed at about 1:30am that night after cleaning it all up!  The ironic thing is I'm a carpet cleaner by trade but I didn't think the neighbours would have appreciated my machinery running at that time of night, so I did it all by hand with a spray bottle and a ton of kitchen roll 😫

I think it's well worth giving crate training a go.  I'll be doing it all again with a new pup soon.... hopefully I can learn from previous failings and enjoy a bit more success this time!

When I served in the Army one of my mates had a spaniel like that we all called him leaky pipe

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9 hours ago, Manish said:

I see your point about the prison thing. Should the crate be in the living room or a quite place?? And can the dog still have a basket in a communal area? 

Mine have the crate in the front porch away from everything else and a basket in the lounge. That way they get the socialisation and the peace and quiet. Depends on your household as well. Only me and Mrs so very different to a house full of kids where a bit of piece is a must. They are inside for about eight weeks while they are house trained and we start to build a bond. Then they are put in the kennels.

Getting used to a crate is good for when they go in the car too, hopefully in a dog box or another travel crate.

Good luck

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10 hours ago, Manish said:

I have been swatting up on training a pup and many places suggest crate training. It all seems a bit prison like but I suppose if its what the dogs knows it wont know any different. What I would like to know is what is the general feeling on crate training among our (shooting) community?

Use the crate as its bed so only when the pup will be sleeping anyway, a dog won't toilet where it sleeps if it can help it and you know when the pup wakes up it will need the toilet so take it straight from the crate to its toilet location and obviously when it goes, loads of praise treat ect. Only admonish the dog if you catch it going in the wrong place at the very moment it happens or it won't have a clue what it's being told off for and you risk creating a nervous dog, positive training is a lot quicker and more effective. 

Edited by 12gauge82
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I think crates are fantastic. Especially when you can put a canvas of blanket over them to keep the dog settled and it learns to switch off. 
 

Ours have to learn to switch off in the crate, in the dog box and in the kennel. 
 

What’s brilliant about the crate is that you can take it places with you if your staying away, set it up with the blanket over it and the dog can go in and switch off. 
 

 

Our friends didn’t crate train their cockerpoo because he “got upset” when they locked the door. 

The dog will settle in their own houses when left alone but when they go somewhere and they leave him say in the kitchen of someone else’s house he barks, howls and whines, which is bloody annoying. 
 

 

Even my mates with multiple kennels have crate trained their dogs in the house first so if the dog is ever injured or sick and needs to live inside for a bit it’s not a problem. 

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10 hours ago, Dave at kelton said:

Mine have the crate in the front porch away from everything else and a basket in the lounge. That way they get the socialisation and the peace and quiet. Depends on your household as well. Only me and Mrs so very different to a house full of kids where a bit of piece is a must. They are inside for about eight weeks while they are house trained and we start to build a bond. Then they are put in the kennels.

Getting used to a crate is good for when they go in the car too, hopefully in a dog box or another travel crate.

Good luck

No kids for me 👍 but I do have a 9 year old JRT. I like the idea of a crate in the porch or enterance hall that way its straight out for a ****/poo. Also might also have a separate bed in the living room

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