All the things I wish I knew before I got my first ever puppy!
So you’ve decided to go down the crate training route with your dog… I think it’s safe to say that most people will agree that crates do not look nice on their own. They are essentially a big hamster cage! If you want training to go as successfully as possible, you’re going to want to make the crate as appealing as possible for your dog.
I made the mistake early on of just putting Cooper’s bed and a couple of toys in his crate, he’d go in and out of it at night (there was a play pen attached to it), but never really wanted to spend time in there. Since then I made a ‘Cooper Room’ in the garage and moved his crate in there, I also purchased a crate cushion floor and put a cover over the top of it. Now although he has the whole room- he wants to sleep in the crate!
From a training perspective, the idea is that a crate is your dogs ‘safe space’ and somewhere that it wants to go. Like people, dogs are all different, so certain things crate related will be purely dependent on your dog and it’s personality, but below is a list of things that you can buy for a crate to hopefully make it a bit more dog friendly!
1. CRATE FLOOR CUSHION
I really wish I’d brought one of these from day 1! It’s essentially a kind of bed/floor combination to go at the bottom of the crate. You want to make sure that whichever one you choose is easily washable- it’s inevitable that your pup is probably going to have an accident in it’s crate at some point so you want to be able to clean it easily!
2. BREAKAWAY COLLAR
Either make sure your dog is ‘naked’ (ie. no collar) in the crate, or buy a Pet Safe Breakaway collar. There have been several fatal cases of dogs strangling themselves after getting their collar caught on their crate. A breakaway collar should snap under any tension so if your dog does get it caught it shouldn’t strangle them. It’s one of the best investments I’ve made for Cooper, especially as it means I can keep his fitness tracker on him at night to get an idea of how much he’s sleeping without having to worry about the collar!
You can get them in a range of different colours and sizes and you can still use them to walk your dog, you just need to remember to clip your lead through 2 loops instead of 1!
4. BED
Assuming it fits, if your dog loves it’s bed, put it in the crate for them. It’s basically all about making it as comfortable and homely as possible and if a bed has that effect then go for it!
5. TOYS
If your dog is going to be spending long periods of time in the crate- including over night, it’s worth putting some toys or food games in the crate to keep them occupied. Since having put a Pit Pat on Cooper, we’ve found out that he wakes up about 5-7 times on the average night, wanders about, plays for a bit, then sleeps again. Dog’s aren’t always like humans- they don’t always sleep the whole night through.
Be wary though about the types of toys that you leave in the crate. You want to make sure that they are safe to be left alone and aren’t for example, a choking hazard. Kongs and snuffle mats are both great ideas, especially if you’re leaving the dog to go out as it gives them something to concentrate on and work at. We put Cooper to bed with a snuffle mat with some kibble in it every night and it works a treat!
6. BLANKET
Particularly with young puppies, having a scent blanket that either smells like their mum or smells like you is a big comfort for them and well worth putting in the crate. Unfortunately Cooper was sick on his scent blanket that came from his Mum so it had to go in the wash, to replace it I wore an old t shirt and then left it in the crate with him- worked a treat!
7. NON TIP/WALL WATER BOWL
Water in the crate is a bit of a controversial one… on one hand, especially with puppies, you don’t want to, especially at night, increase the number of pees. However on the other hand you never want to deprive, especially a young puppy, of water. Crates are not the biggest of spaces and puppies are definitely one of the clumsiest of animals so a full water bowl in a crate is asking for trouble! I highly recommend either getting a non tip or a water bowl that clips onto the wall of the crate to avoid any unnecessary spillage!
8. CHOOSE IT’S PLACE CAREFULLY
You basically want to find the safest most temperature neutral place- not too hot but not too cold either! Also avoid putting the crate near a plug socket, wires or plants or anything else that a dog might be able to chew on!
