1. Crate Training Your Puppy is the fastest way to have a completely house-trained pup.
Taking a puppy out for frequent potty breaks and rewarding the puppy for appropriate elimination is only 1/2 the battle. Crates teach puppies how to hold their bladder until they are outside the "den" and in the correct place.
2. Crate Training keeps your puppy safe.
Puppies can get into anything in a second. Sometimes it is just annoying when they chew things, but sometimes it is really, really dangerous. Wires, small ingestible items (I found a green thumb tack in puppy poop once), and certain foods can be dangerous for puppies.
3. Crate training teaches puppies how to settle down and stay in one spot for a reasonable amount of time.
If they never practice "chilling out" in one location when they are young, they are unlikely to do it later. Of corse they are young so they will need help settling down. Chews, kongs, and other food puzzles are excellent items to give to your pup in a crate.
OTHER THOUGHTS
Puppies can generally hold their bladders for only short periods of time.
A general rule of thumb is: 1 hr for every month of age. A 2-month old puppy will need to be let out of the crate for a potty-break somewhere between 1.5 - 2 hrs.
Do not expect your pup to hold it when they are running around.
A free-roaming pup might pee every 10-30minutes. Puppies will generally hold their bladder if they are in a small, confined space (your crate). At about 10-12 weeks I find that most pups can make it through the night without needing a potty-break, but this does not mean that they can "hold it" or be crated for that long during the day.
If your pup has just peed and pooped then spend time with them in the house.
Supervise them carefully and re-direct them onto their toys if they start to chew on anything inappropriate. After about 30-minutes your 8-10 week old pup will probably be "feeling the urge." At this point you can take them out again or crate them for 1hr. so that they have a chance to practice "holding it" until they are taken to the potty spot again.
Fetching, Stalking, Chasing & Nipping, Tugging, Tearing, Grabbing, Shaking, Pulling, Squeaker-killing, and Stealing and Guarding are all fragments of the urge your dog has to HUNT.
Find it. Sneak-up on it. Chase it down. CATCH-IT. Grab it. Shake-it break-it (neck). DRAG IT OFF. Hide. Tear it up into bite-sized pieces. Consume it. Barf it back up. EAT IT AGAIN. Guard it. Bury some for later. Dig it up. Tear it apart. REPEAT.
Predatory instincts remain strong in many breeds of dogs, but predation is not synonymous with aggression.
It is true that dogs use their teeth for biting and fighting. Dogs also use their teeth and jaws for hunting and feeding. The shared use of body parts does NOT mean that the behaviors are related.
Yet, on a weekly basis, I hear from someone how they have heard, read or been told (often by someone claiming to be a dog professional) that PLAYING TUG causes aggression. This could not be further from the truth!
Many people have discussions at the table and enjoy conversing while eating, but this does not imply that eating CAUSES talking, nor does talking cause eating. I'm sure you would agree that this is not a profound scientific discovery.
PLAYING TUG DOES NOT CAUSE AGGRESSION!!!
Dogs who enjoy playing tug, or who are allowed to tug, growl and tear apart toys as if they were tearing apart hunted food, are NOT being taught aggression. Nor are dogs who enjoy a game of tug any more dangerous than those who don't. Making this correlation makes about as much sense as saying that talking causes obesity--and basing this "fact" on the observation that the majority of people talk when they eat.
WHY IS TUG NOT AGGRRESSION?
Tug is NOT aggression because hunting is not aggression. Hunting is survival and TUG (ripping, shaking, growling and tearing) is part of how canids feed. Meat cannot be consumed whole, it must be torn apart. Wild dogs actually cooperate to tear meat into bite-sized chunks. Therefore, tug is a cooperative venture in food acquisition, not an aggressive encounter nor an act of establishing status.
In domestic settings playing tug is a nice way to replace some of what has been taken away from dogs when we replaced hunting with slaughter and meat and bones with kibble in a bowl. Dogs still have a whole lot of hunting energy in them and blaming tug for making them biters, chewers, chasers, and dissectors ignores the obvious -Dogs are genetically, physically and historically HUNTERS! Tug does not MAKE them predators or give them predatory behaviors. In fact, playing tug can actually DECREASE un-wanted mouthing, biting, chasing, and nipping.
Additionally whenever faced with unwanted predatory behaviors, such as chasing bikes, skateboards, or joggers, tug makes a far more suitable reward for the conditioned alternate behavior* than does food.
*I nerded out... In plain language
- If you have a chaser, teach them a trick like jumping up to touch your hand or spinning in place.
- Do this without the distraction of the thing they like to chase.
- Also teach them how to enjoy the game of tug.
A well-taught hand-target or spin is a good alternate to chasing. Both tricks still require "hunting-like" energy. The hand-target with jump is a good replacement for orienting/staring and then lunging. The spin is a nice replacement for chasing (chase your own tail). Then transition the behaviors to be performed on command and use a tug-toy as the reward. Now instead of telling the dog they can't, (when you know they "just gotta") you can tell them how to do it legal-Beagle style.
NOTE: Someone out there is thinking about what it looks like when two dogs fight in a dog-fight and wondering how this type of grabbing and shaking is not aggressive tugging. It is a good question, but again TUG IS NOT part of the "fight/protection" sequence. First of all, dog-fighting is illegal and unnatural. The dogs are forced to be aggressive through many unspeakable acts.
Additionally, when two dogs fight in such a manner the behavior seen has been borrowed, amplified and exploited from the hunting sequence of behaviors. Tug is still part of the predatory sequence. In a dog-fight the flesh-tearing, grabbing and shaking is still hunting (even though the context is an arranged fight).
Hunting behaviors are also borrowed, amplified and exploited in retrieving dogs who chase a ball or Frisbee, and herding dogs that stalk and stare down groups of animals such as cows, goats or sheep. All of these behaviors, chasing, stalking, tug are still part of normal hunting behaviors, NOT fighting behaviors. It is humans who have replaced the contexts for the behaviors.
Dogs that are made to "fight" for so-called "sport" have been selected and bred in a manner that emphasizes the bite-hold-shake part of the HUNTING SEQUENCE. This is NOT part of any normal, natural protection (fight/flight) pattern! It is just a magnified part of the predatory sequence used and exploited by man.
Again, TUG is NOT AGGRESSION! Tug will not make your dog aggressive. Tug is an outlet for hunting and shaking and grabbing and tearing.
Save a couch, let your dog have a tug toy!
Separation anxiety seems to have made the BUZZ WORD Top Ten List. I've had numerous clients call and report that they need help treating their dog's separation anxiety. Recently, several of these clients have had puppies that are between the ages of 10-14 weeks of age. When questioned it becomes apparent that what the owners/guardians are concerned about is that their dogs have separation anxiety disorder.
I do NOT believe in diagnosing puppies with separation anxiety. Sep-Anx./separation anxiety is a diagnosis of a abnormal behavior or disorder. Many behaviors that appear in dogs with separation anxiety can also occur in dogs with no anxiety. In other words, just because your dog or puppy barks when you leave does NOT mean they have separation anxiety.
Puppies that bark and whine when left alone are displaying NORMAL, AGE-APPROPRIATE behaviors. Treating a puppy's normal separation distress with the protocol for separation anxiety disorder may not be wrong, nor will it likely make the problem worse, but it does waste valuable time, energy, and resources.
In canine literature, descriptions and treatments for separation anxiety are often given by trainers, behaviorists, and veterinarians. What is often laking in these articles is basic information regarding the difference between NORMAL, AGE APPROPRIATE separation anxiety and the ABNORMAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL CONDITION known as separation anxiety disorder. Interestingly, this is a developmental stage with similarities to human development.
Barking and whining are normal behaviors for young puppies separated from others in their litter or family. Furthermore, it is very easy to teach a puppy or dog that barking is the fastest and easiest way to get something--namely people to come back into the room, or to free them from a confinement area or crate. This does not mean that barking is not annoying, or that it must be tolerated.
ALL puppies must learn how to be alone. This is often an uncomfortable lesson to learn and teach as the puppies have to go through the unfamiliar task of being alone. Puppies that do NOT EXPERIENCE BEING ALONE are the dogs that will later develop separation anxiety disorder. In general I use the crate to teach puppies how to be alone.
It is important to allow the puppy to fully EXPERIENCE being alone safely and successfully and to LEARN that whining/howling/barking DOES NOT bring people back. To do this some careful planning helps.
First, make sure you have a cozy, puppy-appropriate crate prepared.
Second, make sure your puppy is hungry (skip a meal, it won't kill them).
Third, make sure your puppy is well-exercised.
If your puppy is hungry and has played vigorously they are also likely to have recently pooped and peed.
Now, prepare a tasty kong and coax or place* your puppy in the crate with the kong.
Shut the door and place a blanket over at least three sides of the crate.
Then LEAVE.
Yup, that's it. Your pup might bark, howl, or complain for up to 20 or 30 minutes, but they will eventually fall asleep. After 10-15 minutes of silence, wake your pup up and let them out. Repeat this 3-4 times a day. Keep a daily log of how long your dog tries making noise to get out. It will continue to drop until your dog no longer complains.
Alone-Time Training is VERY, VERY important for ALL puppies. Alone-Time Training is separation anxiety disorder Prevention!
* With young puppies (less then 3 months of age) you can gently nudge your pup into the crate. If you want, you can also plan ahead and teach your pup to go into the crate for a cookie. With adult dogs, or dogs older than 3 months of age (dogs no longer in the socialization period), DO NOT FORCE crate entry, go slow.
Reasons for Crate Training
A crate is absolutely essential for anyone getting a new puppy. A crate will help you house-train your new puppy quickly. It will also prevent your puppy from learning inappropriate behaviors such as barking, destructive chewing, food stealing, or door scratching. Puppies that are crate-trained become well-behaved dogs.
It is best to start crate training your puppy as soon as they are welcomed into your home. Dogs of all ages can learn good manners, but there is no substitute for early crate training. Ideally your pup will be about 8-weeks old when crate training is started.
If your pup is a little younger or a little older, you can still start crate training immediately. The Socialization Period is your pup's window of opportunity for accepting new things easily. If your pup is 3-4 months of age, they are nearing the end of their Socialization Period and you are running out of "easy-learning" time.
Here Comes Puppy...
It is best to plan ahead and have everything ready BEFORE you bring your puppy home. The most important thing for you to have ready for your new puppy is the crate! In addition to a warm, comfortable crate you will need to prepare a safe, puppy-proof place in your home. The Puppy Crate and the Puppy-Proof Play Area are critical to your puppy's successful transition into your home. Below are some TIPS on choosing and setting up your puppy's crate.
Puppies do best in small crates.
Your pup should be able to stand up and turn around in the crate you select, but when your pup lies in the crate there should not be extra space. Litters of puppies sleep piled on top of each other for warmth. A large, spacious crate will not be appreciated. Your puppy needs a small, cozy, softly bedded crate that appears to "snuggle" their tiny, young bodies. You will need to re-size the crate as your puppy grows.
Puppies like dark, den-like spaces.
Your puppy will not want to feel exposed. Puppies generally like a crate that is covered on all sides except the entrance. Many puppy crates are made of solid plastic with small windows on the sides. Some puppies do better with a dark blanket over the crate to cover the windows; others need the blanket dropped over the front door as well. If you selected a wire crate, please use a blanket over the outside of the crate to give it a den-like feel.
