If you are thinking about training your dog or puppy, you may want to consider the crate training approach. It is one of the most popular methods used these days for training dogs. A Crate (cage) is usually made from plastic of wire and comes in a variety of sizes and shapes. Crate training has be proven to be beneficial for both the trainer and the dog.
The reason crate training works so well is that most dogs dont use their sleeping area as a toilet. Given that in most cases the crate will serve as a sleeping area for your dog, the dog learns how to resist going to the toilet until they are out of the crate.
During crate training, one of the fundamental rules is that your puppy/dog needs to stay inside the crate at all times except when they are feeding or when they are let out to play. When you do let your puppy free from the crate you should take it outside immediately so it can relieve itself.
The crate should be big enough for your dog to move around in but not so big that there is excess space (the puppy may use the excess space to pee). A good crate size is about 1.5 times the length of your dog and about 6-7 inches taller than your dog. If your crate is too long for your particular dog you can modify it by simply blocking of one end of the crate. Plastic crates are the easiest to clean and also the lightest so we recommend these over other construction methods.
You should take your puppy to the toilet fairly regularly during the crate training period. As your puppy grows you can reduce the number of times it is let out of the crate each day as it will get used to holding its urges to go to the toilet.
Ideally your puppy should see the crate in a positive light. You can build up this positive association by feeding you dog inside or close to the crate. Also make the crate more enjoyable by putting your puppies most loved toys inside there. To further grow the positive view of the crate, give all your dogs good behaviour rewards to your dog inside the crate.
If you are not in the house its best not to leave your dog locked inside its crate as this might make it feel anxious and afraid. Even if you are in the house its best to let your dog out of the crate once in a while (even if only for a couple of minutes) to ensure your puppy doesnt see the crate as some form of prison.
Crates are useful tools for transporting your dog or puppy be it in the car or in airplane. All airlines now require dogs travel in quality dog crates.
While crate training dogs and puppies has been proven to be a very effective way of training dogs, it is not universally accepted with some experts claiming that dogs and puppies become too attached to the crate after being locked inside it for a long period of time.
Below is a link that has much more information about how to train dogs and puppys in a number of situations, as well as more information about crate training.
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