Training at home

[oakleysdad]

Hi there I will be getting my little girl in a week and was reading a recommended online book about training with a crate and play pen. I fully agree with the use of crates and pens for the dogs benefit. But I was wondering about when I should leave her in her crate with her toys when we are home, and when she should be playing with us in the living room or doing training? The book was my Dr.Ian Dunbar, in the book it talks about having some short-confinement time in her crate when we are home, but as a puppy is shouldn't be for very long periods of time..right?? Please help me out as I want to get everything right the first time so I don't end up spending extra correcting issues I could have avoided in the first place.

Thanks in advance for the help!!!

 

[Cami]

I think it is a personal decision.
I never crated either of my girls when I was home. I have put Raine in the kitchen (baby gate) while I vacuumed since she thinks it would be cool to eat my Dyson. If I want to sweep the kitchen floor I will use the same baby gate and block off her access so I can get the job done. Otherwise I would have to play tug of war with her and the broom.
When I shower I take her into the bathroom with me. At first she would try to get in the shower while the water was running. Eventually she realized that she could chew on her bone or just hang out and relax for a bit.
If you can't offer 100% supervision then crate, use a pen or another means of safe confinement but I don't specifically think you need to put them somewhere if you are home and can supervise just to do it.
Some people utilize crates while cooking/eating dinner or whatever but typically for short periods of time.

 

[Caney Creek]

Caney was crate-trained as a puppy, but she was ONLY crated when we left the house. When we were at home, there was never a time, I don't think, that all of us were too busy to keep an eye on her (at the time there were 3 adults living in the house -- me, BF and a roommate). In my opinion, the more time spent out of the crate, the better. But I do see how it might be necessary at times to crate a puppy while you're home, for instance if you have young kids that you're also having to keep an eye on.

I think what Ian Dunbar means by that is, to make sure the pup is comfortable being in the crate while you're home, so that it gets accustomed to being crated and will also be fine in the crate when you leave the house. I certainly would not feel like you should have to "make time" for crate time though, outside of training your pup to like the crate.

 

[oakleysdad]

okay those were the answers I needed I was thinking the same thing just wanted to confirm my thoughts.thanks for the quick reply's..one other quick question...I will be feeding her 3 times a day and also read about not using a bowl but to stuff her toys and use her food as treats for training, I want to double check that I'm not crazy for using a regular bowl for the feeding and such.

 

[samsons]

we do both here. Sam is feed 3x's a day ( he is 3 yo ) but if we are going to be doing lots of training ( learning something new ect ) i will just feed a small bit less in his bowl & use the extra kibble for training. i also bake his own treats , VERY easy to do - and MUCH better for him, downside , if i make them soft & tiny they only keep fresh about a week.

congrats on ur up coming new addition !

 

[johann]

Johann was occasionally crated when we were home. Mostly so we could eat dinner in peace (word of advice....just teach the puppy to go lay down somewhere instead) or when he would get overtired and biting/crazy/try to kill the cat (worked like a charm, he'd be an angel after a 30 min forced nap). Or if I had to do cleaning stuff- he tried to eat the vacuum and was terrified of the broom.

No problem with using regular bowls for feeding. You could always put his lunch time meal in a kong and get some energy out that way. Try to save some of the kibble for training purposes throughout the day as well, that way he doesn't get overfed.

Congrats on the upcoming new addition. :D