Have you decided where to put a dog crate in your house?
When I bring home a new puppy I prefer to put the new puppy in a dog crate beside my bed. That way I can hear if my new puppy disturbs or is fretful.
If my new puppy is fretful, I can reassure the puppy by putting my fingers through the crate openings and either chatting softly or reassuring with a stroke of the puppy’s coat with my fingers. I can also be alerted if my new puppy needs to go to the toilet.
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This knowledge saves the puppy from getting really disturbed and toileting in the crate, especially if the crate is in another room and I sleep through the puppy’s whimpering. Puppies do not like soiling their beds, so this is a habit we do not want to inadvertently create, both for my sake and the puppy. Cleaning up this mess is not fun for either of us, bearing in mind it is not what the puppy wants to sleep with also.
As my puppy grows, I can gradually move the crate away from my bed, always moving closer to the doorway, with the eventual aim of slowly moving the crate outside my bedroom and into another room of my choice.
Of course, I always help my new puppy to love their crate by way of encouraging them to go into the crate after a tasty treat, feeding within the crate, playing games in the crate and playing games to come back out of the crate. Believe my puppy always gets to love his or her crate.
After gradually moving the crate from a bedroom, your next decision would be “Where to put a dog crate in Your house?”
Of course, this is a personal decision and your decision needs to be practical.
To start with, I have two crates, one for the final place of choice and one for my living zones, so that when my new puppy needs a rest, they can be put into a crate within full view of where we may be working at the time, which is usually the kitchen and our family room or similar.
This way the puppy does not feel left out, bearing in mind that dogs are pack animals and need our company, whether that may be in close contact or simply being content in a crate with a chew, a fave toy, or similar so that they can see you and not feel isolated.
My eventual nighttime sleeping place for my now older puppy is to have their crate in my laundry.
Because I have carefully helped my puppy to love their crate, their crate now being in my laundry during the night is no big deal. In fact, sometimes when my puppy is super tired, he or she will head for the laundry and put themselves to bed in their crate.
They love their crates, as it is a place of safety and security plus when dogs live in the wild they protect themselves in a den. No wonder puppies get to love their pens, as we are replicating how they would live in the wild.
I also find that when a puppy is familiar with their crate, it is a great place to place them when you have visitors, this way, your visitors are not overwhelmed by a demanding puppy that wants attention. Likewise, a puppy needs rest and when young children are visiting, this protects the children from an over-aroused puppy and this also protects the puppy from children who may in error, pick up the puppy and drop this squirming puppy because they are unsure how to handle a wriggling puppy.
So, “where to put a dog crate in your house?”, the above will give you some ideas of how best to tackle this question.
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Until next time…
With Love, Success and Inspiration,
Robin Oliver
www.robinoliveronline.com/blog