Putting a dog in a cage? It sounds cruel!
In reality though, crates can be wonderful and humane training and management tools. When using positive reinforcement methods, dogs end up loving their crates and often choose to spend quiet time resting in them.
For whatever reason you are choosing to crate train, it’s important to make being in the crate a positive experience for the dog. The easiest way to do this is by using food!
While this may seem like many steps, most dogs can blow through this crate training plan in a single weekend! It’s important to work at your particular dog’s pace though. If your dog is showing discomfort or anxiety during any steps, do more repetitions of the previous step.
While crate training can be a handy skill for dogs to have, spending too much time in a crate away from loved ones can be detrimental to a dog’s mental and physical health. Just like humans, our dogs need ample time to play, socialize with us, do enrichment activities and get exercise and opportunities to explore.
Angela Rodriguez owns The Joyful Hound, a dog walking and training business in midtown Tulsa. When she is not taking care of people’s pets she is working at the Tulsa SPCA as their Training and Assessment Specialist. There she uses her education and skills to set shelter dogs up for success in loving homes.