Preventing accidents: short-term confinement.
What Is Confinement?
A place for your puppy to stay when you can’t provide 100% supervision. In other words, when you are out, or busy around the house, and can’t keep your eyes on him the entire time. It prevents chewing accidents, potty accidents, and teaches your puppy to be alone. Think of it like a High Chair or Crib for puppies.
Confinement? Surely that’s too strict?
Not at all. It is the best possible start for your puppy in your household. People often give a new puppy complete freedom right away. Then, when he has an accident on the carpet or chews on the legs of the coffee table, they confine him, and confinement becomes a punishment.
Instead, give your puppy a safe place from the beginning, and let him make a gradual and successful transition to his new home. He will be much happier and your furniture will be intact.
What is short-term confinement?
It means crating your puppy. A crate is a terrific training and management tool. It is useful for house-training, brief alone-time, settling, and any form of travel. Most importantly, a crate teaches your puppy to hold it when he has to go to the bathroom. A crate helps your puppy in many ways—and saves your carpets.
Is using a crate cruel?
Absolutely not. A crate can be your puppy’s favorite place in the world. Think of it as his crib. Use treats, praise, and toys to make your puppy love his crate.
When do I use it?
Use the crate for short absences. General guidelines for crating puppies are as follows. Just remember, the smaller the dog, the smaller the bladder and the more frequently they need to eliminate. A Yorkie will have to go more frequently than a German Shepherd
8- 10 weeks up to 1 hour
11-12 weeks up to 2 hours
13-16 weeks up to 3 hours
Over 4 months up to 4 hours
Getting your puppy used to the crate.
- Begin crate training right away—preferably the first day your puppy is in your home.
- Throw small tasty treats into the crate one at a time. Praise your puppy when he goes in to get the treat.
- When your puppy is comfortable going into the crate, practice closing the door for 1-2 seconds, then treat him through the door. Let him back out. Repeat this step many times, gradually building to 10 seconds.
- Stuff a Kong with something very yummy or use a special bone that will take a lot of time to chew. Put the chewies in the crate. Shut the door. Move about the house normally. Let your puppy back out after 5 minutes or when he finishes his treat. Don’t make a fuss over him. Repeat this step several times, varying the length of your absences from 1 to 20 minutes.Step 5. Next, leave your puppy in the crate with something delicious while you leave the house for short errands, like getting the mail or watering the garden. Gradually build your absences.
Training Tip: When you plan to crate your puppy for longer than an hour, make sure he is well exercised, has gone potty, and is ready for a nap.
Troubleshooting: If your puppy is going to the bathroom in his crate, remove any bedding and make sure he has been pottied before you put him in the crate, and that he is not being left for too long. Make sure you are following the rules for good potty training. If all else fails, call Family Dog Training.