Hi everyone i have not long joined this forum but so far seems fab
My question is what are peoples thoughts on crate training? With my late english setter we never used a crate as a training method.

We will be looking to get another dog in the future and i just want to educate myself on all sorts of different training methods as the breed we will be looking for is known to be stubborn/harder to train.
I am dubious about crate training but then again i have never tried it.

my 23 week old black lab only gets locked in her crate at night and I think its fab for that. I know she is safe and I cover her crate with a blanket and she sleeps so well and was holding herself throughout the night since day 2. I leave her crate in the kitchen and the door is open all day for her to go in and out as she pleases. When I have to go out I dont lock her in it but just leave her in the kitchen with the crate open ( some people lock their dogs in the crate when they go out )......I think they are great for night time as my puppy knows that when she is locked in its bed time xxxx

Thanks for that hun, with jasper our back door was open day and night (it still is open most of the time for our 3 cats lol plus its just something my mother has always done during the day)
Im worried about using this technique for our next dog as it may cause bad toileting behaviour if she doesnt have boundaries. Jasper was always super clean and had free roam of the house in the day and shut downstairs in our living/dining/kitchen (open plan) at night with the door open.

The next dog will be a family dog but it will be me doing most of the training/ walking etc and i want to do it right as jasper wasnt exactly the most obedient dog.

dont worry, Jet is my first ever puppy / dog and I am learning ( she is my dog as I am home all day with her) ....I love the crate for night times but thats it..I dont agree with it for during the day , other people do but I dont and eventually when she is older we will do away with her crate at night. I think the crate helps when they are a puppy, helping them learn that it is night time etc...... Also, when you put your puppy in at night, hopefully he should settle, may cry for a bit ( we found a blanket completely covering it helps and I leave it cover all the time ) ....if your puppy wakes during the night I get up straight away to let my Jet outside for wee and then put her back. Everyone workes different, my sister says "you never go to a crying puppy" but I disagree, if jet cries during the night , she is taken outside for a wee and then put back ( i will ignore any crying after that as I know she has been)..now jet goes to bed at about 11pm and wakes any time from 6am to 8am.........!! Now she is bigger, if she wakes I will take her out for a wee and then I will leave her crate open ( she is still locked in the kitchen ) while i go back to bed and we never hear a sound from her until we all finally get up...xxx

I don't think i could leave her/him in crate when out but i am open to using it through the night and fazing out as she gets older, thanks hun you have gave me a better understanding of this method. Il research it in detail.

no worries....I am like you...I hate the idea of locking Jet up during the day ( our breeder and loads of people have told us to do this ) so we have NEVER done it during the day at all... I only ever lock her in it at night and thats it. It is open all day and if I have to get up and let her for a wee in the early hours I then dont bother locking her back in it either and so far its worked a dream for us....We will be phasing it out soon as we just want her to have her bed at night...The crate is excelllent for the first few months and if we ever got another puppy I would have one again but only for night...good luck and hope it all goes well xxxx

i have heard of good results from crate training but the method is obviously questionable for alot of people..

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Andy Baines http://dog-trainer-guides.blogspot.com/

hiya my puppy is 18 wks and he seems to like the crate, we leave it open during the day so he can go in and out. We mainly use it for night time as thats where he sleeps and he is happy with that.

Shannon

We use a crate with our 5 month old Newfie. He is very comfortable with it. All I have to say is "bedtime" and he goes there right away and lays down. Right now we do put him in it when we go out, but we'll be doing that less and less in the future. We never did crate training before, but I sure am glad I did it with Flanker.

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"one who possessed Beauty without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferosity, and all the virtues of Man without his Vices." - Lord Byron[SIGPIC]