I don`t want to put my dog in a cage!!!!!

Long ago, wild dogs often slept in dens - shallow holes they dug in the ground hidden away in places where they felt safe from predators. These were small, dark places, just big enough to turn around in and to lie down comfortably.

Even after centuries of selective breeding and living in people's homes, dogs still retain some of their ancient instincts. One of these instincts is the desire to have a den - a small, cosy place of their very own where they can feel safe and secure. A "crate" is just a modern version of a den.

As well as giving him a safe, cosy place to stay, crates can make training your dog a lot easier. Housebreaking goes much faster when you use a crate and destructive chewing becomes easier to control. Travelling is safer for both you and your dog when he's in a crate.

Housebreaking

Housebreaking has to be the bane of everyones lives for the first couple of months! While there are various tried & tested techniques here are the details of those that worked for us having raised three puppies so far!

Crate training at night is a godsend.  It

• Helped encourage bladder control as pups instinctively don`t want to mess in their beds

• provided a safe area to sleep in

• got pups used to crate for car travel

Training Mats work fine however puppies still need to be retrained to go outside.  Why not do this from the start? Logan used to think that if his front two feet were on the mat then that counted and he could wee.  Naturally it didn`t get as far as the pad!  How do you correct that one?

Simply pick the puppy up as it starts to sniff around, go weak legged, etc and carry it to the place to relieve itself. Give the toilet command as it does this. And then praise.

Putting the puppy out the back after each meal when it naturally wants to relieve itself will also encourage the connection with toileting and outside. You may want to leash the pup at this point to ensure they don`t go off to play and forget about the reason they are out there.

Never reprimand a puppy if it toilets in the wrong place or clean it up in front of them.  This will tell the puppy that weeing in front of mum is bad & therefore do it where she can`t see.... Bear in mind puppies don`t usually get bladder control until at least 16 weeks old.

Further to this, never punish upon finding the "present" as time has moved on and the puppy will not connect the punishment to the crime.

Tip: Use special urine stain and odour remover to clean up. This removes the last traces of urine which normal disinfectant  usually masks.If your pup can still smell it they will be attracted to that same patch again