TESORO CRATE TRAINING TIPS
1: The Right Crate For Your Doberman
You want to get one that’s durable, comfortable, and flexible with whatever training you’re doing. It’s important that you don’t buy a crate that is too big for your dog. Depending on how big your dog is going to get, buy the right crate for their adult size. With Dobermans, they are going to need a XL crate! Then get a divider so you can build the space and grant them more and more space.
2: Establish A Positive Mindset
The more the dog associates the crate with a relaxed mindset, the more they’ll ultimately enjoy hanging out in there! If you put the dog in the crate when they’re playing, then they’ll want to come back out and continue to play. But if you bring them in it when they’re calm, they will likely view it as a place of rest. Start by bringing them in for 10 minutes, then 15 minutes, then 20 minutes at a time and work your way up from there.
3: Determine How Your Dog Will Be Most Comfortable
Some people use dog beds or towels to create a comfy environment, but that may not always be the best option. Once again, it’s trial and error. Depending on your puppy, they may tear a dog bed apart or they may use it to pee on. It’s not a bad thing for them to just sleep on the crate mat itself. Dogs actually do prefer hard surfaces.
4: Give the Dog a Treat
Give the dog a treat after they go into the crate! Once again, positive association rules. Try a KONG toy filled with peanut butter from the freezer. When they’re hanging out in the crate, they have something that stimulates them, but they have to work down the frozen peanut butter. This gets the puppy used to being in the crate for a longer period of time, while also associating it with an enjoyable activity.
5: Keep an Eye on the Time
Your puppy needs time outside the crate to play, eat, and use the bathroom. Dogs don’t want to soil where they sleep, but if there’s too long of a stretch without a walk, they might end up doing so..
6: Play Crate Games
The puppy shouldn’t see the crate as a negative place. To ensure this, incorporate the crate into fun games where the pup goes in and out of the open crate at their own will. Try throwing a ball in the crate when playing fetch or hide treats inside for the dog to find.
7: Set Your Puppy Up for Success
Once you are ready to give your puppy more time inside the crate, do it in small steps. You don’t want to go out to dinner for six hours. Try to just go get a cup of coffee and come back. I reccomend using a recording device to determine what your dog does while you’re gone. Are they anxious? Are they pacing? Or are they calm? Then you know and when you come back, you can reward them.
8: BE Patient
Prepare yourself for a few months of training. There will be ups and downs since puppies aren’t linear learners, but success will come! Even when it feels like you’re banging your head against a wall, as long as you stay calm and consistent in your methodology, your dog will eventually look for the reward and you’ll have the opportunity to reward them.
OTHER HELPFUL CRATE TIPS
Don’t hand your puppy a treat in the crate you do when they “sit”, instead, drop a treat in the crate making no hand off contact. There is some sort of psychology behind this that I learned in a dog training seminar years ago.
Your puppies are already use to the crate. If you recall watching them on the camera, starting week 4 a large crate was in their playpen area, thus they trained theirselves that it’s okay to go in and out as well as it’s a place of comfort for them. Going into a crate is a huge fear for a puppy and that fear was eliminated a long time ago with your Tesoro Doberman!
DON’T LET THEM have bones or anything that can be destructed in the crate. You may find yourself in a subconscious routine of doing this and leaving your home, so what happens if your puppy chokes on a piece of bone or toy? Catastrophic.
I would recommend against giving them a bedding in their crate for a good few months until they understand not to chew on their bedding. This timeframe would be after they are done teething which is around 5-6 months of age. Dogs actually don’t mind just laying on a blanket or bare floor. I would recommend just a loose thin blanket such as a fleece blanket.
DO PUT your puppy in their crate A LOT through out the day for the first few weeks to establish a routine and comfort with the crate. Even if it’s just 5 – 15 minutes at a time, it’s all about routine and “It’s okay”. Personally I do this more than once an hour when I am raising my own personal puppy.
DO NOT pay attention to them if they are crying in the crate! DO NOT! While being raised here in the Tesoro home, your puppy had their crate covered with a towel or blanket while being crated, you can do this as well!