It's Not Cruel, It's Kind -- Crate Training A Dog Helps You And Them
Have you ever heard of crate training a dog? Crate training a dog is all about how to train your dog to go into its "crate" -- its cage, or travel carrier -- and to remain there comfortably until you release them. While it is possible for dogs to be mistreated while they are caged, it does not necessarily need to be that way, and dogs can find it to be an enjoyable experience. Why? Because dogs, being canines, are at home in small enclosures -- they feel protected and secure in them.
Some of the Benefits of Crate Training a Dog
How can crate training a dog help you, the owner? One very important benefit of crate training your dog, is that when you are doing so you can also combine this with their housebreaking training. This is based on the principle that most dogs prefer to keep their living area clean -- normally, they will not want to go to the bathroom in this space. When crate training a dog, simply keep that dog in the crate except during those times when you feed it. When you take your dog out of its crate, immediately take it to the area designated as their "bathroom". Over time, and with proper reward and reinforcement for good behavior, a dog will become housebroken.
Another way in which crate training a dog can benefit you is in preparing your dog for travel. It is next to impossible to control some dogs while traveling in a vehicle, if they are left loose to jump up and down, stick their necks out windows, bark at passing trucks etc. Properly create training a dog means that when you travel, your dog will be able to travel comfortably and will not bother the driver or passengers in your vehicle. Crate Training A Dog For Those Times Away From Home Another very important way in which crate training a dog will help you is that it will prepare them for the inevitable trip to the vet's office. As long as your trips to the vet do not require your dog to stay overnight, you'll be okay -- but if your dog must stay overnight, it will be necessary for them to stay in a cage or pen of some sort. A trip to the vets can be a very stressful time for your dog; don't add to their stress -- crate training a dog will help them to feel much more at home in a cage or a pen at the vet's office. Yet another way in which crate training a dog will benefit both you and the dog is if your dog must be left in the care of others -- for example, if your dog must be left at a neighbor's house while you tend to a family emergency. They will be much easier to control, especially with an unfamiliar handler or when they find themselves in the midst of a new environment. As you can see, crate training a dog is not an act of cruelty, but one of kindness -- training that will allow your dog to be much more comfortable in its environment, as well as giving you, the owner, more options in handling and transporting your pet.
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