06/03/2026
Those of you who know me, know that I am a very big proponent of crate training. It is the safest place when you can’t have eyes on the dog, no matter what the age. It is the safest place in a moving vehicle, it’s where they are kept if they have to stay overnight at a vet, and when you need to keep them out of trouble, the crate is a godsend.
A great way to introduce the crate as a puppy is to start feeding their meals in there. They start to associate the crate with a reward, and when paired with bedtime crating, they learn that they can also let down their guard and sleep in a crate. Initially, I started them with all four in one crate, and then I separated two and two, and now they are all sleeping and eating individually in their own crates. I have the crate in my bedroom, right next to my bed. This helps them learn a normal circadian rhythm, so even if they have to get up in the middle of the night to go out to the bathroom, they learned that they come right back inside and go back to sleep. While they are still not happy having quiet but awake downtime in their crate, that is due their age. Over the next few weeks, before they go to their new home, we will start them on quiet downtime in a crate where they can watch what is going on in the household. By the time they go to their new homes, they will be well on their way to being very confident with crate training and more than halfway there on housebreaking.
