Crate training an older dog is no different than crate training a puppy. It takes the same level of patience but not the same size crate for the job. Do you have a special needs dog that cannot make it through a night without doing potty on himself? Do you have a dog highly skilled at escaping no matter what type of dog pen you put him in? Do you have more than one dog or puppy that you’d like to keep together in a gated area at night or while guests visit? Are you pet sitting and need to keep your clients’ dogs apart from each other to manage safety in your house, making the most of your available space? Are you trying to potty train a puppy? For any of these, crate training is essential and choosing the right crate to go with it.
If you’re attempting to accomplish any of the above and the weight of your dog ranges from 15 to 70 pounds, then you need an easy-to-assemble, sturdy and easy-to-use, affordable, heavy-duty dog crate. This cage ought to be next to impossible to chew through yet made of non-toxic material no less. It ought to be impossible to bend out of shape or otherwise contrive to let any persistent escape artist find its way out of it. It also needs to be spacious enough to maintain your dog comfortable and active inside it rather than anxious. This cage should be easy to clean when the dog soils it, easy to put your dog into and easy to pull it out of, as well as easy to transport while one or several dogs are encased in it. Before we show you such a crate, let’s talk a bit about one of the main purposes for owning a solid dog crate.
Crate Training An Older Dog Is Delayed Puppy Crate Training
Dog crates are an excellent way to house train a dog of any age. Crate training an older dog is just the result of not having done the same when it was a puppy. But the procedure is basically the same. For starters, understand that dog crates are the right place for your dog to stay in when you are momentarily absent from the house and no one else can care for the animal that you’re still potty training or that cannot control its bowels due to age.
It is also the correct tool to train your dog to adapt to your world and not disturb it instead. So, if you have an animal that will damage property or run away when left alone, then you need a crate. But prolonged periods of enclosure are not healthy to any dog. Successful crate training begins with building a positive experience for that dog around its crate, and this goes for any other use that you may have for a dog cage regardless of the dog’s age. The dog must not dread its access to a crate. This is fundamental to crate training an older dog or a puppy.
Think of a dog’s crate as you might a child’s bedroom. It’s a safe haven. It’s a place of comfort and enjoyment. Fill it with the dog’s favorite toys. Don’t use it for punishment. If you leave an occasional treat inside the crate, if you praise the dog while inside the crate, if you put some soft padding in the crate, then the dog will learn from this positive reinforcement to enter this new space with pleasure. If you leave its food next to it and slowly move it inside the crate during the daytime, the dog will also learn to adjust to a new place of nourishment.
One positive trick to use for crate training an older dog or a puppy is to teach the dog to stay inside the crate by filling a Kong or Zogoflex with a treat, allowing the dog to enjoy it only inside the crate. If the dog tries to take it outside to eat it, you seize it and throw it back in the crate. After enough attempts, the dog will know to enjoy the treat only inside the crate. This is positive reinforcement. Also associate a word command to having to enter the crate using a treat that you’re willing to release only once the dog is inside the crate. Take the treat in your hand and draw the dog’s attention to it. Say, “Crate time!” and only release the treat once the dog is inside the crate. These positive experiences will give you your first advantage at potty training or housetraining a puppy or crate training an older dog.
Closing The Gate and What To Do When The Wailing Starts
The next step in crate training your dog is to close the gate when the dog is quietly inside the crate and not to approach the crate while the dog is crying out for you. Whether old or young, if you closed the gate and the dog cries out and you rush to open the gate, then you are reinforcing the success that louder wails can produce. The dog, therefore, will fast learn to wail to the top of its lungs to get its way out of the crate whenever it wants to leave it and will not stop until it gets its way.
Instead, wait until the dog is calm and quiet in the crate before you attempt to release it from its confinement. This will take time and will annoy many, especially at night. But unless you wish to use negative reinforcement, such as the use of an e-collar to crate train an older dog or puppy for quiet nighttime behavior, it will simply take patience in exchange for avoiding negative reinforcement techniques.
Next, consider the importance of managing a puppy’s diet well and not feeding the dog too late. This way you will set its digestive system to a schedule that can better match your own. Don’t leave food or water in the crate when you’re absent from the house or at nighttime, because the dog will digest it and have a miserable time attempting to avoid soiling his own favorite place of residence.
Generally, dogs wish to keep far from their own waste product, especially if it’s anywhere near where they sleep. Don’t give them reason to begin hating being inside a crate because it ends up dirty from their excess of food or water consumption that you could have kept from them. Puppies especially need to be let out every 2 to 3 hours to ensure that they don’t soil their own crates because of a natural lack of self-control. And many old dogs become incontinent as they age. So, for older dogs it is important too to manage their diet such that they’re not evacuating in their crates while you’re asleep.
When you’re ready to take the dog out of its crate to do its potty or anything else, use a clear command that the dog will associate with the sole purpose of leaving the crate. “Let’s go potty!” or “Potty time1” will suffice to signal the dog that the crate gate is about to open. And then take the dog out to relieve itself and do not leave its side until it has done so, if that was the main reason for leaving the crate. Then, return it to the crate until it has come to understand what the exit command means. This is how you potty train a dog using a crate. Soon enough the dog will know, even while not inside the crate, that the command “Let’s go potty!” means exactly that.
For a sampling of this procedure, you can view the following step-by-step 5-minute video to gain confidence in crate training your first dog whether old or young. The second video is specific to crate training an older dog and offers a great summary of tips to keep in mind.
Sizing The Dog Crate To The Right Dog
Keep in mind that the size of the crate is a very important factor to consider in how a dog will react to soiling its dwelling space. It may seem almost barbaric to enclose a dog in too small a place. But the dog is not a human and does not perceive space the same as you do. Too big a space will lead to sanitary problems with your dog, especially if you’re barely potty training it or if the main reason for crate training an older dog is because of incontinence issues. Watch the following video to learn how to choose the right size dog crate and the reason why you should mind this sizing issue.
Homey Pet Dog Cage for Crate Training An Older Dog or Big Puppies
The Homey Pet Open-Top, Heavy-Duty Dog Cage offers an excellent alternative for anyone looking for a top-notch dog crate. Homey Pet is a California company specializing in pet crates, cages, some of them stackable, and playpens designed to last and to make the most out of the space they occupy. Because Homey Pet also has a line of gates and carriers, it is very keen on pet security and transportation for its pet enclosure products, as well as the importance of pet comfort.
Homey Pet offers a crate that measures 37 inches in length by 25 in width and 31 in height, making it over 16-cubic feet of space (0.47 cubic meter), which is a larger space but not extremely so than usual for puppies and dogs weighing over 30 but less than 70 lbs. It’s the equivalent of approximately 5 medium-sized suitcases stacked together. However, what makes this cage ideal is that it is made to take on the dog that really wants to get out. Made entirely of metal with a heavy-duty design, your dog will not easily escape it if at all, considering it has a safety chain lock. Once your dog becomes accustomed to its place, the crate will then easily double as the dog’s house. It’s an excellent option if you have a large dog or more than one dog to crate together.
The model below comes with a 37-inch metal floor grid that is easy on the paws and makes cleaning a breeze, especially realizing that beneath it sits an ultra-strong pullout plastic tray to capture any accidents. So, this equipment is ideal for indoors crating, which is a crucial factor in crate training an old dog that you may not want sleeping outdoors any longer. The crate sits on four sturdy wheels or casters that can lock in place. This facilitates transportation of your animal while inside the crate. But they’re removable, if you wanted them off. Made of powder-coated steel, the crate has a non-toxic finish so that any attempt at chewing through the metal will not cause health problem to your dog. It opens from the top and from the front side to let you drop in your dog or let the dog enter and exit on its own.
Because the cage is stackable, you can assemble a kennel if you have various dogs that you wished to keep separate in the least amount of space possible. But if it’s only one that you care about and it’s old and big, then the Homey Pet Open-Top, Heavy-Duty Dog Cage with metal floor grid, plastic tray and lockable casters is ideal for crate training an older dog and making equipment maintenance easy on you.
It is available at Amazon.com where you can check pricing.
