Teaching your Border Collie puppy to accept being in a crate is one of the best things you can do.
It comes in handy for all sorts of reasons and can become your dog’s safe place.
If you do not know much about crates, or think you would never do that to your dog, here are some facts about crates and how to train your Border Collie puppy to love being crated.

What is a Crate?
A crate is made of either moulded plastic or wire.
It is used to confine your puppy for its safety, if it is sick or hurt, for traveling, to help house train your puppy and even as a place to sleep.
You may think it is cruel to lock your Border Collie puppy in a crate but a dog sees the world differently to us.
Your dog is not going to think your are mean or resent you for putting it in a crate.
Most dogs love their crates as they see it as their very own den. It is a place they feel safe once they understand what the crate is for.
Some people have a crate setup in the house for their dogs to sleep in and they never need to shut the doors as their dogs choose to sleep in there.
It is much like a kennel but they are portable.


Advantages of Using a Crate
By crate training your Border Collie puppy:
You have peace of mind when leaving puppy alone, know that it is safe and not destroying your house or yard, or developing bad habits.
Use it to help you house train your puppy as a puppy is unlikely to soil where it sleeps and be motivated to wait to relieve itself until it is no longer confined.
You can travel safely with your Border Collie knowing it cannot get loose in your vehicle.
It is a safe place for your dog to retreat to when stressed or tired.
You can take you puppy out with you to a lot more places because you can confine it when you need to.


Buying your Puppy’s Crate
You can buy crates in a lot of places such as pet shops, online and second-hand.
The best type for your Border Collie puppy is a wire crate that has a removable plastic or metal floor.
Make sure the crate you buy is big enough for your puppy when it grown into an adult.
Your dog needs to be able to stand-up and stretch out comfortably in it.
You can put a partition into a big crate to make it small enough for your puppy and as it grows, take the partition out.
You do not want it too big as puppy may use one end as a toilet and sleep the other end.
The best buy is the bigger crate which usually comes with a wire partition to use while your dog is still a puppy.


Crating your Border Collie Puppy
Dogs like to be around the action in your house so position the crate in an area you spend a lot of time in during the day and at night move it to your bedroom so you can hear puppy if it needs to go outside. Puppies should take being crated in their stride.

Put your puppy inside and close the door.
Prior to this you can place a treat or feed your dog in the crate, this will distract the puppy and help it associate the crate as a good place.

At first your puppy will cry.
Ignore it when it does this as you are rewarding poor behavior with attention.This is what puppy wants.

If you know your Border Collie is not whining or barking because it wants to go to the toilet, ignore the behavior and when it quietens reward the behavior with praise.

Crate and Release
Over a period of time, increase the times that your puppy is in the crate.

Name association
Each time you place your dog into the crate use a word to associate the action of placing your dog into the crate.
For example: You may say "In" or "Bed" or "Crate"
That way they can automatically get into the crate when given the command.

Here are a few do's and don'ts
Do not leave food in the crate.

Leave water in the crate but get a bowl that hooks onto the wire so puppy cannot spill the water.

Do not feed your puppy just before you want to crate it and do take puppy outside to potty before putting it into the crate.

Do give puppy a chew toy or two to keep it entertained.

Do not leave puppy in the crate longer than it will need to relieve itself.

Do not allow anyone to tease your dog while its in the crate

Do not allow anyone to scare your dog by hitting the top or sides of the crate while your dog is inside of the crate


Overall make this a positive experience for your dog as the crate is to be a safe sanctuary for your dog.
At dog shows you'll see a lot of people who show their dogs have their dogs crated or in trolley's (mobile crates) or in dog trailers, as they await their turn for the show ring. You may have noticed how at how relaxed some dogs are when in this enviornment.
Our dogs only spend time in crates when at dog conformation shows.
Crating is a short term enviornment for your dog, like a place for them to sleep or a place to await an event.
Note: You dog should not be left to live their whole lives in a crate.

 

 

< Prev		Next >