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I strongly recommend crate training. It is a lot safer for your boxer
and can save you a lot of grief and annoyance. Crates should be used
to keep your puppy in during times that you are away from home, sleeping,
or preoccupied with something which stops you from being able to completely
supervise your new puppy. Some people think that securing your new
puppy is cruel. I personally believe that this will make you and your
puppy much happier. When you arrive home from work or just being out
you will come home to a house that has not been peed through or have
any personal items destroyed. Crating your puppy allows you to go
about your required business knowing that your puppy is safe and sound
until you can once again return to him/her.
Since I feel so strongly about crate training, all puppy's here leave
with a crate for a small additional fee of $60.00 Crate training is
not only useful for keeping your puppy and your home safe, crate training
aids in house training your puppy and training against unwanted chewing.
It is also the best way to keep your puppy safe while traveling in
a vehicle, and it is a wonderful way to keep your puppy quiet following
spay and neuter surgery As well, the crate can become a private place
for your puppy where there are children involved, and it is quite
simple to instill the rule that when puppy is in his/her crate, the
puppy is left alone.
This is valuable in giving young pups the much needed rest time, and
teaches the youngsters to respect this time. When your puppy is in
the crate, it cannot chew on things it shouldn't. Boxer puppies chew
for a lot of reasons, i.e. boredom, teething, exploring, or just because.
If your puppy is properly supervised, you can teach it what is allowable
chewing (i.e. their own toys) and what is bad chewing (your family
heirloom, the poisonous houseplant, etc. The bottom line is, boxers
don't mind there crates. Their crate becomes their little space where
they can rest and spend time comfortably.
When you first bring your puppy home you will already have your crate.
Set it up in an area central to the family, but not in heavy traffic
areas of your home; we recommend in your kitchen near a door leading
to a fenced yard where puppy will go out to relieve him/herself; it
helps to leave the crate in one location The day you get your new
puppy home let it explore the crate put a doggy biscuit and/or an
interesting toy into the crate. Let the pup wander in and out of the
crate (you may have to coerce it to go in a couple of times) at first
leaving the door open. Several times through the day, take your puppy
back to where the crate is and repeat the toy/cookie routine. Praise
your puppy for going into the crate in a quiet, happy voice. Praise
your puppy for playing in the crate. After your pup has entered the
crate a few times, put a brand-new exciting toy into the crate, lure
your pup in and close the door. Just for a few minutes.
If the puppy whines you can talk to him/her, put your fingers through
the door and touch him/her, but do not take the pup out until s/he
settles. Then give lots of praise and open the door Patience is the
key to the effective crate training of your new puppy! We do not recommend
feeding your puppy in the crate. As well, do not provide water in
the crate, as food and water will cause the puppy to have pee and
poo you can leave the pup with a safe toy or two (nylabone, kong,
rope toy). Do not put your boxer in the crate wearing a collar, or
put rawhide, pig's ears or squeaky toys. Remember, you want them to
be safe.
The number one question asked is "how long can a dog be crated
for When you first get your new puppy s/he will be 8-10 weeks of age.
At this age it is advisable to have your pup in the crate for no longer
than about three hours before letting him/her out to relieve themselves,
have a little play. Once your pup reaches 12-16 weeks, about four
hours is the rule. It is not advisable to leave your puppy in its
crate for longer than 5-6 hours regardless of age once your get past
the 16-week mark. Should you find you must leave your pup for longer
than this, then be kind and have a neighbor or relative come in and
let your puppy out and spend a little time with him/her. With respect
to what age you will need to crate your puppy, there is no exact age.
I personally keep my dogs all crated when I go out and when I am home
the door on the crates stay open, and I find that all my dogs will
go in them when they want to rest or get away from the children.
If you want to test your dog to see if it is all right when left alone,
leave him out for very short periods of time when you are preoccupied.
Watch what he does. Then increase the time spent out until he stays
out while you are sleeping. If he shows himself trustworthy, then
you can begin to "test" him when you go out. Only ten minutes
at first. Then an hour, then two or three. Do not rush to getting
your boxer "crate-free" as bad habits can still be formed.
Crate training can be accomplished in several days, or may take several
weeks, depending on the age, temperament, and previous experiences
your dog has had. You should keep two things in mind while training
your dog to a crate. First, the crate should always be associated
with something pleasant for the dog, and second, training should take
place in a series of small steps - don't try to do too much too fast.
If your dog whines or cries while in the crate at night, it may
be difficult to decide whether he is whining to be let out of the
crate, or whether he needs to be let outside to eliminate. If you
followed the training procedures, your dog should not have been
reinforced in the past for whining by being released from his crate.
Initially you can ignore the whining. Your dog may stop if he is
just testing you. Yelling at him or pounding on the crate may only
increase his vocalizations. If the whining continues after you have
ignored it for several minutes you can repeat the phrase your dog
has associated with going outside to eliminate. If he responds and
becomes excited, take him outside. This should be a trip with a
purpose - not playtime.
If you are convinced that your dog does not need to eliminate, the
best response is to ignore the whining until it stops. Most attempts
at punishing the behavior actually end up inadvertently reinforcing
it because the dog is getting attention from you. During the process
of ignoring the whining, expect it to get worse before it gets better.
You cannot give in. Otherwise, you will have taught your dog that
he must whine loud and long to get what he wants! If you have progressed
very gradually through the training steps and have not attempted
to hurry the process and cut corners, you will not be likely to
encounter this problem. If the problem becomes unmanageable, you
may need to restart the crate training process from the very beginning.
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