To Crate Train or Not to Crate Train My Dog?

“Should I crate my dog?”

“Crating my dog seems cruel. Won’t he be sad?”

“I’d prefer if my dog slept in her crate at night rather than with me. Is that ok?”

These are some of the common questions I get asked pertaining to crate training. In fact, the topic of crating a dog can spark some pretty polarizing debates. Some people are adamantly against it and consider it inhumane, while others think it is a perfectly reasonable way to help manage the household.

So, should you crate your dog or not? Well, like many dog training questions, the answer is, “it depends.”

For most dogs, I recommend some level of confinement training, even if you teach your dog to love their confinement area and then rarely use it. It’s a very valuable “just in case” skill (read on to learn what I mean by this). However, crates are not the only option. Play pens, a gated room of the house, or a bedroom with the door shut all achieve the same goal- a safe space for your dog to spend time in when you cannot supervise him/her. Confinement can be especially beneficial for puppies, adolescents, and newly adopted dogs, but dogs of all ages and backgrounds can reap the benefits of being confinement trained.

Before we go any further though, let’s define what I mean by “confinement trained.” A dog who is confinement trained is calm, relaxed and comfortable in a confined area (crate, play pen, room) and I want to emphasize the words “calm,” “relaxed,” and “comfortable.” If your dog is whining, barking, panting, pacing, unable to lie down and relax for more than a few minutes at a time, claws or bites to try to escape the confinement or is showing any other stress signals, your dog is not confinement trained and therefore should not be left alone in confinement (yet), nor should they ever be left to “cry it out.”

The training process should be done gradually and carefully, and the goal should be to make the confinement area a positive place that your dog loves. Start with your dog in confinement for a very brief period of time. I’m talking seconds here, not minutes or hours. Begin with the gate/door open so your dog has the choice to leave if they are uncomfortable. Toss lots of tasty treats into the confinement area to make a positive association and/or feed your dog their meals in there. Then, as long as your dog is exhibiting relaxed body language, you can gradually begin to shut the door/gate and increase the time they are in their crate/confinement in small increments. It’s important to go at your dog’s pace with this and only increase time if they’re relaxed. Too often, I see people rush through the training process, which leads to a distressed dog and a frustrated owner. Depending on your individual dog, their age, and their past life experiences, crate or confinement training can take a minimum of several days up to several months, and some dogs are simply never able to become crate or confinement trained. In fact, there is a situation where confinement training may not be beneficial. More on that later. First, let’s go through some of the benefits.

Benefit #1: Safety

Dogs are opportunistic animals. That means if food or something desirable to chew on is available, they’re likely to help themselves to it. This is especially true for young dogs and puppies. This doesn’t make them bad or disobedient, it’s in their nature. Even my own dog, Shiloh, will help himself to the trash if it’s left out when we aren’t home. He’s not a bad dog. He’s just a dog. A normal dog with normal canine instincts.

At best, this opportunistic behavior can be annoying and at worst it can be very dangerous. Dogs, especially puppies and adolescents, have been known to chew up electrical cords, consume poisonous plants or foods and even swallow indigestible objects such as socks that cause blockages in their GI tract. They can also cause hundreds, if not thousands of dollars worth of damage to homes by chewing up things like furniture, carpeting and molding. By conditioning your dog to relax in a safe, comfortable, dog-proofed location of your home when you’re away, you can save yourself a trip to the veterinarian, protect your home, and potentially save yourself from a major financial burden. Or several.

Benefit #2: Confinement Training May Help Build Alone Time Confidence

Let’s face it, we can’t always be with our dogs 24/7, as much as we may want to. Even if you’re working from home or are retired, there are times when you’ll need to leave your dog for things like errands, family obligations and doctor appointments. Dogs are social animals, and they’re not instinctually inclined to be alone. It’s a skill they must learn and one way we can teach them this skill is with the use of confinement. By utilizing a confinement area, and going through the proper steps to make it a positive place for your dog, you can help them learn to feel safe and secure when you are away.

Benefit #3: Proper Confinement Training During Puppyhood May Help to Prevent Separation Anxiety from Developing

Separation anxiety is a panic disorder that renders a dog completely incapable of coping when left alone. Dogs who suffer from separation anxiety suffer from true terror when their guardians leave, resulting in behaviors like barking, whining, destructiveness and sometimes even self-harm and mutilation. It’s emotionally taxing not only for the dog who suffers from it, but for the humans in the home as well. While there are no guaranteed prevention strategies because there are many factors that can cause separation anxiety, including things that are out of your control like genetics, epigenetics, and very early life experiences, one thing that is in your control is going through the proper steps to teach your puppy to tolerate and even enjoy alone time. I recommend getting started with this shortly after bringing your puppy home. Start off by putting your puppy in their confinement area when they are sleepy with a bone or stuffed kong to work on while they doze off for a nap. Stay close by and open the confinement area door/gate BEFORE they wake up. Then, gradually begin to extend the time they are crated/confined. Depending on your puppy’s age this can take several weeks or months. Keep in mind that puppies instinctually are disinclined to being left alone. It’s a survival instinct for a baby animal to want to be close to others, so it will take time to teach them that they’re safe on their own. Never rush the process or you may cause long-term adverse effects, possibly including the very thing that you’re aiming to prevent (separation anxiety).

Benefit #4: Confinement Training Helps to Prepare Dogs In Case of Emergency

We never want to think of those worst-case scenarios, but the truth is, there may come a day when your dog must spend a night in a veterinary hospital. Or, you may have to board your dog if you need to take a trip out of town. Or perhaps you’re like me and you decide to move across the country with your dog(s). Whether on a plane, in a boarding facility or in a veterinary hospital, your dog will most likely have to spend at least part of their time confined to a crate or kennel of some sort. If your dog is accustomed to spending time in confinement, they will be able to adjust and cope much easier than a dog who is not, which can take a lot of anxiety away from an already nerve-wracking situation (for both of you).

Benefit #5: Freedom for Pet Parents

Sometimes we just need a break. Especially if we have puppies or adolescent dogs! Having a cozy spot for your dog to hang can make doing things like taking a relaxing bath, enjoying a peaceful meal, working out, or just taking an adult time-out feasible. Imagine the possibilities if your dog eagerly went into their confinement space and settled down with a nice chew toy while you enjoyed some “me-time!”

BUT…Confinement Is Not For Every Dog

Like I mentioned earlier, there is one situation where you may want to ditch the confinement training altogether and that’s if your dog is exhibiting anxiety or distress when they’re confined. Sometimes, no matter how much positive reinforcement training time you’ve put in, and no matter how much you’ve tried to make a positive association with the confinement area, a dog may still panic when confined. This is commonly referred to as “confinement distress” and can present very similarly to separation anxiety. Both conditions result in behaviors such as barking, howling, whining, destructiveness, desperate attempts to escape, excessive drooling or salivation, urination, defecation, and sometimes even self-harm. Because of these overlapping behavioral symptoms it can be hard to differentiate separation anxiety from confinement distress. If your dog is currently being confined (whether that be to a crate, play pen or gated area) it’s worth testing things out and leaving your dog home alone outside of confinement. Set up a camera to monitor your dog when you do this to be sure they are safe and not becoming destructive in your absence. Many (though not all) dogs fare much better when given free reign and often times, when their distress subsides, their behavior improves as well.

If your dog is suffering from separation anxiety or confinement distress, it can be a difficult problem to navigate which is why enlisting the help of a certified professional can be invaluable to resolving the issue as quickly and effectively as possible. You don’t have to try to figure things out on your own. Set up a free phone consultation so we can chat and come up with a training plan to help you and your dog reach your goals.

With wags and aloha,

Cori- CSAT, CPDT-KA, FDM, FFCP, BA