Crate training

Before we got Poppy lots of people recommended crate (or cage as some people call it) training her. It is intended to help toilet train the dog sooner as well as keeping them out of trouble if you are not around and gives them a safe place to take 'time out'.
We spent a lot of time debating whether we should or not as it seems a bit cruel putting a tiny puppy in a cage.

Beelzepuppy sleeps

However we decided to give it a go as so many people recommended it, both people we know and on various internet sites. We read a lot before hand with people extolling the use of crates and saying how much their dog LOVED it. We were frankly quite sceptical as it seemed unlikely the dog would LOVE being locked in. Now that we have her, it was definately the right thing to do.

The day we got her we carefully introduced her to the crate (using technique recommended on various web sites) and spent ages fretting about whether we should shut the door yet or whether that would result in her hating it (and us) for ever. When we did shut the door eventually she whined half heartedly for a few minutes (while we were WRACKED with guilt) then went to sleep. After that there was one time when I put her back in at about 6am (the time she thinks is up time) in the hope of another hours sleep and then she whines and howled for some time. The advise says not to let them out when they are fussing so we waited and waited until she stopped and then let her out. We learnt that we couldn't get extra sleep that way though.

I wouldn't go as far as saying she LOVES it (I don't think she loves anything but food) but she is definately happy in it, sees it as her little den and trots in to it when she is tired. For us it is a godsend as the house isn't really puppy proof and it means she has somewhere safe when we cannot watch her with 100% focus and it is somewhere for her to calm down if she gets overexcited. It also stops her from pooping (that word cracks me up...lots of the websites about bringing up puppies are American so I have read it a lot recently and have to use it) in the house as she doesn't want to mess up her den - as long as we take her outside regularly day and night of course.

They are cruel people who lock me in a cage boo hoo