Crate Training your Pug is not Torture!

How many of you have had someone tell you that crate training is mean and does not work when training your pug? Let me just say that with any type of training, that there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. Obviously locking your pug in his crate all day, every day is not only incorrect but is also unhealthy and mean.  And if this is where you keep your pug all the time, then you should find a new home for your pug.  A crate should be used for the first few months that you have your pug, until he/she is housebroken.  And then after they have been house broken, a crate can be a great place for your pet to go to sleep, to relax or to just get away for a little alone time.  Lets face it even dogs need some alone time. Usually when crate training has been done correctly, your pug will actually enjoy using his/her crate on their own.

The rule of thumb with house training is that a dog will not soil the area where they eat and sleep. But if you allow them to roam the house freely when you are potty training them, a house becomes a pretty big space where then can get themselves into to trouble. So if the dog poops upstairs but their food is down stairs, then technically they did not soil their space they soiled yours. The key is to have them in their crate during the times you will not be able to keep a constant eye on them.  And to have them in their crate around the time of day they would generally need to go to the bathroom. In other words, crate training is most successfull when you also try to get your pug on a potty schedule. Pet’s are somewhat like kids. They need a consistant routine in order to learn their best.

So the best way to give you some insight on how crate training worked for us,  is to tell you what we did. We got our pug “Henry”  from a Pug rescue.  He was about 1 yrs old when we got him.  He was not housebroken. In fact, the foster home we got him from kept a belly band on him at all times in order for him not to pee in the house.  In case your curious, a belly band is like a doggie diaper. In any case, we had our work was cut out for us. The first thing we did was get a crate and a crate training book for dummies.  Based on what I read the crate should be slightly bigger then the dog is going to be when it is full grown. The idea is that it should be roomy enough for the dog to be comfortable and to be able to turn around in, but not so big that they will pee and poop in one corner and then sleep way over on the other side.

So now we had the crate and the book.  The first thing we did was to leave the crate out in the middle of the room so that “Henry” could inspect it and get used to it. Then that night before we went to bed, we took “Henry” out one last time for potty. We made sure to spend extra time outside to make sure he had done his business. When we went to bed we put “Henry” in his crate and closed the door. As soon as we got up the next morning, we took him out of his crate and immediately took him outside. And as expected he went to the bathroom right away. As soon as he did his business we praised him relentlessley and gave him a treat. When we came back inside we gave him his breakfast and water.  Now this is important. After breakfast we let him hang out for a short time before putting him back in his crate. Generally a dog will have to relieve themselves a little while after eating and drinking.

So after about 1-2hrs of him taking a short nap in his crate I let him out and took him outside. And with success he went potty. Again we rewarded “Henry” with  joyful praise and another treat, and repeated the crate process. Before putting him back into his crate we let him hang out and explore under close supervision.  As days went on we let him out of his crate for longer periods of time between potty breaks. But we made sure always to keep an eye on him to ensure no accidents.  We learned a lot by observing ‘Henry” when he wasn’t in his crate. One imortant thing we learned was how long  he could go between meals before he needed to go out.  When observing, we also watched for the tell tale potty signs that dogs usually give right before relieveing themselves. Like pacing back and forth or circling one particular spot.  And sometimes even sniffing obsessivly of the floor or your furniture. And let me just say, that no matter how well your pug is doing accidents can and will happen. So don’t get discourage or mad when it does. It is all part of the process. After all sometimes we have to make mistakes to learn the lesson.

So to sum it up. Crate training is a great tool when used in conjunction with a consistant potty routine and loving but stearn discipline when those accidents do happen. Our pug “Henry” enjoys his crate.  He sleeps in it every night. He goes in his crate when we go out and many times I find him in there napping. With time your pug will come to love his crate and be a happy house trained Pug.