Tips and Tricks on Crate Training your Labrador Puppy
There are a few very important aspects to successfully crate training my Labrador puppy once you bring it home. The first is Patience. Potty training will take time. I have seen people do it in as short as one day (though this very quick). And, as long as a couple of months. What is important for you to know here is that you are consistent. The spot you take your dog to outside to do their business should always be the same. The word you use which represents potty needs to be the same every time. It could be anything. I use Pee for both pee and poo and reward them after they eliminate outside. You don’t want to make it a stressful time for your new Lab puppy.
There are a few myths out there that need to be addressed because they simply don’t work. Rubbing your dog’s nose in it or scolding them will not work. Either words or a smack with a rolled up newspaper don’t work and actually undermine the process. Get all negative disciplinary actions out of your mind when you begin training. It doesn’t matter what your neighbor or Uncle Ralph say about training a dog. If your dog goes in your house while you are training it, you have to understand that you weren’t paying attention to it enough to catch it and direct it to go outside. Remember it wasn’t the dog’s fault.
Dogs will go anywhere until trained otherwise. It’s ok, nobody is perfect. If you catch your dog in the act try clapping your hands together loudly. Don’t yell the dog’s name. You can use a loud hey in the hopes it will startle your dog and they will stop. Rush them outside to the pee spot and let them finish. If they go outside at all reward them with a treat and praise.
Get the Right Size Crate
Dogs instinctively will not normally eliminate in their own sleeping space. This is why crate training is a good way to begin with a new puppy. If the crate is small enough then the puppy won’t (usually) eliminate where they sleep so they will hold it or whine or bark until you take them out to do their business. The crate will simulate the dog’s den. It should never be a place for punishment.
To get them to go into it, leave the door open, put a favorite toy in there and even feed them in there. Let them walk in when they are ready and so that they can see it is a happy place. Try to buy a crate large enough for when they are adults but one that also has a movable divider so that you can make it smaller when they are young and larger as they grow. For a Lab this is usually a 42″ wire crate with a divider. Find more on this here.
Keep Your Labrador Puppy Under Constant Supervision While Crate Training
The mistake that many people make potty training their new puppy is that they allow her to roam the house. In the beginning, your puppy will think that the room they spend the most time in is their room, and other rooms in the house are outside so to speak. They don’t understand that other rooms are still inside of the house so you may see them going into another room to eliminate. As I mentioned earlier, patience is the key here and being clear and consistent with your dog will help for them to understand what it is you want them to do. Use baby gates to shrink your dog’s space and block certain rooms so they can’t go in them.
Common mistakes to potty training are too much trust and too much space before the puppy is ready for it. What is common is that you get home with your new puppy and just let it wander where ever he wants to go. You go into the kitchen and start dinner, suddenly you turn and say “where is Scooby?” only to find him in the next room having a pee. In order to fix this you must limit the amount of space the dog has when it is not being supervised. We will use baby gates, section off the kitchen and let the puppy roam free while we are in there and try to keep an eye on him.
When to take your Puppy Outside to Pee
If you have the time on the first day with your puppy try this. Upon waking, take your puppy from their crate and bring them outside to their pee spot. If they’ve been holding it they will eliminate, you will say pee and you will reward them. Yeaaaah! One successful time potty training. Bring them in the house and feed and water them. When they are young they will likely have to go again right after eating. Repeat this step and you have 2 successful times already! So then put the water dish up where they can’t get it, after 30 minutes or so put the dish down and let them drink. They will also need to go right after getting out of the car.
Take them outside and have them try to pee (remembering pee means pee and poo) again. If they do it say pee and reward them with a treat and praise. If not, take them back in and go on with your day. So, if you have the time and patience, put their water down every 30 min for them to drink, then right outside to eliminate. As always, reward and use the pee command if they eliminate for you. Puppy’s bladders are very tiny and they will often have to go while they are eating or right afterwards so be ready for it. A pee on the floor is a training opportunity missed!! If you can’t watch them that closely you’ll have to leave their water on the floor where they can reach it (and play in it!).
How Do I Know When my Puppy Has to Go?
So how do we recognize when the puppy needs to go? Some may whimper, some may bark or bump your leg with their noses, and finally they will walk in a circle and sniff for an appropriate spot. They may simply go from calm to full of energy. Let’s say you spent the whole first day with your puppy and had zero accidents in the house. Then life happens and you have to integrate your new puppy into your daily routine. There are many ways to teach your puppy how to alert you that they have to pee. I will discuss just one briefly and how to go about training the puppy to alert you with a bell.
Bell Training Goes Along With Crate Training Your Labrador Puppy
Using a bell is beneficial because the puppy will be trained to make a noise. Anyone within hearing range can act upon. All of the usual discipline needs to be used here so that your puppy does not just start ringing the bell for attention or to go outside for walkie time. Here’s how you do it. Get a suitable bell or two that can be hung on a string and hold it in your hand.
Get a treat and put it by the puppy’s nose so they know you have a snack for them. Once the puppy realizes you have a treat lure them to the bell and move your hand with the treat behind the bell so that the bell is between your puppy’s nose and the treat. Encourage your puppy toward the treat and when their nose hits the bell reward them with the treat and a good boy! I would this eight or ten times a day for a couple days until your puppy understands. If they understand easily you can proceed to the second step sooner.
In the second step you are going to hang the bell on the door knob or wherever you want your bell to hang. It doesn’t have to be by the outside door it can be in the kitchen if you like. So just as in the first step you want to lure your puppy with a treat to the bell, move your hand right by the bell so the puppy rings the bell and then mark the success with a good girl and give the reward. By this time if your puppy understands that the bell means reward then you are ready for the next step.
Timing is Everything when Crate Training Your Labrador Puppy
In the third step you want to do all the same things only the reward comes outside. So yes, puppy has to ring the bell to get outside for the treat. Now here you can go right to the final step if you like and reward only if your puppy goes pee. If he does, use a word for potty such as pee and give him the treat. If you are good and can get him to the pee spot outside he will smell the pee which will trigger his wanting to go. Be careful not to say the word pee unless he is going pee. If you say it when she is not going you are associating that command with something other than pee.
Be careful what you reward, and remember a reward can be eye contact, touch, you talking or a tasty treat! If they don’t go pee outside, keep quiet, don’t touch them and don’t look at them. Give them a few minutes and if no go, no reward. Back inside and try again.
One thing to keep in mind for you is the size of your dog when teaching this. A tiny dog will not likely do much damage if they use their paw to ring the bell but a large dog will. We suggest that you have your dog use their nose when ringing the bell to preserve your wall or moldings behind the bell.
