I see a lot of people asking questions about how to crate-train your pup.
First let's talk about why crate-training is important.
Crating has the following benefits:
Allows you to contain your dog when you can supervise
Makes potty-training easier
Gives your dog a "home" where he can feel safe
Being familiar with crates is important if your going to go to dog shows or trials. It can also be important if your dog is ever boarded, kept at the vet, has to be contained due to injury, or has to be evacuated in an emergency situation
I hear many people complain that their dogs won't "crate-train". The problem is that most people don't "train". They put the dog in the crate and walk away. This isn't "training". This is especially scary for a new puppy recently separated from his mother, siblings, and everything he has ever known.
Yes, the "let him cry it out" method does eventually work (usually) but I think it doesn’t set the right tone for your dogs relationship with the crate. They will eventually get over it, but I just don’t like to cause that much stress. I’ve done it before in the past, it always worked, but I like the method I use now so much better.
I slowly introduce the crate by placing it inside an xpen. I feed the puppy in the crate (door stays open at first). Once I find they’re willingly going in the crate on their own to relax, I’ll just calmly walk over, push the door shut for about 5 seconds, then open and reward. I also start teaching them to go in the crate on command by first luring with a treat and then asking them to go in and rewarding them (I use a clicker for this so I can mark the instant they step a foot in). I don’t shut the door. Just in and out several times. If the few seconds of closed door didn’t bother them, I’ll have them go in, give a really good chewy treat, shut the door for a minute or two with me standing there and then let them out. I may put them in the crate 10 times a day for 2 minutes at a time. When they don’t mind, I may try 4 minutes. Then 6 or 7. You get the idea. I don’t leave them. I stay very close. I’ll eventually get where I can lock them in with a kong/chew for 30 minutes while I sit there nearby and watch tv. I don’t acknowledge crying or whining during this time, but the instant they’re quiet, I treat them and then walk away. I never open the door when they’re crying either.
I’ll just slowly build up the time it takes for them to make it through the night without crying. When you very first start this, they may cry in the xpen as well. If that happens, I will cover it with a heavy blanket and make sure they have a good filled kong. They may still cry a little but it usually isn’t as bad as when you have them in a small shut crate. Worse case scenario put the pen near your bed and dangle your hand into it. This seems to helps the worst cryers I’ve met.
Every so often (and I don’t recommend this, I just do it cause I’m weak), if they’re having a truly truly bad night and crying really badly, I’ll wait for them to stop, get them out, and take them to bed with me. I’ll snap a short light weigh leash on them, put the loop around my wrist and let them finish the night in the bed. If they get up to pee, it will wake me. This isn’t a good idea, please understand I’m not saying it’s a good idea. It’s just something I do in moments of weakness when I’m just truly desperate for sleep and they’re having a bad night. I don’t roll in my sleep much or anything so I can get away with it.
For me personally, I never use traditional crates when I’m out of the house. I use large kennels for that. When I leave the house, puppies go in their xpen/adults in their large kennel. I put a potty turf pad down for the puppies. Turf pad comes up the minute I get home (I only let them use it when I’m not available to let them out). Crates are for night time until potty training is complete and for use at shows/trials. Once they are reliably making it through the night without waking me to potty, I will move them into the larger kennel. If they have an accident in there, I’ll go back to crating. Once they’re reliably making it through the night with no accidents, I start letting them sleep in the bed at night (generally around the 6 month mark). This is just what has worked best for me and I’ve crate trained a lot of dogs over the years!