How To Crate Train / Potty Train Your Dog

In case you haven't heard, I love dogs! I have owned and co-owned several dogs, and I would like to share some useful information with you on the methods I employed to get them crate and potty trained at the same time.

In my experience, crate training and potty training go hand in hand. The crate is a very useful tool in the potty training of a dog. Other tools you will need are 1)patience, 2)absorbent towels for the accidents (we had a special basket for towels that were used, and we recycled them for potty accidents and then laundered with bleach...this method kept extra loads of laundry down), 3)more patience, 4)you may want some to use dog treats, I suggest the tiny ones. Obviously this is not a complete list of what you need. Additionally you may need a good steam cleaning of your carpets after the doggy has it perfected and is done having accidents. I was fortunate enough to have a just beige enough shade of carpet that with a little spray cleaner (resolve, oxy, even used Windex sometimes) and a blotting with a towel there were no visual spots.

First of all. Your dog is going to pee on the floor. If you cannot handle this, get a cat. They are born potty trained. Do not emotionally or physically abuse your dog because you are not ready for the fact that THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE QUITE A FEW ACCIDENTS before they get it perfected. I love dogs, so just saying.

There are a few "tricks" that worked well with me for all four times I did this. Every dog and dog breed is unique, but they all seem to respond to the basic tricks. First trick, never let the puppy out of your sight. Not for one second. I kid you not; if you look away for two seconds when you look back they well be peeing on your rug. This is where the crate comes in (more on crates a little further down). If you have to cook a meal, work on a project, check your e-mail, etc...first take the puppy outside and offer it a chance to go potty. Use the same phrase repeatedly (all of my dogs know this phrase as "go pooottty" I kind of sing it) as this will become the command your dog uses for life and will come in handy when you are in a hurry and need it to "hurry up and go" before you are late to work.

Next up on tricks, don't hit your dog, rub your dog's nose in it, etc...the trick is you MUST catch your dog mid squat and then yell NO BAD POTTY or something to that effect. If you wish you can use a startle device, such as and air horn, cymbals, etc. I give up on devices because by the time I can find it and activate it too much time has passed and the dog has no idea what it did wrong. The real emphasis here is catching your puppy IN THE ACT and immediately taking it outside so it can finish what it was doing. Then offer praise, I always used the phrase GOOD POTTY with a pat on the head. For one of the dogs we offered a small treat after each successful potty outside, but I didn't think it was really necessary.

I still tell my dogs good potty, it's just a habit. Honey (the only one of my dogs that was already potty trained when I got her, but I did crate train her) hasn't had an accident in over five years and I still tell her, "good potty," every time we go outside. She is smart and understands words, so I figure I might as well keep right on thanking her for waiting sometimes as long as ten hours (commute to work, full shift, commute back) to go potty. I believe she genuinely lives her life to make me happy so when she does things that make me happy I praise her. Discipline is good, but you must balance it with praise. Dogs thrive on praise.

More about incorporating crate training into the potty training process. Choose a crate that your dog will, at adult size, be able to comfortably stand up in and turn a circle. If it is still a puppy, wall off the bulk of the crate with a divider to a size that the puppy can just turn a circle in and lie down. If the crate is too big, the puppy will potty in it. If the crate is sized/walled off so that your doggy cannot get away from a puddle of pee, it won't potty in the crate unless you leave it in too long.

Next thing about using the crate...don't leave an un-potty trained dog, especially a puppy, in the crate for extended periods of time. I started off at one hour with Cocoa, because she was JUST six weeks when we got her and her bladder was so small. She ate like a pig and we quickly increased the time range the larger she grew. When the puppy has been in the crate for say, an hour, open the crate and CARRY it outside and set it on the grass. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, I mean straight outside. Tell it to go potty. Praise your puppy when it goes. If it doesn't have to go, do not let it out of your site for 1/2 a second when you go back inside. Many times with each dog this happened to me. A lot of the time I would put them right back in the crate for another thirty minutes, hour (depending on the size/age of the dog) and then we would go outside and try again. I used the CARRY method until they had the mobility to run straight outside. New puppies can be clumsy and they trip and sometimes cannot make it all the way outside on their own. Set your puppy up for success!

Between all of this catching them in the act, praising them when they potty outside, and going straight outside from the moment the door of the crate opens, your dog WILL be potty trained. It is not going to happen overnight, which is why I made the suggestion about recycling the towels. One example, Cocoa was a BIG (like 70 pounds full grown) dog, but she was only about 5 lbs when we got her. It took until she was a good 45 lbs or so (I am guesstimating six months old) before she pretty much had it. Yes it sucked having a 45 lb dog pee on the carpet, but technically she was still a puppy. One day a little light-bulb went on in her head and she just got it and I don't think she ever had another accident unless it was OUR fault (like being left inside for too long un-crated, etc) or she was sick. Pretty much the same scenario for each dog, just like a child, one day they just, "get it."

One note is that if you have a larger dog, eventually they will be able to go the full shift you are at work with no problem. Smaller dogs will need to be let out more frequently or provided a potty patch (fake grass, think litterbox for a dog), etc. Also it is funny how crating a dog if you are gone will increase how long they will wait to potty, but again don't be cruel and crate your dog for ten hours at a time, eventually it's bladder will fill up and it will have no choice but to go.

I know I mentioned that my dog Honey will wait up to ten hours, un-crated, this is accomplished through feeding her the same time of day so that she does her, "business," at the same time of day and I can fit it into my crazy schedule. Also I do leave her water during the day, but not ten cups of water. She is a 60 lb dog, so I leave about 10 to 16 oz of water in her bowl if I am not going to be home. When she eats, and any other time I am home, she has unlimited access to water. It is important to leave fresh water for you dog, do not completely deprive it of water to control it's potty schedule. She has gotten used to this schedule and will drink about six cups of water from the time I get home and all through the night (she will literally lick her bowl dry overnight) and then in the early morning she whines at me to wake me up to take her out. She barely touches her water during the day, she never finishes the small amount I leave out for her. I think she has just grown accustomed to this schedule. Dogs are like children, they do like schedules.

The crate, the whole crate, and nothing but the crate!

Let me dedicate a paragraph or two specifically to crate training. I use the word, "crate," and my dogs know it is time to get in the crate. You may choose another word, it's like choosing the potty command...keep it simple and something you are going to be saying to your dog for then next ten, fifteen years so make sure you like it. Everytime you put your dog in the crate, use the word or phrase you have chosen. This includes the ten times a day you put your dog in the crate for the purpose of potty training. Dogs can understand a wide range of verbal commands, and after a few days of repitition they will know exactly what you are talking about. If you start early enough you will not need treats or anything else and your dog will willingly go into the crate when you tell it to.

Crate training an older dog is not as easy as if you incorporated the crate training into the potty training, as was the case with my Honey who was about 9 months old when I got her. This will require some patience and understanding, and treats help. Do not force you dog into the crate unwillingly. Make going into the crate a positive experience. Use treats in conjunction with your chosen command for going into the crate, and lots and lots of praise. This is going to take a few days in the least with a mild mannered dog and longer if your dog is dead set against it or has had a negative experience in relation to a crate. Be patient, but also you will have to be firm if your doggy is not responding. Depending upon your dog's personality you may not have a single problem, or you may have to deal with loud whining, barking, etc.

I was fortunate enough that my dogs took to the crate easy. Cocoa did the whole, "barking while crated," thing sometimes which we never really resolved, just ignored it like you would a child's temper-tantrum. Same psychology. Getting a dog to do anything is a LOT like getting a three year old to do anything. Some of them (dogs and children) are just more willfull than others. If you have raised children all off this will come second nature to you.

 One final note.  I do not believe in using potty pads, unless you have a small dog that is going to be using potty pads pretty much it's whole life due to your schedule, or you live on the 10th floor, etc.  I think the whole idea of it being OK to potty on a pad, and then all of a sudden it is not ok anymore is just too confusing for a dog.  If you are planning on using potty pads for the entirety of the dogs life, you may want to look into some sort of, "potty patch."  Looks better than little pads with spots of pee and piles of dog doo scattered throughout your apartment.