How long to keep puppy in crate for training. It teaches them responsibility and calms anxiety. Crate training isnt imprisoning your dog. If you have times when you cant be there ask a neighbor or hire a pet sitter to give your pup a break.
Make sure you set it up. 2 4 hours max for an 8 12 wk old puppy basically about 1 hour per month of age the majority can go 6 8 hours at night once theyre on a proper schedule. That means that a four month old puppy can stay in a crate for about four hours.
Set your puppy up for success and take advantage of this instinct by planning for middle of the night potty breaks so they arent physically pushed past what their little bladders can handle. Leaving a puppy alone for eight hours is not good for young puppies. Schade says that its better to be safe than sorry and to use your puppys age as a good estimate for how long he can go between bathroom breaks.
How long a puppy can stay in a crate depends on their age and one rule of thumb is to keep the duration to about one hour for each month of age. Crate duration crate duration. Extending crate time days 3 6 step 3.
See the next section for a more detailed table. Dogs 17 weeks and older can typically handle four to five hours of crate time daily. Youre doing the right thing you cannot crate a puppy for longer than they can hold their bladder so 4 hours would be too long.
The same goes for adult dogs being housetrained. Important note according to the animal humane society leaving a puppy in a crate for an 8 10 hour workday is not an appropriate way to crate train. First time in a crate days 1 2 it is important that before you start crate training the crate is set up correctly.
Crate training helps with house training because dogs naturally do not want to soil where they sleep. At 11 to 14 weeks old they shouldnt be crated longer than one to three hours daily. Create positive associations with the crate through the use of treats and games.
Enjoying crate time days 7 11 step 4. How to crate train a puppy. They cant control their bladders or bowels for that long.
Puppies 8 to 10 weeks of age should be crated for no more than 30 to 60 minutes per day. However the aspca has general guidelines as to how long you can keep puppies crated. At 15 to 16 weeks of age three to four hours per day is appropriate.
So a 2 month old puppy can usually hold it for three hours and a 3 month old puppy can generally hold it for four hours. I advise the use of an exercise pen in my guide to house training a puppy.