Puppy Crate Training Schedule – Successfully Crate Train Your Pup!
Print this free puppy crate training schedule to successfully crate train your sweet pup…
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Puppies are incredible bundles of excitement, frenzy, and affection.
Young puppies need adequate training from their new owners to effectively house train, crate train, and potty train.
If you want to safely crate train your pup and avoid potty accidents throughout the day, crate training is a must!
In this post, we’ll be sharing how to successfully crate train your puppy, as well as our free printable Puppy Crate Training Schedule PDF…
*This post contains affiliate links, however, all opinions are our own, as always.
Why You Should Crate Train Your Dog
According to the AKC website, “Most veterinarians, trainers, and breeders recommend crate training dogs from a young age. Crate training is an essential part of housebreaking puppies, as dogs don’t like to soil their sleeping quarters. They learn to hold their bladder while they’re in their crate, so you won’t have to clean up messes.”
How To Crate Train Your New Puppy
Consistency is key, so know that to successfully crate train your new puppy, you’ll need to keep them on a schedule.
Before You Begin Crate Training A Puppy
Remember that your puppy needs love and patience.
Screaming or losing your cool with your puppy after an indoor accident will not result in a change of behavior.
Remember that your puppy is learning, and the best way to learn is through practice.
Mistakes will be made, accidents will happen, and it will take time.
But if you follow a clear schedule and praise your pup when he does good – the results will speak for themselves.
As your puppy gets older, their bladder size will increase as well, increasing the amount of time they can go between potty breaks.
Overnight crating might be a little stressful at first for your puppy, as well, so expect whining.
Drape a blanket over the crate at night and give him a chew toy or two to make it a welcome and cozy environment.
Remember that fully potty and crate training a puppy can take around 4-6 months, and sometimes upwards of 12 months.
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Consistency Is Key
No matter who is crating, uncrating, or letting your dog out for potty breaks, consistency is key!
Each member of your household, whether it be your youngest child or your roommate, should use the same commands and areas during crate training…
- Use the same door for potty breaks
- Use the same commands to enter the crate (“Go In”), exit the crate (“Let’s Go!”)
- Implement treats for difficult-to-learn tasks like crating or going potty outside
- Use a schedule to keep your puppy’s bladder needs in mind so less accidents happen indoors
Your dog will start to associate these words and actions with potty breaks and sleeping and will be able to tell you when they need to go instead of just…going.
Puppy Crate Training Schedule
Here’s the schedule we use to crate train our puppy…
6:00 a.m. Wake up – immediately take puppy out to potty
6:15 a.m. Give food and water
6:30 a.m. Go outside and play
7:00 a.m. Crate puppy for nap
8:30 a.m. Potty outside and play
9:00 a.m. Crate puppy
11:00 a.m. Go for a walk, potty
12:00 p.m. Give food and water
12:15 p.m. Potty outside
12:30 p.m. Play outside
1:00 p.m. Crate puppy for nap
3:00 p.m. Potty outside
3:15 p.m. Play outside
3:30 p.m. Give food and water
3:45 p.m. Potty outside
4:00 p.m. Crate puppy
6:00 p.m. Potty outside
6:15 p.m. Give food and water
6:30 p.m. Play outside
7:00 p.m. Crate puppy for nap
9:00 p.m. Potty outside
9:15 p.m. Play inside with toys
9:45 p.m. Potty outside
10:00 p.m. Crate for the night
If we stay up beyond 10:00 p.m., which is the case a few nights out of the week, we try to take our puppy out once more.
We also use some calming dog treats (these are our favorite) to help cal him for overnight crating.
They really seem to help!
Download our free printable Puppy Crate Training Schedule below to help housebreak your puppy!
A trick we learned from our vet to help train our dog to like being crated overnight was to offer him a special snack that would both reward him and tire him out.
Here’s what she told us to do:
- grab a kong one size bigger than you typically would buy for your dog
- soak dog food in water for 5-10 minutes, spoon into kong toy. Fill the kong up all the way.
- place kong toy in the freezer for a few hours.
- To crate your dog at night, grab the kong toy from the freezer and spread a thin layer of either peanut butter (xylitol-free) or cream cheese over the kong opening, and give it to your pup in their crate.
If your dog doesn’t care for peanut butter like our puppy, cream cheese is a great second option.
The layer of peanut butter or cream cheese helps entice your dog to start licking the toy there and eating the food inside.
With the bigger kong size, your pet still has to work to get the food/treat from the toy, but they don’t exhaust themselves from doing it too quickly.
This helps provide an instant reward for your dog without discouraging them.
Your dog can be trained to love being crated with this simple and effective treat!
If you’ve successfully crate trained your puppy, what helped you and your fur baby? Share with us in the comments below!
