NicoleLJ
08-21-2007, 11:41 PM
I thought it would be fun tonight(and I could use some fun) to walk you all through my process of crate training a litter of 6 puppies. Now we have been doing this since Friday so they are actually doing very well and some are almost ready to move on to 10 whole minutes instead of 5.
First we now do it 3 at a time. We get their food ready in their seperate dishes and move the food into the back corner of the crate. Then we place the puppy in front of the crate on the floor and they are first given the option to walk in on their own. If they don't then we would place them in. But tonight was a huge break through and all walked into their crates after hubby put them down in front of it. As they walk in and start eating or sniffing around we close the door and the timer starts. It is set for 5 minutes. The first 3 pups are:
Dark Blue who is now 11lbs
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/DBA21.jpg
Green who is now 11lbs
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/GA21.jpg
And Light Blue who is now 13lbs(biggest boy of the lot)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/LBA21.jpg
They have to be quiet the whole 5 minutes before the door is opened. All of these pups, as you can see by the pics are eating and stayed quiet the whole 5 minutes. All the crates are side by side(excuse the carpet, haven't vacuumed yet today)
Dark Blue and Green in their crates
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/BDGA21.jpg
Dark Blue and Light Blue in theirs
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/DBLBA21.jpg
After the 5 minutes is up and if they have all been quiet then the doors are opened and they get to come out when they decide too. Dark Blue and Green came out right as the door opened. Light Blue decided to eat for another minute and came out after 6 minutes in the crate. He didn't care that teh door was opened. Then they get praised and loved on and then moved to the playroom(Kitchen). The food left in their dishes are then scraped to teh large dish to be finished as a whole group after everyone has been fed.
The next group is:
Red who is 10 1/2 lbs
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/RedA21.jpg
Rainbow who is 10 lbs
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/RainA21.jpg
and Light Yellow who is 11 1/2 lbs
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/LYA21.jpg
They also all walked in on their own. Red and Yellow went right to eating. Rainbow decided he was not interested in the food. Sniffed around and then started to fuss(whinning and barking)
Red & Rain
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/RedRainA21.jpg
Rain and Light Yellow
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/RainLYA21.jpg
First we now do it 3 at a time. We get their food ready in their seperate dishes and move the food into the back corner of the crate. Then we place the puppy in front of the crate on the floor and they are first given the option to walk in on their own. If they don't then we would place them in. But tonight was a huge break through and all walked into their crates after hubby put them down in front of it. As they walk in and start eating or sniffing around we close the door and the timer starts. It is set for 5 minutes. The first 3 pups are:
Dark Blue who is now 11lbs
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/DBA21.jpg
Green who is now 11lbs
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/GA21.jpg
And Light Blue who is now 13lbs(biggest boy of the lot)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/LBA21.jpg
They have to be quiet the whole 5 minutes before the door is opened. All of these pups, as you can see by the pics are eating and stayed quiet the whole 5 minutes. All the crates are side by side(excuse the carpet, haven't vacuumed yet today)
Dark Blue and Green in their crates
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/BDGA21.jpg
Dark Blue and Light Blue in theirs
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/DBLBA21.jpg
After the 5 minutes is up and if they have all been quiet then the doors are opened and they get to come out when they decide too. Dark Blue and Green came out right as the door opened. Light Blue decided to eat for another minute and came out after 6 minutes in the crate. He didn't care that teh door was opened. Then they get praised and loved on and then moved to the playroom(Kitchen). The food left in their dishes are then scraped to teh large dish to be finished as a whole group after everyone has been fed.
The next group is:
Red who is 10 1/2 lbs
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/RedA21.jpg
Rainbow who is 10 lbs
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/RainA21.jpg
and Light Yellow who is 11 1/2 lbs
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/LYA21.jpg
They also all walked in on their own. Red and Yellow went right to eating. Rainbow decided he was not interested in the food. Sniffed around and then started to fuss(whinning and barking)
Red & Rain
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/RedRainA21.jpg
Rain and Light Yellow
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h264/NicoleLJ_2003/RainLYA21.jpg