Crate training is a breeze, said no one! Crate training a Lab puppy is not for the faint of heart. It’s a job that requires lots of patience and most importantly persistence. Labrador retrievers hold their own special challenges when it comes to crate training. They have very high energy levels with a need for human attention and interaction.
If you work outside of the home or have a puppy that is progressing in potty training, you may need to introduce more consistent crate training into your day-to-day routine.
Crate Training a Lab Puppy
How do you crate train a Lab Puppy? For effective crate training, follow the guidelines below:
- Prep the crate ahead of time
- Take it slow when introducing your puppy to the crate
- Consistently use a verbal command
- Slowly extend the amount of time puppy spends in the crate
- Puppy needs to stay in the crate overnight
- Always correct unwanted behavior
When your crate training your Lab it’s very important that you empathize and extend lots of compassion as a dog-owner. You need to recognize that this is an uncomfortable and new experience for your dog, giving them the time they need to adapt to your new process.
Although the guidelines below are general, in the sense that they can be applied to any dog, you must ensure that your lab pup is comfortable with the training sessions to ensure a safe and positive experience for you both.
Crate Training a Lab Puppy Step 1. Prep the Crate Ahead of Time
One of the most important elements in crate training a lab puppy and your experience is the crate, of course! You need to ensure that your dog’s crate is not only aesthetically pleasing to you, but comfortable for them!
A medium-large sized crate is best for Labrador Retrievers. I would not recommend anything smaller. Your pup should have all the room needed to do the following without running into the sides of the crate cramping themselves:
- Sit up
- Stand
- Turn around
- Lay down
If you have a puppy, you should still invest in a medium-large sized crate. This will save you money in the long-run since purchasing a small crate for your puppy’s current size will only be a temporary solution. You’ll have to purchase a larger (more expensive) crate in only a few months, so you might as well get the appropriate size for their adult body now.
We don’t want to go too small but we also don’t want to go too big. If your puppy has too much extra space in the crate it can encourage them to use one side as a rest area and the other as a potty spot. If they aren’t very far in housetraining, this can work against your training efforts, so you need to get a crate that can go through the “growing” process with your pup.
Some crates come with dividers to expand the floor space of the crate as your puppy grows. Once your pup is fully grown, you can simply remove the divider. These are highly recommended. For recommendations see our article on Best Crates for Labradors. If you can not find a crate with a divider, you can use a cardboard box to block off a section and make the space appropriate.
Remember, dogs instinctively seek out a small den, so they prefer not to have a larger crate than necessary. A perfectly sized crate helps to relive stress and helps them relax and feel safe.
Make the Crate a Welcoming Space for Your Pup
When setting up a crate:
- Line the crate with your dog’s favorite bed or blanket
- Toss in some toys.
- Place crate near you
Try not to buy new toys and accessories for this purpose – using things that were already played with by your pup or present in your home is better as they will already have yours and your pup’s scent on them.
Placing the crate near you, makes the crate more comfortable and inviting for your dog. This makes it a positive experience. Place the crate in an area of your home where your dog can still see and hear you. (After all, dogs are social creatures – especially Labrador Retrievers! – so you shouldn’t start them off in full isolation or they’ll struggle right away)
Crate Training a Lab Puppy Step 2. Slowly Introduce Your Dog to the Crate
Introduce your pup to the crate very slowly. This is imperative to the success of your crate training sessions. Never force them into an unfamiliar crate or other enclosed space – this may introduce (or trigger) trauma and harm the entire process of crate training them.
Allow your dog to have a slow introduction to the crate by using treats or toys. For this, you’ll have to know whether your dog is food-motivated or play-motivated. A few things you can do to encourage them into the crate (and keep them there) include:
- Lots of verbal praise
- Lots of physical praise (i.e., head pats, belly scratches, etc.)
- Using treats or toys to lure them inside of the crate
- Feeding treats through the open crate door to keep them inside
Over time, you must acclimate them to the crate being closed – as you do this, you can feed them treats through the closed door or the wiring of the sides or the top of the crate. This lets them know the crate is a positive area and that there is nothing to fear when inside. You can also feed your dog their regular meals in the crate, to begin to normalize being inside of it.
Continue these slow introduction methods until your dog begins to approach and enter the crate themselves. (Note: Avoid tossing treats into the crate to lure them in. You may accidentally teach them bad habits with this, as it can be difficult to distinguish between a thrown treat and dropped food from your plate, for example.)
Crate Training a Lab Puppy Step 3. Consistently Use a Verbal Command
Once your dog is comfortable with being near and inside the crate, you need to start making this process more intentional. It’s time to start using simple command like “crate” or “place” when it’s time to go inside. Combining this with some of the methods in Step 2 will be a help. Make sure they are comfortable with going in and out of the crate themselves before you step in with commands. To start the command process:
- While your dog is getting into the crate, call out the command you’ve chosen. When they get fully inside reward them with a treat.
- After they’ve sat, or laid down inside the crate repeat the command while giving them another treat. This reinforces the command and teaches your dog that, when they are in their crate, it’s good to sit or lay.
- Repeat this a few times in a row (but no more than 10-15 minutes at a time, depending on your dog’s personality – excessive training sessions will burn both you and your dog out and take away from, rather than contribute to their learning).
If you feel you need more training info, check out our Guide to Training a Labrador Retriever.
Crate Training a Lab Puppy Step 4. Slowly Extend the Time Puppy Spends in the Crate
It’s time to take things to the next level. Your Lab puppy needs to be used graduate to spending more than a few seconds in the crate. At this point, you should have acclimated them to the crate being closed for short periods of time. Now, you need to start extending those periods to more realistically train them for your absence.
Very similar to steps 2 and 3, you’ll need to give your pup lots of praise, support and treats! You’ll need to gently work them up to being in there for several hours at a time:
- Take a slow and start with just a few minutes.
- Create a positive atmosphere in the crate by giving them their toys, blankets and beds. You want to surround them with things they are comfortable with.
- Maybe you’ve noticed but some dogs like to watch television. If that’s your dog, try leaving the TV on at a low volume. This can comfort them making them feel like they aren’t by themselves. The idea is to make them as comfortable as possible, and the experience of being left alone in the crate normal.
- When you start your dog in the crate, stay in the room with them while paying little to no attention to them for several minutes. If they stay quiet and keep to themselves, be sure to give them lots of treats and praise.
- Once they’ve reached this step, move them up by leaving them alone in a room for several minutes. Make sure you don’t take off too quickly on this step, take it slow! Even if your dog did well in the crate with you in the room, this is a big adjustment and may take some time.
The purpose at this stage is to let them know that you will always return, no matter how long you leave them. A great place to start is my leaving the room for just a minute. Don’t to this excessively or multiple times in a row, otherwise your dog may miss the point. Try this out just twice a day so that your pup gets the point that you will come back no matter what.
Once they are comfortable with just a minute at a time (after about 1-2 days), make it five minutes, then 10, then 15, and so on. During this phase, it is perfectly normal for your dog to cry and throw tantrums. This is ok, as long as they eventually stop with more practice.
Crate Training a Lab Puppy Step 5. Puppy Needs to Stay in the Crate Overnight
This step can be done either before or after Step 4, that is up to you! The order you do this really just depends on how your dog responds to being in the crate. If they did well while you were away, you may be able to jump right to overnight crating.
If your dog seems more content with you in the room when left in the crate, they may acclimate better if you trained them with overnight crating rather than leaving for work first. If they are calmer with your absence (you can listen in, either by standing quietly at your door or with a pet monitor), then they will do well with you extending their crate time.
Either way, when crate training overnight, you need to:
- Make sure your dog is comfortable
- Give your pup a safe chew toy
For young puppies, you may want to restrict water consumption before they go into the crate overnight. This will prevent them from becoming uncomfortable in the night and/or waking you up early in the morning for a potty break! (For those pups with weak bladders, make sure to line the bottom of their crate with potty pads, just in case!)
Note: When practicing overnight crating, you must stick to a solid schedule. This will help your dog to acclimate, as their body will adjust to the routine. They won’t have to work as hard to fight their bladder (or a hungry tummy!) when they know when they will be released. They also need to know when it’s bedtime.
Crate Training a Lab Puppy Step 6. Always Correct Unwanted Behavior
Last, but definitely not least, it’s very important for you to differentiate with your pup what is acceptable crate behavior and what is bad. Here are some things to watch out for:
- Chewing on the crate. This behavior can seriously harm your dog and cause injuries that can leave their teeth, gums, and nose raw and bloodied. You can curb this behavior by remaining present with them when they are enclosed in the crate so that you can catch the behavior in real-time and correct it as it occurs.
- If this is not an option for you, don’t worry – you are not out of options. Instead, you can purchase bitter apple spray or something similar.
- Pawing at the gate. This behavior usually goes hand in hand with chewing, and inevitably turns into your dog pulling at the metal bars. This is also dangerous because their toes can become stuck. Stop this behavior as soon as possible with corrections, and protect your dog’s toes and feet by covering the bottom of the bars – the most likely area for their paws to get stuck. You can make sure this is covered by purchasing a bed with tall sides to block the small gaps between the bottom of the crate and the waste pan.
- Your dog is also less likely to chew on the wiring if you envelop the crate with a cover. This will darken the space and make them feel cozier and more at home. They won’t be able to see through the wiring, rather, straight to the covering fabric, so they’ll have less reason to try and rip through the bars.
- Ripping toys apart. Note that this is only a problem if it wasn’t already normal for your dog. Ripping or otherwise destroying toys is a sign of pent-up energy that can potentially translate into aggression. This must be addressed as soon as possible.
- Possessiveness of the crate/area surrounding the crate. A dog can become overly protective of things that belong to them, including their safe spaces. Although it is a positive thing for your dog to feel comfortable in their crate, it is unacceptable for them to become so possessive that they are aggressive when you or anyone else approaches. No matter how comfortable with their crate your dog becomes, you must be in control of it at all times – the crate does not belong to them, but to you.
- Loud crying, whining, or barking. It is normal for your dog to panic when in the crate, especially if they are new to it. However, you must draw the line somewhere. Dogs are intelligent – if they figure out that crying just for a few hours will get you to let them out, they will continue to do so. You must set clear expectations for your dog while in the crate.
Picking Out a Crate
Picking the best crate for your dog can be a challenge. If you are not sure of the best crate to use when crate training a lab puppy, be sure to read our article on the Best Dog Crates for Labrador Retrievers. We cover the different types of crates, as well as what to look for in one.
The bottom line when getting a crate is to make sure you get one big enough for them to roam around in. But remember you don’t want to get one that is oversized, as they may use sections of it as a potty area. Getting a crate with a removable divider is helpful so you can adjust it as your puppy gets larger.
Before Getting Into the Crate
The last thing you want when crate training a Lab puppy is one with too much energy. You want to properly prepare them to go into the crate for both your sake and theirs. Don’t force them into an enclosed space when they’re all worked up! Labrador Retrievers need plenty of exercise.
Be sure to exercise them beforehand by:
- Taking them to the dog park
- Going out for a walk or run
- Playing with them for a few minutes before crating (fetch, chase, etc.)
Another important thing, when your pup is in the crate, you need to mind their needs. Their bodies can only handle so much confinement so be sure you don’t leave them for overextended times.
Tend to your dog by:
- Making sure they get potty breaks before and after being in the crate.
- Don’t let them go hungry! Make sure they have been fed before they go into the crate, otherwise they will guranteed cry, and you won’t know why. It’s not healthy to punish a dog for crying when the reason for their distress is entirely preventable. Make sure you have all your bases covered before crating them.
Conclusion
All dogs are different which means training will be different for everyone. Some dogs take to crate training very fast, some take a little longer. Either way you can help make the crate a welcoming safe place for your pup.
Many dogs love going to their crate. Just make sure you do your best at using the crate as a safe spot for your Labrador Retriever, and not as punishment.
If you are just purchasing your dog, be sure to check out our recommended products page to see all of our picks for the items you need to raise a healthy Labrador Retriever.
