Easy Ways To Crate Train A German Shepherd

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Every single year, millions of dog owners around the country learn how to isolate their dogs in a crate when they leave the house so they can reduce anxiety, destructive behaviour and barking. In addition, it is a vital tool when you are trying to housebreak a new german shepherd puppy and it can simplify your life greatly than if you end up with your dog sleeping in the bed or on your couch.

Whether you’re learning how to crate train a german shepherd or just determining if it is safe for your dog, know that most dogs love their crates. This is because in the wild, dogs seek out small and safe locations they can burrow into for warmth and safety. With a crate, dogs get to have that safe burrowing area that belongs to them and them alone. When dogs are given too much space, they can’t figure out where is their own “home” and where isn’t, and they get anxious about trying to control the whole space.

Ideally, you will crate train your german shepherd as a puppy. Full grown dogs get anxious about crate training because they haven’t lived in that small space before. In the beginning, your german shepherd pup may be upset, but it will adapt more quickly, especially if it has not had the opportunity to sleep in your bed with you.

It is best to place the crate in the family room where a lot of people will be. Keep the crate in your bedroom at night so your dog feels safe with you around. Eventually, after a month or so, you should be able to leave them in one place, but for now, be close to keep them calm and safe.

When you put your puppy in the crate, make sure he has a clean, comfortable place to sleep, a source of water, and a toy to play with. The crate only needs to be large enough so he can sleep in it. If he can walk around in it, he may make a mess in it. The main thing is that the german shepherd has room to turn around in its crate so it can be comfortable.

When you’re learning how to crate train a german shepherd puppy, make sure you do not pull the dog out if he’s upset about something. This will only teach the puppy that if he makes a fuss, you’ll give him attention. Only let the puppy out if he has been quiet for 5 minutes or more. Then, greet him with a lot of attention and even a treat to reinforce that he did it right.

In the beginning you should try to leave the german shepherd puppy in his crate for short periods of time, maybe an hour or two at most. Eventually as the german shepherd puppy grows, you can increase this time so it is a full night of sleep or equal to your entire workday.

If you can learn how to properly train a german shepherd puppy, you will never again have to worry about your dog getting too loud, anxious, or destructive when you leave the house. On top of that, german shepherd puppies adapt much quicker and that means less stress on everyone in the household.

USAToday Pet Talk: Revolutionary new PowerLoo is a doo-gooder

It's revolutionary. It's not cheap. And it's destined to prompt a certain amount of late-night talk-show guffawing.

But some early converts are raving about it.

It's the PowerLoo, a recently released invention aimed at a segment of the dog-obsessed among us.

A little like an in-ground toilet bowl (though, really, it's quite attractive and comes in several colors) that you bury in a secluded part of your yard, it addresses some of the worst aspects of dealing with dog doo.

Dogs don't stroll on up and use it on their own (sorry to say), but when the human lifts the lid of this thing, deposits the pup poop and steps on the flushing device, everything flows away just as it does in your home (since the PowerLoo is connected to your sewer line).

It runs about $1,000 (you can get a freeze-proof one for about $400 more if you live in the cold regions), and, its inventor says, you'll never again have to anguish over your contribution to the tons of doggie dung being hauled off to landfills or contend with many of the other disagreeable aspects of dog waste.

It's easy to see why a boarding facility or a veterinarian's office would find this product pretty irresistible. Untold pounds of waste every day. Scooping and bagging it before dumping it into the garbage container, where it simmers in the hot sun, stinking up the area, attracting flies and all, for however long it takes until haul-away day arrives.

PAW PRINT POST: Don't tread on ... poop

"I could not be in this business without it," Diane Shoffner says. She opened an upscale boarding, grooming and dog day care facility called Sam Russell's Pet Provisions in Elizabethtown, Ky., in February. One of the biggest worries she had during the planning phase was "what am I going to do with all that poop?" Thirty to 50 dogs at any given time. And, well, you see the problem.

Kennel workers just "scoop everything up and flush it away," a time-saving process compared with the old way. Moreover, it's a conversation-starter that's great for business, she says. When would-be clients come to scope out the facility, "the last stop is the PowerLoo. They're fascinated." The gadget has turned out to be so much better than she has expected, and, in fact, she's an authorized seller now.

But could a regular pet owner with a less voluminous waste situation find happiness with such a product? Some apparently can. Karie Ross and her husband, Detroit Tigers CEO Dave Dombrowski, have "three little crazy weenie dogs," says Ross. And three acres. So there's no risk they'd be ankle deep in dog mess if they weren't totally vigilant about pickup patrol. And yet, she's crazy about the PowerLoo.

"It's like a new toy we show all our friends," she says with a laugh.

But seriously. "It keeps you from having to deal with the unpleasantness." It's true one still has to scoop the poop, but that's practically nothing compared with the bag transfer and the odoriferous storage can, she says. "It's really something that should have been invented years ago."

Well, now it has been.

The inventor, Curt Fournier, says the made-and-based-in-Michigan product he spent years researching and perfecting is tracking to sell more than 500 this year with almost nothing in the way of marketing and advertising.

The No. 1 question people ask, he acknowledges, is: Can't the human cut himself or herself out as the middle man, and get the dog to pop up the lid, use the thing and flush it?

"There may be some people who can train their dog to do that," he says. And some purchasers have claimed that was their aim. But so far, no one has called to report success.

resource: http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/pets/2010-08-10-pettalk10_ST_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip