“Is it cruel to crate a puppy at night? “, asked one of my readers recently. After searching the Internet, I found that there is no scientific answer for this question. However, there are some factors that you need to consider when deciding whether or not you should crate your puppies at night. Here they are.
o If you want to crate your dog at night to sleep alone, then this is fine. However, you must provide them enough sleeping space. Some dogs sleep well in their crate, but some do not. You should give them enough room to turn around.
o If you are going to crate your puppies because you want them to be alone during the day, then you may also want to do this when they are still puppies. Puppies are natural day animals and will most likely require some alone time during the day. They need time to explore their surroundings and play with you. Forcing them to stay in their crate all night will only be counterproductive. Give them some alone time, but make sure you allow them to get up to play with you as well.
o It depends on how your puppy reacts to being crate trained. If your puppy finds it scary to be left alone, then you probably should not leave him in his crate all night. You may want to start crate training while he is still a puppy. The same goes if he reacts well to you crate training, then leave him alone in his crate for hours at a time.
o You should only use your crate if you know your dog will be gone for long periods of time. Some dogs just don’t like being alone for very long periods of time. If you leave your dog in his crate for more than an hour, he may develop a nasty fear of the crate. This fear can make him afraid to go into his crate to relieve himself. So, if you plan on leaving your dog in his crate all night, then make sure you only leave him there for an hour or so. This way he will have less fear about being alone in the dark.
o If you do decide to crate train your puppy at night, then make sure you do it properly. Use a nice crate that is big enough for your puppy to turn around in and lay in comfortably. Do not crowd the puppy into the crate; he does not need to see every face or person in the room. Place a few toys in the crate for him to chase after so that he can use his imagination while he is in the crate. Your puppy needs to be comfortable in his crate, so try to keep it as quiet as possible when your puppy is inside.
o If your puppy decides he no longer wants to be in his crate during the night, then it is cruelty to crate your puppy at night. If you punish your puppy when he is not potty trained, then this can become a habit and the puppy will not learn any other bad habits. Always remember to praise your puppy whenever he is doing his business, and let him know he did a good job. This will make the puppy wants to keep up his good behavior.
o If you decide to crate your puppy at night to reduce the chance of him sleeping in a dirty place, then you are making a wrong decision. A puppy cannot be made to live in a crate all the time because he will not be able to control his bladder until he is four months old. If you plan to crate train your puppy to be a house dog, then you should crate train him while he is still a puppy. Never crate train a puppy that is older. Once he is fully grown, he will be able to control his bladder on his own and will not need to be crate trained.