Portable Dog Crates - Doggies On The Move

Portable dog crates are a life saver when you need to move your dog around a lot, or if you plan to move the dog crate from room to room in your house.

Assuming at this point that you have properly trained your dog with the dog crate and it uses it each day, you may want to have your crate out with you where you spend the most time during the day. Then at night you might want to move it into your bedroom and this is where a portable dog crate is best.

Portable dog crates tend to be a combination of plastic and wire. This makes them lighter and easier to move around. Although a portable dog crate can be light and maneuverable, it can also be quite hot and not very well ventilated.

Be sure to keep this in mind depending on what type of climate you live in and what time of year it is. Never leave you dog alone in its dog crate for too long. Always make sure you provide your dog some water if they are going to be inside the crate for a long time.

If your plan is to leave the dog crate in an area permanantly, then you might want to look at buying a wire mesh dog crate instead of the portable dog crate. I'll go into the wire mesh dog crate later, but for now keep in mind your needs when it comes to the dog crate.

Advantages:

• lightweight
• Sturdy
• Easy to move
• Provides closed in surroundings on all sides except the door of course (your dog likes that)
• Durable

Disadvantages:

• Not very visually attractive if meant to stay in one place
• Doesn't provide great air flow
• Can be hot for your dog depending on length of time inside and external temperature

Using your portable dog crate under the right circumstances will make all the difference for both you and your dog. A little bit of thought before you go out and purchase a dog crate can save you both money and frustration later on. Just consider your needs and exactly what the dog crate will be used for and you wont have any trouble.

How To Crate Train Your Dog - The Introduction

The most important step in getting your dog used to its new dog crate is the initial introduction of the crate to your dog.

First of all you can do this by positioning the dog crate where you spend the most time. Keep the dog crate close by the family members where your dog can feel comfortable and not isolated. You will also want to take the door off the dog crate because at first you are not going to use it anyway.

You don’t want any loud noises or doors slamming that might scare your dog away from its dog crate from the start.

You want to make the dog crate an inviting place for your dog, so you might want to put one of its favourite blankets or soft doggie beds in the dog crate to start off with. This helps breed familiarity with the new space and also begins to give it a smell that your dog is used to.

Now you want your dog to actually step foot (or paws), inside the dog crate so they can start to get a feeling for it. You can do this by using their favourite treat. Lets say it’s a small dog bone. Put the treat in the dog crate and encourage your dog to step in and take the treat. As they step in to get the treat you want to use a verbal command such as “Kennel”, or “Go to bed”, or whatever you want to use. In the future you will use this command when you want your dog to go to its crate for whatever reason.

Try sitting down beside the dog crate as the dog is inside eating the treat. As they finish and walk out, put another treat inside and use the command.

After they take the treat be sure to positively reinforce them with some petting and a “good boy…or girl”.

As with anything in dog training, you need to do this repetitively at first. You want your dog to make the connection between going into the dog crate, and getting a reward (treat). The good feelings that come from finding a treat and eating it, will begin to be associated with the dog crate, and your dog will learn that this is a great place to be!

Ok, great, but the time it takes to eat a treat is not very long. You want your dog to learn to stay in the kennel for longer periods of time. You can get your furball to stay in the kennel longer by putting their Kong (or other toy) inside, but fill it with something that will take a bit longer to eat.

My dogs love peanut butter. A Kong filled with peanut butter keeps them busy for a while and they love it! You can also use a toy that you can stuff with hard treats. This keeps them occupied as they work to get the treats out of the toy. Whatever method you currently use is what you should stick with.

If you don’t use a Kong or some other toy that holds treats and makes your dog work for them, then you may want to pick one up. They are great.

I had a dog trainer explain trying to get a dog into a dog crate in the following way. Imagine that you had a fear of elevators, or you just didn’t know what an elevator was. So you walk with your friend up to the elevator doors but you still have no idea what these silver metal things in front of you are, but you’re with your friend so you are fine. Then all of a sudden the doors open. You’re a little startled but your friend gives you an encouraging smile and a person standing in the elevator holds out a $100 bill, and says “here you go, this is for you”. Would you step in and take the bill?

I think most of us would. Of course this is a bit of an exaggeration as far as it relates to dogs, but the point is that you first need to “bribe” the dog to get inside the dog crate. Your dog doesn’t mind, its getting a great treat, and you’re getting your dog to do what you want it to do.

Soon enough, using the word that you have decided on to get your dog inside its dog crate, and using your Kong or whatever toy you have to reward the dog for stepping in the kennel, your dog will learn that your command means good times in that box shaped thing with a roof.

After you’ve got your dog to spend a few minutes in the dog crate with their reward, let them check out the new surroundings themselves. Let them get a feel for it. They’ll soon realize they have walls around them and a roof over their heads, and most likely they’ll begin to think…”Hey, I kinda like this place”. Especially if its padded with their favourite blanket or bed.

Once there is no sign of fear, you can attempt to close the door of the dog crate while the dog is inside enjoying a treat. Again, go slowly so you don’t scare the dog, and increase the length of time you do this. The goal is to go longer and longer.

You want your dog to get used to being inside with a closed door. This obviously will be beneficial when you leave the house and you want to put your dog inside its dog crate for any length of time. Remember that when you are at home, your dog may just wander off and sleep in the kennel on its own.

There is really no need to have a closed door at this point, so don’t feel that every single time the dog is in the kennel that the door has to be closed. At first you will do this because you want to get that behaviour learned, but once your dog is used to the dog crate, just let them use it when they want.

This article is not meant to go into extreme detail on every little aspect of doing this exercise, but is designed to give you a better understanding of the process that your dog goes through when it learns a new behaviour or adjusts to new surroundings.

Many different dog trainers have their own opinions and methods, but I am of the firm belief that you should always positively reinforce your dog when you are training. No matter what you are trying to teach your dog, never hit the dog or act out in a negative way towards your dog. This may seem obvious to most people, but I have seen too many people still using the “rolled up newspaper’ method, and I don’t think that works.

Make your dog crate a happy place to be, and your entire home will benefit.

Never Discipline With A Dog Crate

You should never use your dog crate as a means of disciplining your dog. The whole point of the dog crate is to give your dog a "happy place". Somewhere they can go to feel comfortable and relaxed.

Dogs are creatures of habit and association. If you begin to use the dog crate as an area that you send your dog to punish them, then they will begin to associate the dog crate with being bad. Somewhere they don't want to be.

This will take away any positive reinforcement you have already built up. You've taken the time to get your dog used to the crate by encouraging him to walk in and lay down. You've probably used treats or their favorite toys to "bribe" them inside the dog crate.

The worst thing you could do at this point would be to drag your dog by the collar because it had an accident on the floor, and push them into the crate and slam the door. The poor dog will feel your energy, know it did something wrong and begin to learn that the crate is somewhere they are taken when you are angry and they are in trouble.

You must do your best to maintain the dog crate as a safe haven for your dog. They need a place they know they can go and get away from it all. A place that soothes that natural instinct of having a den.

A dog crate can be used as a place to put your dog if you need to get them away from other situations you don't want them in. Maybe you have visitors and you don't want the dog jumping on people, or you just want them out of the way for a short period of time. For this you would simply put your dog in its dog crate, but in a normal relaxing manner.

Never with a raised voice or aggressive action.

Following these simple guidelines will help to maintain your dogs little home as a happy and safe place that they will enjoy spending time in.

Your dog crate should always be your dogs favorite little room, and never a detention center.

Thats all for now.

Jim

If you're not entirely sure if you need a dog crate for your dog, check out this page for more information:

Why Do I Need A Dog Crate For My Dog?

About This Blog

This blog is designed and developed as a tool for dog owners and lovers to use as a reference point for dog crates.

If you already have a dog and a dog crate, or you're a new dog owner and aren't exactly sure what to do with a crate, this site will help you figure out how a dog crate can make your life easier and your training more effective.

You will find many tips and techniques on dog training as it relates to dog crates. You'll also find many reviews and research on the many different styles of dog crates available in the market today.

• Collapsible Dog Crates
• Metal Dog Crates
• Soft Dog Crates
• Puppy Crates
• Airline Dog Crates
• Portable Dog Crates
• Large Dog Crates
• Small Dog Crates

These are just a sample of what is available out there. You need to know exactly what type of crate will suit you the best if you want it to be a good addition to your training.

After spending a few minutes on this site you will have a better understanding of the importance of dog crates and the style that is most effective for your dog.

Privacy Policy

I respect your privacy and I am committed to safeguarding your privacy while online at this site dogcratesonline.blogspot.com The following discloses how I gather and disseminate information for this Blog.

RSS Feeds and Email Updates

If a user wishes to subscribe to my RSS Feeds or Email Updates (powered by Feedburner), I ask for contact information such as name and email address. Users may opt-out of these communications at any time. Your personal information will never be sold or given to a third party. (You will never be spammed by me - ever)

Log Files and Stats

Like most blogging platforms I use log files, in this case Statcounter. This stores information such as internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring, exit and visited pages, platform used, date/time stamp, track user’s movement in the whole, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information.

Cookies

A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s computer tied to information about the user. This blog doesn't use cookies. However, some of my business partners use cookies on this site (for example - advertisers). I can't access or control these cookies once the advertisers have set them.

Links

This Blog contains links to other sites. Please be aware that I am not responsible for the privacy practices of these other sites. I suggest my users to be aware of this when they leave this blog and to read the privacy statements of each and every site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Blog.

Advertisers

I use outside ad companies to display ads on this blog. These ads may contain cookies and are collected by the advertising companies and I do not have access to this information. I work with the following advertising companies: Google Adsense, ROI Rocket, Project Payday. Please check the advertisers websites for respective privacy policies.

Contact Information

If you have any questions or concerns please contact Jim Jarvis at jimjarvisonline@gmail.com. This privacy policy updated March 2009.

Why Do I Need A Dog Crate For My Dog?

One of the most important tools you can use to help train your dog is a dog crate. You may also use the term dog kennel or dog cage, but for the purpose of this article we will use dog crate.

There are currently three dogs in our house. I say currently because my wife works at the local Humane Society and this usually means we have many “visitors” come to stay with us at the house.

Some go back once they’ve found a new home, and some stay…for good! Animals of all kinds, but our favourite is dogs.

The latest addition to the pack is Shayla. We don’t know exactly what happened to Shayla, but she was picked up on the streets, skinny, scared and homeless. She was afraid of anyone who came near her and was thought to be such a far gone dog that she was scheduled to be put down.

This led to her coming home with us, to see if there was any way we could help to re-habilitate her. My wife also being a dog trainer, she wanted to give Shayla a chance to become a dog that would be adoptable. It was later discovered that Shayla also had a heart problem which is sure to shorten her life, and made her even harder to adopt.

This poor dog had all the odds stacked against her, and although I wasn’t that excited about having another dog in the house, I immediately felt bad for Shayla and wanted to help in any way I could.

She was very timid of people when she first came home, and would bark very loudly when anyone came to the house. For the first few weeks she would bark at me if I came in the room she was in which we thought maybe she had a vision problem and didn’t recognize me. We later found out that her vision is fine. Atleast something works on that dog ; )!

The Vet estimated Shayla to be around 3 years old when she came to the Humane Society, which brought the “You Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks” saying to my mind. We tried many different techniques to help Shayla get more comfortable in the house and nothing seemed to work.

She was getting better in some aspects, but was still very anxious and would relieve herself in the house almost every day. She would not come close to strangers and would bark in her loudest “Don’t come near me” voice!

Dog Crate To The Rescue

Then we had the light bulb moment of trying a dog crate. Sometimes the answers are difficult to see because they’re right in front of your face. Back to basics it was. Now Shayla’s a big girl so we needed a large dog crate for her. We settled on getting her a collapsible metal dog crate and started to use it to help train her.

The results were immediate. She took to that dog crate like a duck to water. She has since actually tried to get into one of our other dog crates, but it belongs to Molly, and Molly is about a quarter of the size of Shayla. It was like Winnie The Pooh trying to get into that cave and getting stuck. It was a funny thing to see.

We started to use the dog crate for many different reasons. First of all we used it to give her somewhere to sleep at night that made her comfortable. She used to pace the floor of the bedroom all night long and would never settle down. From the very first night in the dog crate, she slept all night long without making a sound.

She suffered very badly from separation anxiety whenever we would leave the house and not take her. Everything from tipping over the garbage can and spreading it all over the house, to ripping the blinds down from the windows and peeing on the carpet. It was taking it’s toll on the house and was getting out of control.

We started putting her in her dog crate when we would leave the house, at first we would only do this for short periods of time. Maybe when we went for a walk with the other dogs, or whenever we knew we wouldn’t be long. This also worked at calming her down and giving her a “safe zone”.

A dog’s instinct is to never relieve themselves in their den, and this has been the case with all our dogs and their dog crates. Not once have they ever made a mess in their “den”.

We’ve put the dog crates in the corners of our bedroom as dogs want to be close to you at all times, especially when they are sleeping. This is their natural pack mentality, so it’s important to keep them comfortable that way.

Of course this all depends on the size of your room, and the size of your dog crates. Large dog crates can be difficult to fit in your room, and if you happen to have more than one dog, this can also be a challenge to try and get all the dog crates in one room.

Somehow we manage. I think for most people when it comes to making their dogs happy and healthy, both physically and mentally, we would do almost anything to help them out, so a little inconvenience with a dog crate is not such a big deal.

Portable dog crates and collapsible dog crates are quick to move around and make life much easier.

In this website on dog crates, I will go over the many different types of dog crates that are available on the market, as well exactly how you can use a dog crate to train your dog and make both your lives better.

Shayla’s story is only one example of how a dog crate can totally transform your dog’s life for the better. Each dog is different and has different issues to tackle, but the main thing to remember is to be patient with your dog, and allow it act in a natural way and use this to your advantage.

A dog crate is probably your most important tool in getting your furry friend to be a great member of your pack.

More coming soon...

Jim

Dog Crate Selection For Your Dog

Welcome to Dog Crates Online. This site provides tips and techniques for dog owners looking to buy a dog crate, or train their dog using a crate. No matter the size of your dog, you will find large dog crates, small dog crates and many other styles and sizes to suit your needs.