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Crate Training Question

958 views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  ROLEN 
#1 ·
Hello! New here to the forum and and a proud new owner of a 13 week old male German Shepherd named "Rolen". Quick question regarding crate training.

Prior to bringing home my Puppy, I purchased a large all metal cage for his crate. This one you cannot block off to slowly make it bigger, but I do have a small crate (same metal style) for him when he's younger. Question is....I slowly tried to introduce him to it, put his food in it, he slowly walked in and began eating. Next day when I wanted to get a shower, puppy was placed in his cage. Immedialtey, I heard the normal barking/howling etc. I ignored it for several minutes. As I walked by to go upstairs, I couldn't help but notice my puppy vigorously scratching at the metal bars and wedging his mouth between the bars biting and pulling up. These bars are not very strong where the bottom of the cage meets the door, which is where he was biting. I let him out immediately because I was concerned that if let go for an extended amount of time, he could easily hurt his mouth, paws or cut himself on the metal if it became broken of loose. I was also concerned about him getting his snout stuck between the bars.

I have had him for 4 days now, and every night he's slept quietly on his doggie bed, next to my bed on the floor. I know he needs to be crate trained because when I need to leave the house, he needs to be contained (at least while he's a puppy).

Curious what brand cage/kennel does everyone like to use, Metal, Plastic etc? Any brand names or styles would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!



Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thank You.
 
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#2 ·
:welcome: Hello!! I had a similar problem with my male, who chewed the bars of a metal crate as well. I ended up using one of the plastic airline crates for him- they're cheaper, lighter, more durable, more "escape-proof", and darker inside so they tend to be a little more den-like.

Also, check out Crate Games- there's the DVD on Amazon but you can also find many videos on youtube. It really helps with crate training as well as learning impulse control, etc.
 
#4 ·
My dog would chew on the bars too. He ended up in an airline plastic crate. He still uses it. He loves his crate now.

I have three dogs. The all metal crate is used by my medium sized dog now. My smallest dog and the GSD both have a plastic airline crate. Different sizes tough..;)
 
#5 ·
The plastic airline crates work pretty well, but our male learned to bulldoze the door off, lol, so yeah, not escape proof. I still like them better than the wire, there have been issues with some having their pup getting the wire crates panels spread apart and getting out/stuck/injured and I recall one recently where one of the wires had become loose and stabbed into the dogs paw, lucky the owner was home. They do get used to it, ours sleeps in his now willfully with the door open.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the suggestions guys. The metal crate I bought was the largest one I could find and cost me about $58 on ebay. I'm seeing similar size plastic ones for $124 on ebay. Any suggestions on the best place to purchase them online. ebay, amazon, pet website?

Thanks again.
 
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