How to Kennel Train A Puppy in An Apartment


how to kennel train a puppy

There is no doubt that kennel training is a very controversial topic. However, if kennels get used correctly, you will be able to reap a lot of benefits for you and especially for your darling pup!

If you don’t know how to kennel train a puppy, then continue reading this blog post. Not only will I explain how to kennel train a puppy, but I will also discuss different reasons why you should do it.

Since I am talking about kennels that fit inside your apartment, we’re almost talking about wired crates. So the rules that apply on crates, will also apply on kennels I am going to discuss today as well.

How to Kennel Train A Puppy in An Apartment |

How to kennel train a puppy – What is kennel training?

Kennel training is a process where you familiarise your dog with the kennel, and teach them to view it as their safe space.

I won’t shy away from addressing the controversy. Many people do see kennels as a product of the devil’s work; that kennels are nothing but a watered-down name to disguise what this tool is – a cage.

How to Kennel Train A Puppy in An Apartment |

How to kennel train a puppy – Understanding the controversy

Let’s define what a cage is. A cage is a confined space made of bars. And yes, this is basically what a kennel looks like; however, being caged isn’t just a physical thing to observe.

It could also be a mental state of mind where one could be free to walk anywhere, but they’re feeling trapped and drowning in misery on the inside.

If someone uses the kennel to lock in their puppy for hours on end, then yes, that is a cage. This behavior is disgusting and is animal abuse.

However, when kennel training your puppy, you’re not teaching your puppy to be happy when they’re locked away for hours on end.

You are actually preparing them to feel safe in it when you have to take them out of the house or for other reasons that I will talk about later in this blog post.

How to Kennel Train A Puppy

Remember what I said earlier about a person is free to walk around about, yet feel trapped in a terrible mental state of mind?

Well, usually when someone is upset, or they don’t feel so well, they would prefer to sit alone somewhere where no one can reach them.

What we usually tend to do when we feel under the weather is we lock ourselves inside our rooms. There might be no bars, but you’re technically still locking yourself in a confined space.

Sometimes, our dogs need their own little corner where they can go and hide from the world; as well as having a place where no one comes and bothers them. We all need some alone time, and so do our animals.

How to Kennel Train A Puppy in An Apartment |

How to kennel train a puppy – Why Kennels are so important?

The kennel will act as their safe little corner. Imagine that you’re taking your puppy to the veterinarian for the first time. They are going to be so afraid of this new unknown environment that is full of people that they don’t know.

If they are kennel trained, they will feel a little bit safer and not as anxious in their crate. Things might get a bi rough if they weren’t trained, or if you’re just using a harness.

The kennel is like a safe Haven to them. It is like a detachable portion of their home, which is a place where they can feel safe.

To sum it up, a kennel is the four-legged’s version of a baby’s safety blanket. Now that we’ve slightly hinted on why you should kennel train your puppy, let’s dive deeper to answer this question adequately.

How to Kennel Train A Puppy in An Apartment |

How to kennel train a puppy – Why should you kennel train a puppy?

Kennel training plays a vital role in many puppy training regimes. Today, I’ll be focusing on mostly three reasons.

How to Kennel Train A Puppy in An Apartment |
How to Kennel Train A Puppy in An Apartment |

How to kennel train a puppy – Three different types of kennel training

Behavioral training
Travel training
Potty training

How to kennel train a puppy – Behavioral training

Let’s start with behavioral training because I want to continue explaining what I was trying to say previously on how a kennel isn’t a torture device.

Some people see the phrase “behavioral training,” and automatically the panic mode switch in their brain gets switched on.

I will admit that the name has a daunting foreshadowing feel to it. When I first read that phrase, I saw multiple red flags flashing right in front of me.

However, when I actually learned more about the topic, I understood how the connotations attached to this phrase do not correlate with what it actually is.

Behavioral training doesn’t mean that you get to use the kennel to punish your puppy whenever they do something wrong. You should never punish your puppy in such a brutal way. I also don’t believe you should ever punish them in the first place.

Unfortunately, some people abuse the kennel and their puppies by using it as a cage. This sort of animal abuse shouldn’t be tolerated.

If you see anyone doing so and not taking your advice on stopping, then do the right thing and report them for their abusive behaviors.

This doesn’t mean that the kennel tool itself is evil. It just means that, like many other things, a kennel is a tool that has a beneficial use but could be a harmful device if used by a wicked person.

How to Kennel Train A Puppy

Remember what we’ve talked about several times in my previous blog posts? Always practice positive reinforcement by rewarding your puppy’s good behavior and overlooking and not acknowledging their undesired behavior.

Then what kind of behavioral training is kennel training going to provide? Now that’s an excellent question! Remember how talked about kennels being a haven for puppies? Training your puppy to relax, and unwind is one type of behavioral training.

You’re not manipulating your puppy to do what you say. Nope! You’re just creating a place for them where they could feel safe when the surrounding environment is a bit chaotic.

Since they can’t understand what you say, you have to train them to see the kennel as a positive place where they can calm down and hopefully get out of their panic attacks if they have anxiety.

How to kennel train a puppy – Travel training

Note that wired kennels aren’t allowed on planes. However, this information is still viable because it trains the puppy to stay calm inside a closed area.

Using a kennel for behavioral and travel training could almost be mashed up together cause they practically play a similar role. In behavioral training, the puppy will have a safe space that only belongs to them inside the house.

Travel training is basically the same, except for it is a more advanced version of the specific form of behavioral training that we’ve already talked about.

What we discussed in behavioral training is like the perfect prep for your puppy to feel comfortable in their crate when you have to take them out of the house for a road trip or even a visit to the vet.

How to Kennel Train A Puppy in An Apartment |

Since they already feel like the kennel is a part of their house, they might feel less antsy. After all, they have their safety blanket with them. They have something to comfort them when feeling a bit uneasy in the car or even on the plane.

I can tell you from personal experience that pets go through one of the worst episodes of panic attacks while traveling if they aren’t trained to see the kennel as a haven.

There was a time where I knew nothing about crate training, and I had to learn about it the hard way. My precious cat was panting and meowing throughout the entire eight hours long travel.

Her heart rate was highly elevated, and all I could do was pat her and talk to her the entire time. She even started stress eating, which calmed her down for twenty minutes, then she was panicking again.

Please don’t repeat my mistake and crate train your puppies as soon as possible. If you’re interested in reading my entire story, then click here to learn more about that time I took my precious cat on a flight with me.

How to kennel train a puppy – Potty training

You can also use the kennel to potty train your puppy! We’ve indeed talked a lot about potty training in the past, but we didn’t always go into details about how to potty train a puppy using a kennel.

How could a kennel train a puppy to hold it and not go to the bathroom while they’re inside? I know, it sounds very suspicious. However, there is a perfect explanation of why this is a very effective method of potty training.

Since the puppy is going to rest up, or eventually lay down inside the kennel, they’ll hold it for mostly a straightforward reason. This reason is that dogs don’t like to sleep in dirty places, so they wouldn’t want to go to the bathroom in the same spot where they sleep.

Now, the basic potty training rules still apply! Puppies have small bladders, so even if they don’t want to dirty up their sleeping area but they’ve been in the kennel for a long time, they’ll eventually pee inside.

How often you need to take your puppy to their bathroom spot depends on their age. If you want to know the frequency, all you have to do is know their age in months. The number you get is how long you can wait before taking them to their potty spot.

How to Kennel Train A Puppy

For example, if your puppy is two months old, then you should take them to the bathroom every two to three hours. After they turn eight months old, the frequency becomes constant.

This means that no matter how old they get, you only have to take them out to their bathroom every eight hours. Of course, if they’re sick, things might be a bit different.

For the most part, though, use this to know when you should take your puppy outside to do their thing.

That being said, you should only keep your puppy inside the kennel for four hours. Never carte train your puppy or more than four hours at a time.

Doing a couple of separate kennel training sessions is not recommended. However, if you still do it, make sure you don’t repeat this training again during any other day throughout the same week.

Also, make sure that the total hours of kennel training during a day where you have multiple sessions never exceed eight hours.

How to Kennel Train A Puppy in An Apartment |

How to kennel train your puppy?

Finally, let us talk answer the ” how to kennel train a puppy?” question! Think of the kennel training process as the stages of developing a relationship.

First, we have the casual introductions. Then, there are coffee dates. Finally but not least, longer dates and sleepovers take place.

If you’re scratching your head, trying to understand why I am describing and comparing a puppy’s kennel training process to two individuals dating, let me explain.

How to kennel train a puppy – Casual Introductions

Let’s start with the first stage, which is the causal introductions! Make the first introduction of the kennel to the puppy very subtle.

How? You can achieve this by leaving the kennel’s door entirely open and leaving a trail of treat that will lead the puppy into the kennel, where more treats await them.

They’ll walk into the kennel, have their treats, probably sniff this new place that they’ve just discovered, then walk out of it.

How to Kennel Train A Puppy

Using squishy toys is always a smart way to capture your dog’s attention, so leave a couple of your puppy’s favorite toys inside the kennel. This might make them stay a little bit longer after they finish eating their delicious treats!

This will also help them view the kennel in a positive light and make them even a bit excited to enter them.

Like with potty training, remember to use a trigger word that helps them associate what you’re saying with what they’re doing. You can say the word “kennel” every time you lead them into the kennel.

You can boost up your dog’s anticipation of getting into the kennel by two simple methods. In the first method, you’ll throw in the treats inside the kennel in front of your puppy- make sure that they see you- and hold them back for a few seconds.

If your puppy doesn’t like you handle them like that, then put them in their harness and use that to hold them back.

P.S: If you still haven’t harness trained your puppy, then check out my Dog Training Harness: Ultimate Guide blog post.

The second method will be beneficial if your dog doesn’t like being held in place and you still don’t know how to use a harness, so keep on reading

Hold your puppy back for a couple of seconds before releasing them to go to their kennel, where they will enjoy their yummy treats.

This allows the anticipation to build up and makes the puppy anticipate going into the kennel because that is where their treats are.

The second method is for those of you with puppies that don’t like being handled.

Perhaps you don’t know how to use a harness, or just think that getting a puppy into a harness for a few minutes to kennel train them is just not worth wasting so much energy.

You’ll follow the same principle as in the first method. However, instead of physically holding your puppy back, all that you have to do is shut the kennel’s door after putting some treats in it.

Allow the excitement to build up for a few seconds, then open the kennel’s door for your puppy to enter and enjoy their food.

Now, your puppy and the kennel are ready to take their relationship to the next stage and go on multiple coffee dates.

How to kennel train a puppy – Coffee Dates

There is a new thing that is going to be introduced in this step to make your puppy and their kennel to come better terms than they were in the casual introductions phase. And by the way, no coffee is going to be served! I am talking about using a kong toy!

How to Kennel Train A Puppy

If you’re not familiar with what a kong toy is, it is basically a toy that makes all of the puppies’ dreams come true. It combines two of any puppy’s favorite activities, which are playing and eating.

While purchasing a kong, make sure to pick the ones with the bigger openings, so it is easier for your puppy to get the food out of it.

It is pretty straightforward to prepare a few Kong toys, so you have them ready whenever you need them. It is a very easy process, and the steps are:

  • Remove one-third of your puppy’s dry meal and let that portion soak in a bowl of water.
  • Scoop the wet food into the kong and put it in the freezer.
  • Before you start the kennel training session, take the kong outside of the freezer and spread some cream cheese or even peanut butter on the kong’s opening.

Now that your kong is ready, throw it inside the kennel and close the kennel’s door to build up your puppy’s anticipation. Then, open it to let them.

In this stage, you can close the door of the kennel, but remain near the kennel, so your puppy doesn’t get scared. Leave them for a while in there as they chew on the toy and eat their food.

It is important to leave them inside the locked kennel for only short periods at first. You can gradually increase the duration as your puppy grows to be more comfortable in it as time passes by.

How to kennel train a puppy – Longer dates

The last thing we’re going to discuss in this How to kennel train your puppy post is allowing them and their kennel to go on longer dates and even a couple of sleepover nights!

With time and practice, you’ll be able to leave your puppy inside the kennel for longer durations. You’ll also be able to keep more distance between you and the kennel without your puppy getting paranoid.

Eventually, you might even be able sometimes to let them sleep in their kennel at night. However, I wouldn’t suggest that you do that often, and only do it when you’re still kennel training them.

How to Kennel Train A Puppy

Don’t forget to take them to the bathroom before you put them in the kennel and attach a water bottle to the inside of the kennel since they’ll be in it for the rest of the night.

Of course, you’ll have to set multiple alarms to wake up during the night to take them potty. It all depends on how old they are.

How to Kennel Train A Puppy in An Apartment |

That’s it for today’s post. You should now know how to kennel train a puppy! Let me know if you have any questions regarding kennel training in the comments down below.

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