How much is acceptable will depend on several factors:
- Did you teach the puppy to be comfortable and relaxed in the crate while you were at home, first? If not, you risk creating separation anxiety by coming out. Follow the steps described below here, before you leave your puppy.
- Is the puppy tired, and ready to sleep?
- How long can a puppy go without going to the bathroom? (Luxuriously.)
- How often do you wrap a puppy, this long? (4 hours occasionally, different from 4 hours twice a day, every day of the work week.)
- Are you able to meet your puppy’s daily needs, outside of grooming time?
- As a rule of thumb, it’s probably best to consider 4 hours as the maximum continuous time for a 12wk+ puppy, who has gone through the following crate training regimens.
But you wouldn’t want to groom a puppy for 4 hours twice a day, every day of the week…
Using the crate while leaving work
Although dog crates are a great tool, like any tool, they can be misused.
Leaving your dog out for hours a day, every day, is unacceptable.
The overuse of dog crates is arguably what gives crates a bad name, and leads some people to consider them ‘cruel’.
But this is not due to the use of the crate – but due to its abuse.
If you only work a few days a week, or part-time, try taking a few weeks of vacation time, to settle your new puppy, and establish a routine.
When you go back to work, arrange for someone to visit your puppy, take him to the toilet, play with him a few times a day and (when you’re tired) treat him again with a nice kong.
You may be able to find a friend or relative who is willing to do this, or a professional.
If you work full-time and your senior dog cannot be offered a free home, please use the services of a pet specialist. Like a dog walker (to break up the day), or a daycare, or a pet sitter.
Don’t leave your dog out for 8 hours a day.
I do not recommend dog walkers or babysitters for small puppies during socialization. Puppies can learn a lot that we don’t want them to learn, if they are not closely supervised in interactions with other dogs:
The only type of service I would recommend for a puppy under 6 months, is a ‘puppy visit’ as described above.
You can find a guide to having a puppy and working full time here.
Crate puppy training house
As soon as your puppy wakes up – and before you make any noise – take him outside to the toilet and stay outside until you succeed!
If the puppy is very small, it is probably best to carry it outside so that it does not go to the toilet when you go out.
When your puppy is a little older and toilet training is more advanced, you can lead the way outside.
Try to make sure your puppy is ’empty’ before you crate, to reduce the risk of crate accidents.
As you get to know your puppy, he will learn his toilet routine and this will make things easier.
Where would you put the dog crate?
Place the puppy’s crate where you want it to be eventually.
This should not be in an ‘out of the way’ room – such as a utility room, or entrance hall.
It should be a ‘family’ room. The room you hang out in and spend most of your time at home, together.
This is important because you want the puppy to associate the crate with your reassuring presence (helpful in providing security when you first leave the puppy). And you don’t want the puppy to feel ostracized or ‘kicked out’ when you are groomed.
Usually the kitchen, family room or TV area are the best places for a crate.
If you are concerned about the appearance of the crate in your home, then you may want to consider wood.
What should you put in a dog crate?
Whatever you choose to put in the puppy’s crate, you need to be confident that the puppy can reach it, if not supervised.
For that reason, it may vary from one puppy to another.
Some puppies may benefit from a crate mat, to provide a soft bed.
Some puppies may tear the crate mat and may be better left with the pet bed.
Either way, you’ll need to provide your puppy with some type of comfortable sleep.
If the puppy is very young or small, usually a large soft toy or two, you can give it something to hug. As they will be used to sleeping with their litter.
However, a larger destructive puppy, may remove toys when you are not around.
Puppies will benefit from being left with things to lick or chew.
Stuffed Kongs are a great all-rounder, and should be made very ‘easy’ on young puppies, with licks right at the opening. (Puppies will give up if it’s too hard).
Nylabones and other chews will need to be carefully selected and tested with your particular puppy in mind.
Whether he is a strong chewer and whether he breaks the chews when he eats with you. Don’t let your puppy chew something you haven’t watched him eat safely before, several times.
If you leave the puppy for more than 2-3 hours, in the crates, then water is not necessary and will just cause all the sleeping areas to get wet when the puppy digs around and spills.
Crate training puppies at night
When you bring your puppy home, your first job is to help him feel safe in your home and safe with you.
Forget about leaving him alone, for the first few days and even (preferably) at night. He has had many stressful changes.
Now is the time to settle him down and help him feel safe again.
Place his bed next to your bed.
If you don’t want him in the room, like an old dog, take him in and out. He won’t learn to find his own way in, like this.
If your dog’s crate doesn’t fit your bed, or it’s difficult to move around, use an open cardboard box for the first night next to your bed.
Go with him when you go out if possible, or stay with someone at home if you can’t.
Take a break from work, if you can, to accommodate him during this time.
Crating Puppy At Night
On weekdays, work on ‘Stages 1-3’ of puppy crate training (below) with the crate in the normal daytime area where you want it to be. After 3-7 days of this, your puppy should be ready to spend the night in the crate in that place too – and no longer need to sleep next to your bed.
Sometimes puppies can make noise when they are stressed or separated from you – that’s why I recommend that the puppy has your own bed at first.
That way, you can just put your hand on the puppy and he won’t feel alone, he will go back to sleep.
You will find it easier to see if your puppy needs the toilet, or is lonely, by removing the ‘lonely’ variable!
What to do at night
At night, I would really advise you to set your alarm and take your puppy out to the bathroom.
At first, this may be twice a night (for example, at 2am and 6am), but very soon it will be only once a night.
Don’t wait for your puppy to make a noise and wake you up – or you’ll end up reinforcing the noise by taking the puppy out.
Instead, set an alarm and wake up the puppy even if he is sleeping. Don’t talk to the puppy or play with it, just put it back in the dog crate afterwards and ignore any noise that follows – because you know it’s nothing.
If you wake up before your puppy does, set your alarm 30 minutes later the next night. Keep doing this until you reach nightfall.
If your puppy wakes up before you, set your alarm early the next night – to make sure you wake up before your puppy – and stay at that time for a few nights, before doing it later each night again.
How to get a puppy used to a crate
So what is the best way to train a puppy? Every puppy is an individual. Some puppies are ‘easy’. They may be fine without following any of the dog crate training protocol below.
Some owners just stick their puppy in the dog crate and close the door from day 1 – and their puppy still ends up crate-friendly.
Some puppies are ‘difficult’ puppies, requiring slow and constant movement to be left alone, tamed. And these puppies can be set back a lot if they are just stuck there from day 1.
It is always best to be cautious and progress step by step. You can’t hurt, this way, if you have an ‘easy’ puppy. But you will avoid causing problems, if you have a ‘difficult’ puppy. Therefore, this method of monitoring is the best way to train a puppy.