Start leaving room while he is in there for 2 minutes and onward, gradually. When you return, don’t make a fuss, just walk over and open crate. In 3 days he will be officially crate-trained, ready to be left alone for an hour, no longer at first. Leave him gradually longer, slowly and carefully.

Q. Why do I want a crate for my puppy? A. Because they love it is best reason. They feel very safe and secure in there. Here are some more:

When you leave a puppy alone, he always has some measure of separation anxiety. This leads him to any behavior that brings him comfort, which is chewing, digging, or when it is severe, voiding his bowels. When placed in a crate, he feels safe because nothing can get to him, nothing can harm him. He will sleep and chew and wait for you to return.

Crate training is first step in being able to leave him overnight at vet. Without it he will cry entire time, feeling lost and abandoned. With crate training, he is sure you will return, you always do. Of course vet’s office is strange and will cause him some anxiety, but nothing like pure terror he will feel without experience in being locked in.

NOTE: About crate-training, do not make a prison of his crate. Do not use it as punishment. Do not leave him there for more than 2 hours, just time for a long puppy nap and some chew time. After that he will cry. Do not remove him while he is crying. This will make him think he has to cry to get out. No matter what, make sure he is being good when you open door. He will learn he has to be quiet to get out.

Do not make a fuss when you are letting him out, just quietly open door and take him out to potty. When he potties, praise him to high heaven! Dogs naturally do not go where they nest, but sometimes it happens. Do not scold, just clean it out with a bland face. He will learn lesson. If possible, try to clean it while he is outside so he returns to a clean crate.