Why Crate Train Your American Bully Puppy or Dog?

Used properly, a crate is an effective short-term tool for managing and training your American Bully puppy. If you train your American Bully puppy to be content in a crate, you’ll provide a safe, cozy place that they can call her own and sleep in at night. It also gives you a safe way to transport your American Bully puppy and travel with them to motels, to friends’ homes, when on vacation, etc. Crates are especially helpful when introducing a new American Bully puppy into your household. You can also use a crate to efficiently house train your American Bully puppy and prevent them from being destructive.

Crates can be easily misused, however. They’re best used as a relatively short-term management tool, not as a lifetime pattern of housing. Your goal should be to work on any behavior problems and train your American Bully puppy so that it’s not necessary to crate them 8 to 10 hours every weekday throughout their life. Please see our crate guidelines below, under How Long to Crate Your Dog, to avoid over-confinement and inadvertently causing behavior problems from a lack of exercise, training, socialization and companionship.

Some American Bully puppies are never happy in crates but can tolerate them when necessary. Others panic when closed in a crate (please see more information below under When NOT to Use a Crate). However, most American Bully puppies readily adjust to their crates, preferring to sleep or take refuge in them when they’re tired or things get too hectic.

 

Using a Crate to House Train Your American Bully Pitbull puppy

You can use a crate to safely contain your American Bully Pitbull puppy during the night and whenever you can’t monitor their behavior closely. American Bully Pitbull puppies don’t like to soil their sleeping areas, so your American Bully Pitbull puppy will naturally avoid eliminating in their crate. If used for house training purposes, the crate should be sized so that your American Bully Pitbull puppy can lie down comfortably, stand up without having to crouch and easily turn around in a circle. If the crate is any larger, they might learn to soil one end of it and sleep at the other. If the crate is any smaller, they might be uncomfortable and unable to rest. (When you no longer need to use the crate for house training, you can purchase a larger one for your American Bully Pitbull puppy if you like.)

Using a crate will help you predict when your American Bully Pitbull puppy needs to eliminate and control where they eliminate. If they've been crated overnight or for a few hours during the day, the chances are extremely high that they’ll eliminate as soon as you release them from the crate, so take them outside. So, with the crate’s help, you can prevent your American Bully Pitbull puppy from eliminating indoors and have a chance to reward them for going in the right place - outside. For more information about house training your American Bully Pitbull puppy, please see one of our articles, House Training Your American Bully Pitbull Puppy.

 

Using a Crate to Prevent Destructive Behavior

In addition to acting as a house-training tool, your American Bully Pitbull puppy’s crate can prevent them from being destructive. Adult American Bully Pitbulls and American Bully Pitbull puppies need to learn to refrain from doing a lot of things in their homes, like digging on furniture or rugs, chewing table legs, cushions or other household items, and stealing from garbage cans or counters. To teach your American Bully Pitbull puppy not to do things you don’t like, you must be able to observe and monitor their behavior. Confining them in a crate can prevent unwanted behavior when you can’t supervise them or have to leave them home alone. If your American Bully Pitbull puppy has a chewing problem and you’d like more information about how to resolve it, please see our article, Destructive Chewing.

 

How Long to Crate Your Dog

At night when American Bully Pitbull puppies sleep, their body systems and elimination slow down. This is why they can go all night without eliminating once they’re old enough to have sufficient bladder and bowel control. But during the day, neither American Bully Pitbull puppies nor adult American Bully Pitbulls should be crated for more than four or five hours at a time. When crating a American Bully Pitbull puppy for more than two hours, it’s best to provide water by attaching a water bottle dispenser to the crate. (Using a bowl can create a mess.) Follow these daytime duration guidelines to avoid compromising your American Bully Pitbull puppy’s well-being or causing behavior problems:

 

Age                        Maximum time in crate

8–10 weeks          30–60 minutes

11–14 weeks        1–3 hours

15–16 weeks        3–4 hours

17+ weeks            4–5 hours

 

If you have a American Bully Pitbull puppy and you work all day, it’s essential that you give your American Bully Pitbull puppy a midday break from the crate every day for at least their first eight months. Even with a break, though, your American Bully Pitbull puppy will still have to tolerate two four-hour periods of confinement. That’s a long time, so make sure they get a good romp in the morning before you leave for work, during lunch and after work. If you can’t go home during your lunch break, you can hire a dog walker to visit your American Bully Pitbull puppy midday, but keep in mind that they still needs quality time with you. they should get to enjoy some playtime in the morning and another play and training session when you come home from work.

If you’re using the crate for house training, remember that it’s a temporary tool. Your goal is to create an adult American Bully Pitbull who can be trusted to have freedom in at least part of your house while you’re gone. When you’ve accomplished this, you can still keep the crate for your adult American Bully Pitbull to sleep or hang out in. Just remove the door or leave it open.

An adult American Bully Pitbull can be crated for as long as eight hours on occasion, but daily crating of this length could compromise your American Bully Pitbull’s mental and physical well-being. Be sure that they receive adequate exercise before a long stay in the crate—at least 30 to 60 minutes. If your American Bully Pitbull puppy is crated overnight as well, they should receive at least 60 to 90 minutes of outdoor exercise in the morning and before being put back in the crate at night.

 

 

How to Crate Train Your American Bully Pitbull puppy: The Weekend Plan

Some trainers and behaviorists recommend introducing your American Bully Pitbull puppy to a new crate very gradually, over a period of a week or more. This method works well for timid American Bully Pitbull puppies who fear confinement and for adult American Bully Pitbulls who have already learned to dislike crates. But many American Bully Pitbull puppies can learn to use crates more easily, and many people just don’t have the time to devote an entire week or more to training before being able to use a crate.

If you need to start using a crate as soon as possible, try the following Weekend Crate Training plan. After your training sessions on Saturday and Sunday, you’ll be able to start confining your American Bully Pitbull puppy in their crate on Monday.

To successfully use this crate-training plan, you’ll need to follow the directions below, step by step. It’s important to avoid skipping ahead and leaving your American Bully Pitbull puppy alone in the crate before they're ready. To confine your American Bully Pitbull puppy at night over the weekend, put them in a small, safe area instead. You can use an exercise pen or baby gate to block off part of your kitchen, a bathroom or a laundry room. Make sure that the area is dog-proofed and free of things that your American Bully Pitbull puppy shouldn’t chew. You can leave them with something comfy to lie on, some water, their toys and some chew things to keep them occupied. It’s best not to leave your American Bully Pitbull puppy home alone at all during the day on Saturday or Sunday. If you must do so for some reason, you can use the same dog-proofed area so as not to deviate from your training plan.

 

Preparation - Choosing a Crate

Pet supply stores and online vendors sell wire crates, plastic airline crates and mesh crates. Each style has its own advantages. Wire crates usually collapse for easy storage and portability, and they provide more ventilation than plastic ones. Plastic crates seem especially den-like and might make American Bully Pitbull puppeis feel safer and more secure when they’re inside. Mesh crates provide privacy for American Bully Pitbull puppies and are the most portable, but they aren’t very durable. Some American Bully Pitbull puppies chew through them and escape.

 

Comfy Crate

After choosing which kind of crate to use, it’s important to make the new crate comfortable. Put it in a room where you spend lots of time, but out of the way of foot traffic. Next, put a soft bed or blanket and a toy or two inside. You can even put a shirt you’ve recently worn into the crate so your American Bully Pitbull puppy will feel comforted by your scent. (If your American Bully Pitbull puppy likes to chew fabric, you can skip this part.) If you purchase a wire crate for your American Bully Pitbull puppy, they might like to have a blanket or towel draped over it to create a more “den-like” feel.

 

Friday Night: Before You Start Training

The most important part of crate training is teaching your American Bully Pitbull puppy to associate their crate with things they loves. Try the ideas below to convince your American Bully Pitbull puppy that their new crate is the place to be:

 

The Treat Fairy

Leave the crate door wide open and make sure your American Bully Pitbull puppy has access to the room where you’ve set up the crate. Every so often, when they're not looking, sneakily toss a few treats around and into the crate so they can discover them on their own. Use something that your American Bully Pitbull puppy will love, like small pieces of chicken, cheese, hot dog or freeze-dried liver. You can also leave an exciting new toy, a delicious chew bone or a stuffed KONG® toy inside the crate. Periodically leave special treats in your American Bully Pitbull puppy’s crate throughout the evening - and continue to do so every day or so for the next few weeks. If your American Bully Pitbull puppy sometimes finds surprise goodies in their crate, they’ll start to love it, and they’ll probably go into it often just to see if the “Treat Fairy” has come.

 

Room Service

When it’s dinnertime for your American Bully Pitbull puppy, place their bowl inside the crate and leave the door open. Try putting the bowl in the back of the crate so your American Bully Pitbull puppy has to stand inside the crate to eat. If they seem too uncomfortable to go into the crate at first, you can put the bowl just inside the door instead. That way, they only have to put their head in the crate. Over time, as your American Bully Pitbull puppy becomes more and more comfortable stepping inside, you can move the bowl all the way to the back of the crate and, eventually, close the crate door while they eat their meals.

 

Prepare Supplies for Saturday and Sunday

Over the next couple of days, you’ll reward your American Bully Pitbull puppy often for going into their crate. It’s a good idea to prepare some treats in advance. Cut some chicken, cheese, hot dogs, soft dog treats or freeze-dried liver into bite-sized pieces and set them aside for later use. You can also stuff two or three KONGs, which you’ll give your American Bully Pitbull puppy when you start to increase the length of time they stay in their crate.

 

Saturday Morning: Let the Crate Fun Begin!

You’re ready to get started. Gather the treats you prepared and take your American Bully Pitbull puppy to the crate.

 

Step One: Follow the Treat

You can do the following exercises sitting on the floor or in a chair right next to the crate.

• Give a cue to ask your American Bully Pitbull puppy to go into the crate, such as “Go to bed.” (Choose whatever cue you like, just be sure you always use the same one.)

• Show your American Bully Pitbull puppy one of the treats and toss it in the crate. After they go inside to eat it, praise them enthusiastically and feed them another treat while they're still inside.

• Say “Okay” (Out... etc, just use the same one) to let your American Bully Pitbull puppy know they can come out again. You don’t need to reward them when they come out of the crate. They need to learn that all good things happen when they're inside the crate.

Repeat the steps above 10 times. Take a short break (just a few minutes), and then do another set of 10 repetitions. After your second set, end the training session.

 

Step Two: Earn the Treat

Later on in the morning, collect some treats and bring your American Bully Pitbull puppy to the crate for more training. Now that they've practiced following a treat into the crate, try asking them to go in before rewarding them with the treat.

• To warm up, do a couple of repetitions just like you did before—throwing the treat into the crate so that your American Bully Pitbull puppy follows it. Then you can change the rules a little.

• Give your cue, “Go to bed,” and point to the crate instead of throwing a treat into it. (When you point, it might help to move your arm like you did when tossing a treat into the crate. The familiar motion can remind your dog what they're supposed to do.)

• When your American Bully Pitbull puppy goes in, praise them and immediately give them a couple of treats while they're still in the crate.

• Say “Okay” and let your American Bully Pitbull puppy come out of the crate.

Do 10 repetitions and then take a short break. Repeat the exercise another 10 times—or until your American Bully Pitbull puppy seems to know the game and enters and exits readily when you ask them to.

If your American Bully Pitbull puppy seems nervous about going into the crate or confused about what they're supposed to do when you say the cue, go back and practice Step One for a while longer. When your American Bully Pitbull puppy confidently rushes into the crate to get their treat, you can try Step Two again.

 

Saturday Afternoon: Close the Crate Door

Now it’s time to get your American Bully Pitbull puppy used to being in the crate with the door closed.

• To warm up, do a couple of repetitions just like you did before. Say “Go to bed,” point to the crate, reward your dog with a treat when they go in and then say “Okay” to let them know they can come out.

• Now you’ll try closing the crate door for just a moment. Give your cue “Go to bed” and point to the crate.

• When your American Bully Pitbull puppy goes in the crate, praise them and immediately give them a treat. Then gently close the crate door. (You don’t have to latch it yet.) Feed your American Bully Pitbull puppy two or three treats through the closed crate door and continue to praise them while they're in the crate.

• Say “Okay” and open the crate door to let your American Bully Pitbull puppy come out. (If your American Bully Pitbull puppy seems stressed or panicked with the door briefly closed, break down this exercise into two phases: in the first phase, just close the door halfway, give a treat and release your American Bully Pitbull puppy; in the second phase, close the door all the way.)

Do 10 repetitions and then take a break for a minute or two. Then repeat the exercise 10 more times, slowly building up the time your American Bully Pitbull puppy stays in the crate with the door closed. As you increase the time, throw in some easy repetitions, too. Start with 1 second, then increase to 5. Try 8 seconds, then go back to 3. Increase to 10 seconds, then 15, then 20, then an easy 5. Continue to generously reward your American Bully Pitbull puppy whenever they're in the crate. After you finish your second set of 10 repetitions, take a half-hour break. Then repeat the exercise again. Over the afternoon, try to build up to having your American Bully Pitbull puppy stay in the crate for one minute.