Crate training is not being mean to your dog. While a human wouldn´t want to hide out in a plastic box, a crate can be a safe refuge for your pet. Dogs are den animals and like having their own place to retreat. Here´s some basics:

1. Make sure the crate is big, but not too big.

   The crate should be large enough for your dog to stand up and turn around in, but not so large that the dog can sleep in one end and relieve himself in the other. With fast-growing puppies of large breeds, you may well need to graduate into bigger crates.

2. Make crate time a pleasure, not a chore.

   Guess what? Being isolated isn´t fun for a dog. They prefer to be with their pack, you and your family. You will need to convince your puppy that their crate is a safe, happy place. This will take positive feedback and, probably, treats. Treats, appropriately given, are the nearly universal answer for dog-training issues.

3. Never use the crate as punishment.

   While your instincts may be to banish the dog to his crate when it needs to know it has done something it shouldn´t, you need to work against your urges on this one. Your dog will never crate-train unless it is in his interest to do so and he knows the crate is a safe place. If the crate is ever a Bad Place, your dog will probably avoid it.