New Puppy Checklist: Is It Cruel To Use A Puppy Playpen For Training?
It’s time to train your new puppy. You pull out your new puppy checklist and notice that many dog trainers recommend using a puppy playpen. But for you it’s like putting your puppy in jail. Is it cruel to use a puppy playpen when you are housetraining your pup?
If you have a busy life, you’ll find that a puppy pen is an essential piece of equipment for raising a well-rounded, well-behaved pup.
The first reason is that a puppy playpen will allow you to take brief periods to relax away from your pet. This is important because you know how frustrating a new puppy can be and it is vital to be relaxed and consistent when training your new puppy.
Second, a puppy park teaches your animal self-control. Dogs that live with humans should be taught to lie down and relax when no one wants to take time to pay attention to them. When you put your pet in a puppy playpen, the dog has limited options for activity and will quickly learn to calm down.
If you introduce your puppy to his playpen at a very young age, he’ll accept it as a part of life and really enjoy it. If your pup is older, introduce him to his playpen by leaving the door open and putting a bed inside where he can sleep when he’s tired. Throw some treats in the pen and close the gate slowly and calmly behind him while you enjoy the treats from him.
Talk to your pup often when he’s in the pen and he’ll enjoy being there.
When your dog is free to roam, you are not there to supervise him. As a result, bad behavior becomes wrong, and your pet doesn’t learn good behavior. A puppy playpen prevents this wandering and prevents your pup from getting into all kinds of mischief, like chewing on electrical cords, stealing shoes from your closet, well, you get the idea.
Remember to include chew toys on your new pup’s checklist. That way when you put him in his playpen you can put a couple of chew toys on him. You can safely leave it there as long as you can’t focus on it. When you let your pup out, you are there to teach him right from wrong, and this is an act of kindness to your pup. Why? It is because he is rewarded for his good behavior and is taught to learn from his bad behavior. This makes the training process easier, faster, and less painful for your pup.
A puppy park is NOT a jail. Don’t use it as a punishment when your pup has misbehaved. If your pup does something wrong, correct him and show him what you want him to do. Then praise him when he does.
Don’t leave your puppy in the playpen for long periods of time, never more than two hours. He should be given as much time and attention outside of the pen as possible.
Is a puppy’s playpen cruel? Not if used correctly. In fact, when used correctly, it can not only give you much-needed time away from your pet, but it can also be a great tool for teaching your pup proper behavior. There’s no question about it: when going through your new puppy checklist, don’t forget to include a puppy playpen.