Time Out for Dogs

Your dog is jumping on you. Immediately, you grab her collar and say “time out” and make a beeline for her crate. If she resists, you stuff her in the crate and close the door. After ignoring her for several minutes, you open the door and praise her. Does this sound familiar? While you might think you’re punishing your dog by putting her in her crate, this can actually confuse your dog.

Don’t Use Crates for Puppy Time Outs

Dog crates should not be used for punishment if a dog misbehaves. It’s different when you tell your child to go to his room because you can explain why and what you expected from him. With dogs, they’re left confused when you force them into their crates. You’re inadvertently teaching your dog to dislike his crate too.

If you’ve been using crates as a place for puppy time out, it’s not too late to change your dog’s perspective. Check out crate training tips for details on creating a crate oasis for your dog.

A More Effective Dog Time Out

Let’s think of time outs from a human perspective. What if your boss said “time out” and walked out of the room immediately after reading your latest report? What does it mean? Did he not like the report or was it something you did? What could you do differently?

“Time out,” and its equivalent “no,” are easy to say, but don’t really tell you what to do instead. When teaching your dog consequences, ignoring your dog for a few seconds is considered a “time out.” Ignoring a jumping dog until she chooses to do the right behavior (e.g. “sit”) is pretty darn effective. Rewarding your dog for good behavior is lost if you leave the room or put her in a crate. You’re missing out on a learning opportunity.

Use a Crate to Teach Self-Control

Dog crates are fabulous for teaching dogs self-control, which is important to teach puppies and adolescent dogs.

When a dog is out of control, doing zoomies behind the sofa or getting excited when guests arrive, grab a food stuffed toy and give your go-to-your-crate cue. This is different than a dog time out. Your dog is voluntarily going into her crate and being rewarded with a food stuffed toy for her good choice.

Now, your dog will settle down and chew on her toy, lowering her arousal rate. Teaching a dog to bring her arousal rate down is equivalent to taking a calming yoga breath to relax.

Once your dog is calm, simply open the crate. Most relaxed dogs stretch and then find a nice place to continue their snooze. Mission accomplished!

When do you use puppy time outs?