One of the most invaluable tools for helping you to train your dog is a dog crate. Even so, you should never use them simply to confine your dog the whole day through. If that's all you use it for, you should probably rethink why you got a dog in the first place.

To prepare your dog training crate for your new puppy, line the bottom with newspaper and keep a fresh supply handy.

Using newspaper will minimize cleanup efforts, and help keep the crate clean for your puppy.

You can use the crate as a designated feeding space so that the puppy knows where to eat. Take her outside after feeding so that she can walk around and relieve herself.

When your puppy does her "business" outside, praise her for a job well done! Repeated praise when she does the right thing will reinforce your training of her.

A treat placed in the dog training crate is a welcome surprise for the puppy. They are content and reassured by it. Therefore, the puppy is please to be in their crate. You want to avoid them being distraught when they visualize the crate.

Think of the crate as the puppy's own space; a place where he can go for alone or quiet time. One way you can start encouraging this usage is to occasionally put your puppy in the crate while you are still in his field of vision. The idea is to let him know that they are safe in his or her space. Let him out after about 10 minutes.

A puppy should never think that going into their crate means you are abandoning them for an extended duration.