Hey there, today we'll be expanding an idea we've mentioned several times, the Puppy Play Den.
We'll show you how to build it, why we do it, and how to put it to good use. Coming up.
Ian here with Simpawtico Dog training and before we get into the puppy Play Den please
make sure you're subscribed so you never miss any of our videos.
Also follow us on all the major social netowrks and don't forget to check that YouTube description
for notes, links, and resources for the stuff we talked about.
Now a puppy Play Den solves a big conundrum when raising a puppy.
For starters we know that puppies should not have free-range of the house, especially while
you're gone.
We need to prevent potty and chewing mistakes.
Many puppy experts recommend toy-feeding your puppy in their confinement space to habituate
them to it, to teach them to enjoy being alone, and to help them become chew toy trained.
This greatly reduces the likelihood that a dog will chew on inappropriate items or develop
distress or anxiety later on.
But: we also know that a puppy usually needs to go potty soon after they eat.
Plus, most of us working stiffs will have to leave the puppy for a few hours at some point.
So how do we reconcile long-term confinement, toy-feeding, AND potty training?
All of these loose ends are resolved with a Puppy Play Den.
The puppy Play Den was first suggested by world famous trainer, behaviorist, and vet,
Dr. Ian Dunbar in his landmark book, "Before and After You Get Your Puppy."
The plan was later picked up by Open Paw, which created the textbook for planning and
care of shelter animals.
The Purpose of a Long-term Confinement area as far as puppies are concerned is two-fold:
One, is prevention.
Errors increase the likelihood of more errors, so we confine the puppy to an area that precludes
chewing and potty mistakes around the house when we cannot superivse them.
Two, is proaction.
We want to maximize the likelihood that the puppy will learn to use the provided toilet,
to chew only chewtoys, and to settle down calmly without barking.
Prevention and proaction are your best friends.
Most behavior problems are predictable and therefore preventable.
Don't wait for your puppy to make mistakes.
You'll just be running after the puppy doing damage control and you'll always be playing
catch-up.
It's much better to preemptively set the stage and short circuit problems before they appear.
The basic components of the Play Den are: A Waterproof floor.
A crate or comfortable bed Hollow, stuffed chew toys
water And a doggy Toilet, not pads, in the farthest
corner from the bed (we'll go into detail with the toilet in a second)
An Optional add-on is an X-Pen that you can use to surround the individual pieces if the
room is too large, or cannot be safely puppy-proofed.
Let's drill down on the individual components.
STEP ONE: LOCATION
Figure out where you're going to set up your puppy's Play Den.
Ideally this could ba a kitchen, bathroom, utility room, or section of a room sectioned
off by an exercise pen.
Ideally you want this close to the outside door so you can get them outside quickly when
it's time to take them out of their Play Den.
It's good to establish going outside to potty as part of the routine any time the puppy
is going to spend time with you.
TWO: BEDDING Give your puppy a crate or a bed.
Plastic Crates are the preferred tool here.
You can take the door off.
You can even take the top off for an easy to clean bed with high sides.
A typical dog bed may encourage chewing on the wrong thing.
In a pinch, a towel can take the place of more easily chewable bedding.
THREE: STUFFED CHEW TOYS: We've recommended before, as do many puppy
experts out there, that toy-feeding your puppy in their confinement space is hugely beneficial
for teaching them to enjoy being alone, and to help them become chew toy trained.
This greatly reduces the likelihood that a dog will chew on inappropriate items or develop
distress or anxiety about being alone later on.
Toy-feeding and work-to-eat toys are the fastest and best methods.
These include Kongs, Buster Cubes, Squirrel Dudes, Barnacles, or Atomic Balls.
Confinement prompts your puppy to focus on their stuffed chewtoys, leaving little time
to worry, or bark.
We've talked about how to deploy these toys before in our Kong video, but remember any
brand or configuration will work mostly the same.
No matter what, though, it's important that these are the only sources of food or chewables
available. Do not use a food bowl.
FOUR: a bowl of fresh water.
Pretty self-explanatory.
FIVE: YOUR DOGGY TOILET Listen: ditch the puppy pads.
Puppy pads do very little to help potty train your puppy.
They just prolong the process and potentially create bad habits.
Instead we recommend a home-made toilet.
Understand that puppies form three soiling preferences: Olfactory, Substrate and Spatial.
If they smell poop or pee, even someone else's, it's a toilet to them.
Smell triggers potty behavior.
Dogs form a preference for the surface they like to go on.
For a puppy, this is your opportunity to teach them what you want them to go on.
If you don't pay attention to this, they'll form a preference that may not be what you
wanted, such as your hard wood floors or your area rugs.
They also will also come to prefer going in certain places according to landmarks.
This component won't be in place until you take them outside, but getting the Olfactory
and Substrate dialed in will absolutely streamline the outdoor process.
This is why I hate puppy pads.
Based on these three preferences pads just teach your puppy to prefer pads which will
hinder your work later on.
And if you remove the pads, they'll find something else in the house to go on that feels similar
to them like bathmats, rugs, or even in the spot where the pads used to be according to
a spatial preference they formed if the pads were used too long.
On a side note, though, pads might be a good solution for people that cannot or do not
want to outdoor train their dogs.
Disabled dog owners, or people that live in high-rise apartments might actually want to
pad train their dog.
Just be aware of the ramifications and go into it intelligently.
Otherwise, making the toilet is a snap.
You can just get a cat litter pan, baking pan, or plastic gardening tray, and line it
with whatever substrate you intend to have your dog go on.
If you have grass outside, use sod; if you have gravel outside, use some of that in the
toilet; and if you have only pavement outside, use some concrete pavers in the toilet.
This type of toilet works super.
Whenever your puppy is with you, you'll be taking the puppy outside.
But on those occassions when they need to spend time in confinement the toilet will
keep the potty training on track and aligned with your household needs.
Try to have short play and training sessions hourly.
If and when you cannot pay full attention to your puppy, this is the time to put your
puppy in their Play Den with proper chew toys and their self-training toilet.
This is just like putting a baby in a playpen or crib when you can't supervise them!
Keep in mind that any potty or chewing mistakes your puppy makes are potential setbacks that
anticipate more to come.
If an inexperienced puppy is allowed unsupervised free run of your home, potty and chewing mistakes
are guaranteed.
And your puppy could become hyperactive and anxious.
As we said, problems are predictable and preventable, so steer that ship where you want it now,
instead of just being at the whim of fate.
Of course, once your puppy has mastered their household manners and enjoys time spent by
themselves, they can potentially enjoy full run of your house and yard any time you want.
All right puppy owners, good luck constructing and using your puppy Play Den.
If you have some creative builds or alternate solutions, we'd love to hear about them in
those YouTube comments.
Don't forget to thumbs up this video if you found it helpful and as always, keep learning,
keep practicing, and we'll see you next time.
Thanks for watching.