Crate training a puppy: why we advise against it and what works instead
Crate training sounds like the answer to everything you run into with a puppy (rest, potty training, chewing, and being alone), but a closed crate takes away exactly the needs a puppy has to sleep and relax. Dogs are social sleepers who want to lie close to you, polyphasic sleepers who want to switch spots, and they need to be able to stretch out full length for their dream sleep. In a crate none of that is possible, and being isolated feels like punishment to a puppy. What does work is a safe spot: a sectioned off area in the living room with a playpen or a baby gate, comfortably set up, with the door left open at first. The kind version of the crate.
In short
A young puppy sleeps and rests 16 to 20 hours a day, spread across the day, preferably close to you and stretched out.
In a crate that is too small, puppies hold their bladder out of fear of soiling their nest. That is not potty training, that is stress.
Shutting a dog in raises stress and is even named as a possible cause of separation anxiety.
You prevent chewing with a puppy-proof house and enough chews, not with bars.
A crate with a door that genuinely stays open is fine. So is a crash tested travel crate for the car.
Whether your puppy is truly resting in his bed or just lying still, you can see in his body. Learn to read it in the free webinar.
Crate or safe spot: what your puppy needs
What a puppy needs | In a closed crate | In a safe spot |
|---|---|---|
Sleeping socially, close to his family | No: he lies apart, often in a different room | Yes: the playpen is in the living room, and at night his bed is next to yours |
Lying stretched out for dream sleep | Often not, the crate is too small | Yes |
Switching spots: high and low, soft and cool | No | Yes: part bare floor, part rug, a bed and a cool spot |
Regulating his own temperature | No | Yes |
Peeing when he has to | No: he holds it out of fear of soiling the nest | Yes: you hear him and go to the potty spot |
Feeling safe | Being isolated feels like punishment and causes fear | The door stays open; closing it is something you teach positively later |
Being contained when you cannot pay attention for a moment | Yes, but at a high price | Yes: a playpen, a baby gate, or exercise pen panels |
In summary: a closed crate takes away a puppy’s ability to sleep socially with his family, to lie stretched out, to switch spots, to regulate his own temperature, and to pee when he needs to, and being isolated feels like punishment. A safe spot with an open door (a playpen, a baby gate, or exercise pen panels in the living room, and at night his bed next to yours) gives the same containment without that price.
What a closed crate does to your puppy’s sleep
Sleep is the foundation of everything with a puppy. A young puppy needs 16 to 20 hours of sleep and rest a day, and lack of sleep causes stress, more biting, and overstimulation. But not all sleep is good sleep. For good sleep, a dog needs to feel safe and sleep socially, to be able to lie stretched out during dream sleep (the phase with the muscle twitches), to be able to switch spots (dogs sleep roughly 40 percent during the day and 60 percent at night, in blocks), and to regulate his own temperature. A closed crate takes those four things away at once. The result is a puppy who does lie still, but does not actually rest. And a puppy who does not rest is busier during the day, bites more, and learns worse. Why lack of sleep is the biggest cause of biting is covered in Why does my puppy bite so much?
Potty training: holding it is not learning
The best known argument for the crate is that a puppy will not soil his own nest and therefore learns to hold it. That is true, and that is exactly the problem. A puppy physically cannot hold his bladder for long yet; the sphincters only start developing around thirteen weeks. In a crate that is too small, he holds his bladder out of fear of making his nest dirty, which brings stress and physical problems with it. Getting potty trained works differently: one regular potty spot close to the house, a rhythm of potty breaks, and never punishing. The schedule by age is in When is a puppy potty trained?
Being alone: shutting a dog in raises stress
As a tool for learning to be alone, the crate backfires as well. Shutting a dog in takes away too many natural needs at once and raises stress; that is why we even name crate use as a possible cause of separation anxiety developing. Learning to be alone happens in seconds, not in minutes, and only once your puppy has lived with you for a few months; in the first three months you do not leave a puppy alone at all. How to build that up is in How long can a dog be left alone?
Chewing: prevent instead of shutting in
Chewing things up is not revenge and not disobedience. A puppy explores the world with his mouth, chewing is a basic need (about fifteen minutes a day, and it releases calming hormones), and during teething the destruction increases. Our rule is: behavior that cannot be performed also cannot be learned. So:
Look at your house on your hands and knees, from the puppy’s point of view: baseboards, table legs, outlets, plants, loose items, slippery floors.
Put away what should not get destroyed and offer plenty of things he is allowed to chew on: edible chews and a few different toys.
Put gates in front of the places you cannot puppy-proof. Once the chewing phase is over, the gates can go.
A well puppy-proofed house has another benefit: your puppy simply never learns a lot of behavior, and that saves you years.
What does work: the safe spot
Sometimes you have to contain a puppy physically: when you are mopping, when wild kids are over, when you are moving furniture. For that you use a safe spot: a sectioned off area in the living room with a puppy playpen, a baby gate, or exercise pen panels. Here is how you set it up:
One fixed place. Moving the gate around all the time makes noise and unrest.
A quiet place. Not by a door, a walkway, or the TV.
Comfortable. Variety in places to lie down (part bare floor, part rug), water at all times, some toys and chews, but not an overload.
Door open. Always, at first. Closing it is something you teach positively later, at a moment when your puppy is relaxed and nothing special is happening, so no unpleasant association forms. After that you build it back down step by step.
For the night: never let your puppy sleep alone in the first nights. Put his bed in the bedroom, close to you, so you hear him when he has to pee and he feels safe.
So is a crate never allowed?
A crate with a door that genuinely stays open, that your dog can walk in and out of himself, is fine. Then it is a bed with a roof, and some dogs like that. The problem is the closed door.
In the car it is different: your dog needs to travel safely, with a harness and seat belt, a cargo area barrier, or a crash tested travel crate. Choose what fits your dog and your car, and let your puppy get used to it calmly. Only for the very first ride home do we advise against a steel crate: that first experience should feel safe, on the lap of someone he trusts.
From our practice
More than 30,000 dog parents have taken a Stressless Dogs course, and the crate is one of the first things they start doing differently. Jilz N. wrote on Trustpilot (August 12, 2026, 5 stars): “Good course for a beginner. I think the concept is great; good communication with your dog is something every dog owner should learn.”
What we keep seeing in the course: as soon as the puppy sleeps in an open playpen in the living room instead of a closed crate in the utility room, he gets calmer during the day, and a large part of the biting disappears on its own.
Frequently asked questions
My trainer says a crate is exactly what gives a puppy rest. Who is right?
A puppy who lies still in a crate is not necessarily resting. For real rest he has to feel safe, be able to lie stretched out, and be able to switch spots. Look at the behavior during the day: a puppy who sleeps enough bites less and is calmer.
Should the crate door be closed the first night?
No. In the first nights your puppy sleeps close to you, in the bedroom, in an open bed or playpen. Being put away alone in a closed crate feels like punishment and causes fear, in exactly the week when he is the most insecure.
So how do I contain my puppy when I cannot pay attention for a moment?
With a safe spot: a playpen or a corner with a gate, comfortably set up, where he can lie down, drink, and chew. Build up closing the door positively, at calm moments.
My puppy goes into the crate on his own. Is that a problem?
No, as long as the door is open. A dog who chooses a den himself does that because he feels safe there. It is about the choice.
Sources
Center for Pet Safety. Crash-tested pet travel safety research. On safe transport with a harness, a barrier, or a travel crate, and why you never secure a dog by the collar.
Read next
When is a puppy potty trained, and how do you help him?
How long can a dog be left alone?
Training a puppy without punishment: the four ways to guide behavior
Why does my puppy bite so much (and how do you stop it)?
Separation anxiety training plan: how to build it up
Your puppy tells you how he feels
A puppy who whines, pants, or holds his bladder in a crate is telling you something. So is the puppy who lets out a deep sigh in his safe spot and stretches out. Learning to see that difference is the foundation of everything you want to teach your puppy. In the free webinar Communicating With Your Dog you see, with real puppies and dogs, how lying still and lying relaxed differ from each other.
Want to be guided step by step through the whole puppy period, from sleep and potty training to being alone and the safe spot? That is the Stressless Communication Course.
Thank you for reading, on behalf of me and all the dogs.
Dog Behavior Consultant & Natural Dog Trainer