Setting Up A Crate BankWhen we move our puppies into the weaning pen, in most cases we will be setting up a crate bank at the same time. Your crate bank can be inside your weaning pen or outside, my personal preference is always for inside the weaning pen because it’s just easier for me and so I get more crate work done.Why? Because only if puppies have free access to the crates can they do their own crate conditioning. If crates are outside the weaning pen the caregiver has to “do something” to expose puppies to the crates and that takes up valuable time for short, closed in, exposures to the crate that are not very useful.I can fit 4 small puppy sized crates in my weaning pen (with one exception we’ll talk about later) easily, I could push this to 8 if I stack them. But I don’t, because I only own 4 small crates. I use an auxiliary crate bank (that also fits in my puppy rearing room) if I have more than 4 puppies in my litter, which I usually do. But I still prioritize having those four small puppy crates in my weaning pen - here is why that is important. * 2025 Update: I have now designed pens that have as many as 10 crates within the weaning pen, usually by stacking crates two or three high. I have prioritized having a large enough weaning pen that I can fit one small crate per puppy. 1.Only if crates are freely available can puppies choose to enter and leave at will.2.Only if crates are freely available can puppies rest in crates throughout the day.3.When crates are freely available the breeder does not need to budget time to put puppies in crates, close them in, and then monitor them several times per day.4.When crates are freely available we can make the most of classical conditioning and habituation to the crate without doing any extra work.5.Only if crates are freely available will we be able to reinforce them for choosing to hang out in their crate.Later, I might use larger crates for overnights if I choose to do overnight work AND if I choose to use a litter box inside the crate. But I have also used a larger crate from the start, when I had enough room, and you will often see these black wire crates in photos. As you set up your crate bank this week keep these things in mind.1.Use smaller crates. Puppies do not seem to comprehend being in a large crate the same way they do a small crate. Accidents are more likely and some conditioning value is lost if you go straight to large crates. So if you have three feet of room to devote to a crate bank it’s better to use three smaller crates than one really big crate. 2.The MOMENT you sense that your puppies might be THINKING about climbing on the top of any crate, prevent that at all costs. Do NOT allow puppies to learn to climb onto crates because this can lead to climbing out of the weaning pen, and further, learning to climb to escape confinement. This is VERY undesirable learning. Some breeds are not capable of climbing to the top of a small crate, and some will climb up there at 5 weeks. PREVENT THIS! You can stack crates 2 high (what I do), you can use plastic crates that are harder to climb than wire, or you can put large plastic storage containers on top of the crates. No matter how you do it, you MUST do this before puppies learn to climb on top of the crate.3.If you don’t have room for a row, with a crate for each puppy, consider stacking them two or three high (please do secure them!) so you can feed each puppy in it’s own crate.4.Wire crates - you can fold the door panel down and put a bed on it for non meal/chew times and then pull the bed out, and the front panel up, to close a puppy inside. Upper row crates can have their doors on as usual.5.If you stack crates always secure them in such a manner that no crate can fall off, and also such that the entire crate bank cannot fall over. If a person stumbles and hits the crate bank you don’t want the whole thing to fall over.6.Conversely, be sure your crate bank is not too difficult to move, because some weeks you’ll be expanding the pen and moving the crate bank a bit.7.Be sure your weaning pen is large enough that the crate bank does not interfere with having enough room in your Play Alley.8.If you use wire crates, and your puppies are accident prone, be sure to look for places where a toe or jaw might get stuck and block that off. I keep bolt cutters (small ones) on hand just in case a puppy ever got any body part stuck in a wire crate (none ever has). This is a good safety idea even for adult dogs, if you use wire crates invest in a small set of bolt cutters that can cut the wire if needed. Keep these bolt cutters near your crate bank, and label them such that they stay there.9.Some breeders have the puppy buyer purchase a small crate. The puppy uses it for the duration of raising and then the crate is sent home with the puppy.10.When you purchase crates for the weaning pen, keep size, construction, and ease of removing the door or folding it flat in your mind. For example, the Compass Crate has a door that is particularly easy to remove. Conversely, my pastel wire crates cannot have the door removed and must have the front panel laid down flat.

Practical & Pragmatic: Setting Up The Crate Bank (Core)

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