How Long Should You Let a Puppy Bark When Crate Training?

Overview

Let Him Bark Indefinitely

You don’t want to teach your dog that barking gets him out of his crate or is otherwise wanted behavior. To accomplish this you have to completely ignore the barking while he is in his crate. Any attention, even negative attention can be a reward for the barking. Theoretically, if your dog barks nonstop for hours, you should ignore him the entire time, only releasing him from the crate when he is quiet.

Don’t Let Him Bark Long

Ignoring a persistent barking puppy can be exceptionally difficult to do. Listening to a puppy bark in the crate for any length of time can cause stress for the owner. To keep both the owner and puppy happy, you should not allow your puppy to bark for more than a few minutes.

Bottom Line

Allowing your puppy to bark for hours is not going to be a pleasant experience for you or your pooch. However, you also cannot release him from the crate while he is barking, as this will teach him to bark more. The solution is to teach him that calm and quiet behavior gets him out of the crate. To start this training listen for the first moment that he is quiet for a few seconds and run to praise and let him out of the crate. Progressively increase how long you wait from a few seconds to a few minutes and he’ll eventually learn that being quiet is a good thing.

References

• Champaign County Humane Society: Crate Training