A good example of an age specific thing to consider is the size of their bladder. They you may think that this is a silly thing to even think about but it's not. It's just not reasonable to expect a young puppy to be able to hold their urine for more than about two to three hours at a time. This means that if your pup is less than about 12 weeks old, you should be prepared for scheduled visits outside with your puppy.

At about 12 weeks, the two to three hour schedule can begin to be expanded to six than 12 hours. Again however, no matter what age your dog, you need to establish a routine in the behavior of going outside to relieve themselves before bed.

Until the routine of visiting the outside bathroom just before bedtime is established, you can expect to be getting up in the middle of the night with your pet. This is a major difference between adult or adolescent dog crate training and working with puppies.

Crate Training Tips for All Dogs.

1. Keep your dog in their crate unless you are able to directly keep watch on them. The idea here is to try and eliminate the possibility of bathroom accidents happening in your home

2. Watch and understand the "I need to go to the Bathroom" Queues your dog is showing you. A canine that is sniffing around and squatting is a good indication that they're looking for someplace to relieve themselves.

3. Make your pet's crate area off-limits to children and other animals. Inside your puppy or dog's crate should be considered their own sanctuary. This means that you should make it comfortable by placing a blanket and a favorite toy inside

4. Dogs and puppies take many naps during the day. Using the crate for nap time is a good way to increase the comfort level of your puppy

5. If control is your goal, get a dog crate that is more like a full cage with an enclosed top. If house training is your goal, a better alternative is a dog crate that controls access to the rest of your home but allows for easy access to your animal

Just remember that puppy crate training is different than working with a more mature dog. You'll probably need to make adjustments to the basic crate training method to allow for your dogs personality. With persistence and consistent effort on your part, soon you will have a reliable house trained companion pet that will bring you years of enjoyment.

Now if you run into crate training problems, you want to be sure to check out how to deal with them here. I'll be putting more tips and strategies to overcome common cratetraining problems.