The Value of Crate Training

The primary breeding objective for puppies out of the 2020 King x Gracie litter is to produce a driven, tough, athletic, and tenacious bird dog. We hope that in this litter of four, at least one will meet the objectives and be given a chance to spend the rest of his or her life showcasing those attributes. There may be others that won’t grade out as well FOR OUR PURPOSES, and therefore be available to other hunting and/or companion/pet homes.

The ideal companion home for a puppy out of the Gracie litter needs to check a lot of boxes. When it comes to crate training, THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST FOR A DOG FROM THIS BREEDING. If a family isn’t familiar with crate training but is willing to learn, we’re all about it. Always happy to help with training!!!

For those who don’t believe in crate training, like, at all, this just litter isn’t right for them. And we do our best to let them know that, and WHY.

Let’s talk about TENACITY for a minute. To be tenacious is to “not give up.” It’s determination. It’s drive. It’s persistence. Some may even refer to it as “the asshole factor.”

We are breeding FOR assholes in this litter, because this is a desired trait in a hunting Weimaraner. In the right home, a tenacious dog will be a very good hunting dog. In the wrong home, however, he’s a disaster and a nightmare.

To simplify this discussion, let’s assume for now that the ideal Weimaraner is 50% a product of his breeding and neonatal upbringing, and 50% a product of his environment throughout his life.

Breeders are the first 50%. For the first 8-10 weeks of your puppy’s life, we will socialize, potty train, leash train, and crate train him. Owners are the other 50%. For the rest of your puppy’s life, you’re on the hook for picking up where we leave off and making sure he stays compatible with your lifestyle.

For most people, crate training is 90% of what makes a dog “compatible” to their lifestyle. Just trust us in this. Also:

A TENACIOUS DOG THAT ISN’T CRATE TRAINED WILL DO THE FOLLOWING:

• Wait for you to leave the room, mosey into the kitchen and and use his paws to open the trash drawer and pick off the rest of that rotisserie chicken carcass. And then let you know the next day that he needs an emergency visit to the vet to get those bones dislodged from his intestines.
• Shred your aunt’s heirloom chair, all because one little piece of kibble fell behind the cushion and the dog will do everything he can to get it.
• Wake you up in the middle of the night by hovering over your face and staring at you until you let him out for 3:00 am party time.
• Sneak away and poop at the top of the stairs, because he thinks that’s okay, because he did that all the time as a puppy and no one noticed right away to say that wasn’t okay. So of course it’s okay.
• Claw the screen door apart because he just wants to be with you, even though you’re outside mowing the lawn in 100 degree temperature and he’s inside the 71 degree air conditioned house [see also: comfort is secondary to being with their people].
• Eat the headliner or door handle off of your car because you left him in the front seat and “only needed to step into Trader Joe’s for ONE QUICK THING.”

Lookit. We own Gracie. We know her boyfriend King. We know King’s mom and dad. We know Gracie’s mom and dad. (Her mom Friday lives here too.) We know her aunts and uncles, as well as nieces and nephews. We have also seen Gracie’s other puppies grow up over the last year. In short, we have a pretty good data set that says, “if your Gracie spawn is crate trained, you’re very likely good to go.”We also KNOW what the picture’s gonna look like if you don’t. And because our responsibility is to set up the puppies we produce for success, we can’t in good conscience place them in homes where they kinda own their people and have zero containment boundaries. It. Just. Won’t. Work. 

The moral of the story is: Trust your breeder when they encourage you to crate train your puppy, and be prepared for the consequences if you don’t.

In closing, we leave you with images of a very pregnant Gracie. She loves her crate so much that she’ll even hang out in it with the door open.

Everyone at Barrett HQ has their own crate. To maximize real estate in our tiny house, we stack them. (Gracie has exquisite taste and enjoys her view from the top.) The kids can’t read the labels that have their name on them, but they know which one is theirs and retreat to the same one every time.

 – Kim/Barrett Weimaraners

 – Erin/BaseCamp Weimaraners