A crate is not a cage — done right, it is your dog’s favorite room in the house. Dogs are den animals, and a properly introduced crate becomes the spot they choose for naps, thunderstorms and busy evenings. The trick is that the crate must only ever predict good things.

Saturday: make the crate boring and wonderful

Set the crate up in the living room with the door wide open and a soft bed inside. Toss a treat in whenever you walk past, and feed every meal just inside the doorway. Do not close the door yet. By the evening, most puppies are wandering in on their own to check for surprise snacks — exactly what you want.

Sunday: build up to a closed door

Start closing the door for a few seconds while your puppy eats, opening it before they finish. Stretch it to a minute, then five, always returning before the whining starts rather than after. End the weekend with a stuffed chew toy in the crate and a 20-minute session while you stay in the room.

The golden rule

Never use the crate as punishment, and don’t swing the door open the moment your dog cries — wait for a quiet beat first, then release. Two exceptions, though: a puppy whose crying keeps up may genuinely need a bathroom trip — make it quick and boring, then straight back to bed. And a puppy who sounds panicked rather than grumbly is telling you the training moved too fast — go back a step and keep the sessions shorter. A cozy bed and a long-lasting chew do most of the heavy lifting; you can find both in our dog section.