Ep 74: Crate Training & Comfort for Doodles: Why It Matters Beyond Puppyhood with Malena DeMartini (Part 1)

Is crate training only for housebreaking puppies? Or does it play a much bigger role in your Doodle’s comfort, safety, and confidence throughout life?

In this episode of The Doodle Pro® Podcast, I’m joined by world-renowned separation anxiety expert Malena DeMartini to dig into the surprising benefits of crate training — long after the puppy stage.

We cover:

• Why many puppies become “little land sharks” without a crate to help them decompress 🦈
• How crates can prevent over-arousal and support better sleep habits
• Why ditching the crate too soon can make emergencies, vet visits, and grooming far more stressful
• How to protect your dog’s crate as their safe space (and teach kids to respect it)
• The truth about the “dogs are den animals” myth

💡 Want a ready-to-use crate and alone-time schedule designed just for Doodles? Grab your copy of Your Doodle’s Daily Schedule Blueprint™ here: thedoodlepro.com/book

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This course is a step-by-step, science-based program designed to help dogs overcome separation anxiety at their own pace — using Malena’s proven protocol.

This is Part 1 of our conversation. Be sure to follow the podcast now so you don’t miss Part 2, where we’ll dive into exactly how to make crate comfort training a joy for both you and your Doodle.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your shows.

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Transcript

Crate Training & Comfort for Doodles (Part 1) with Malena DeMartini

Learn why crate training matters for Doodles beyond puppyhood. Expert Malena DeMartini and Corinne Gearhart, The Doodle Pro®, discuss crate comfort, separation anxiety, emergencies, and grooming.

Full Transcript

Malena DeMartini Price: [00:00:00] As many areas in California have, we have fire season and in one of the main fires that was around me a couple years ago we were on standby for evacuation. And there was all these regulations and one of them was. Your dog has to be able to settle in a crate if you're evacuating with your dog.

Otherwise, you have to bring your dog to the local shelter and only personally evacuate yourselves into the environment that down the street. And I thought, oh my gosh, do you know how many people would struggle to even drag their dog into a crate and not be able to evacuate in an emergency situation.

Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro: I am so excited to welcome back one of my favorite guests and one of our most popular guests from the Doodle Pro podcast, Milena de Martini Price, and she is my go-to when it comes to [00:01:00] separation anxiety resources work on making sure our pups are more comfortable with alone time. in my new book, your Doodles Daily Scheduled Blueprint.

I feature some amazing tidbits from this guest and we talk in the schedule about how to line up. Create training, create time and alone time training to create comfort for your pups. But I wanna dive in deeper because that's the schedule and I want to dive in deeper into the how to.

Doodle breed. Dogs are easy to love, but can be challenging to parent. I'm Doodle expert Karin Gearhart, also known as the Doodle Pro, and I'm here to help doodle parents have a more fulfilling and rewarding experience with their doodles. No one has professionally worked with as many different doodle breeds, or has more experience with doodles than I have, and I love to [00:02:00] share my expertise in a fun, compassionate, and non-judgmental way.

From my years of work and education in the pet care and dog training industry, I have an incredible network of skilled training. Grooming and veterinary professionals to share their knowledge with you and give you the doodle specific answers you are looking for. I hope you enjoy today's episode as I help you parent your doodle like a pro.

welcome Melana.

I'm so happy to have you

Malena DeMartini Price: today. Thank you, Kareen. This is one of my favorite podcasts to be on. Oh, because you have such a wonderful audience Of course, but also because you ask all the good questions. And the reason you can ask all the good questions is that you have such a breadth of knowledge.

And it's just, it's really wonderful to talk to someone when they know a lot and we can get into the nitty gritty conversation. So thank you for having me.

Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro: That's very kind. And now the pressure's on [00:03:00] for great questions, so I hope I don't disappoint.

Thank you so much. If we're talking about a typical developing puppy or adult dog, why do you think Crate training is valuable?

Malena DeMartini Price: Wow. I think that's such a good question because the reasons that crate training can be so valuable. None of the boxes that I'm gonna mention and tick off have to do with separation.

But there's a couple different reasons for puppies and more adult dogs, but they run similar. And the first, when we're talking about puppies will go and go and go and go.

We need to teach them how to relax and get sleep and how to decompress and have downtime. And it's amazing to me, before I [00:04:00] started working with dress separation anxiety, it's amazing to me how many puppy guardians would reach out, after a month of having this puppy run wild in their house without any sort of intervention.

And those puppies are. sleep deprived and they're over aroused and

Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro: Yeah.

Malena DeMartini Price: They need little land sharks. They're little land sharks, right? Yes. They need that time. That is downtime. Additionally, it's such a positive way to help with house training. And, big thing, people will often say, oh, I can't get my puppy or my adult dog house trained.

and what it comes down to is some sort of clear designation of times that access is available when the bladder is ready to eliminate, et cetera. And crates can be so valuable for that. And there's a number of other reasons that I find crate training valuable that maybe aren't as direct.

For [00:05:00] instance, if you have a puppy or an adult dog, that has been properly crates trained. They can choose to go into their crate if it's available. They can choose to go into their crate on their own, giving them some agency. If there's something in the environment that, let's say, your friend comes over with their toddler or something, right?

They can choose to go into their crate and it gives us some really great information about, oh, my dog is not particularly thrilled with that situation. I think I'm gonna give 'em a chew and let them, settle in their crate and, be away from this toddler or whatever the stimulus means.

And I think that's very important.

Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro: We have to protect that space.

So if you have that toddler, be it your grandchild or your kiddo. Then we protect that pup in that crate and say that's their space, that's their timeout space.

So you'll see pictures online of a [00:06:00] child climbing in the crate with their dog. But if we don't give them that agency, then they have to escalate or struggle.

Malena DeMartini Price: I love that you say that because if properly introduced to a crate

And given that agency it can be a place where a dog is I am feeling uncomfortable. whether it's the noises outside or whatever it may be. The maintenance worker, the gardener, the electric guy, checking the meter.

And it's so nice to see them have that place that has been very carefully protected. We're not letting toddlers go to the crate and poke fingers in there. Or climb into the crate. We're not letting you know, we're not, we're just really, I always say if we can bubble wrap the entire area around the crate.

Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro: Yeah.

Malena DeMartini Price: Metaphorically. It's just such a safe space.

Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro: And even some blue painter's tape as like a little rectangle around it [00:07:00] and work on it with your kiddo before the pup is in there. And that area is lava or whatever. Yes. Just to keep it there, like safe space.

Absolutely. And I interrupted you. Were going to add one more reason why

Malena DeMartini Price: you find one more reason invaluable. And it's a combination reason, but it came, and I think I had mentioned this to you before it came so starkly important to me. I live in Northern California and.

As many areas in California have, we have fire season and in one of the main fires that was around me a couple years ago we were on standby for evacuation. And there was all these regulations and one of them was. Your dog has to be able to settle in a crate if you're evacuating with your dog.

Otherwise, you have to bring your dog to the local shelter and only personally evacuate your yourselves into the environment that down the [00:08:00] street. And I thought, oh my gosh, do you know how many people would struggle to even drag their dog into a crate and not be able to evacuate in an emergency situation. We need to be able to say. Go to your crate. We're going, here we go. And on top of that, of course dogs are going to, at some point in time in their life, more often than we probably realize, need to be at the vet.

And sometimes the vet is not gonna be able to do a procedure in five seconds while we're there. Sometimes the dog will have to be in a crate environment while they're waiting for the procedure or waiting for some sort of, other dog that's getting some medical care. So lots of reasons and I'm sure you might have others, but those are the main ones that come to mind for me.

Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro: I think you covered that beautifully. And it shows the spectrum of needs across ages. So most people like, yeah, I've heard I need to crate train in the beginning so they don't [00:09:00] potty everywhere or just for bedtime.

But now I can trust my dog is not having accidents and we got rid of the crate. And two points you might be able to trust your dog in your home and not need it day to day for house training. But secondly, doodles have a longer adolescence than some other breeds.

And you mix in the lab and the Labradoodle, et cetera, who are suddenly swallowing the stuffed animals, swallowing rocks, et cetera. There's some safety pieces that, yeah, they might not be having accidents anymore, but knowing that they're safely secure and not taking everything outta the trash can and eating the chicken bones that can be key.

Yeah. But then even if your pup is now reliable with all of that, if they get sick and have to go to the vet which is going to be so stressful for the both of you anyway, they're already not feeling well. They're going to be confined to the crate if they have to stay overnight. [00:10:00] And my standard poodle Hershey, when that was the case, I was so relieved that was not an extra stressor on her when she was already struggling with liver issues and needed to be at the animal hospital for a couple of nights.

Because the panic that a dog can feel if they haven't been comfortably crate conditioned, can be a lot in a new environment. And then finally, I would add special for doodles. Most groomers. Groomers, yes, need to use crates. And if they don't, you need to feel really comfortable about what is their screening process.

And if they're grooming on a table and we're like, we're crate free, we're free roam, and they got a dozen dogs walking around that are all unfamiliar with each other and you don't know their socialization, comfort, et cetera, they're not able to monitor body language to make sure every pup is comfortable.

It's a [00:11:00] safe decision for groomers that are grooming multiple pups at the same time to use a crate and grooming can already be stressful. And if they need to go every four to six weeks all through their lifetime, stopping their comfort at the crate after being a puppy can be a disservice. So in order for my board and trade program, I only accept doodles that are comfortable in a crate because I don't want them to be stressed in a new environment first.

It's a new environment. Yes. but the ones that are at home, they bring their little blanket, their little crate pad, and they pop right in. And it's like the feeling of home has just transferred over to my home and they adapt so much quicker. So I see just so many reasons why it's valuable beyond just the potty training period.

Malena DeMartini Price: Oh, [00:12:00] absolutely. And one thing that you said that I wanna emphasize too is I get it right, A crate is typically. Large-ish. And not particularly aesthetically, pleasing in your home. But don't ditch the crate right away because if like you were saying, oh, they're good in the house.

They don't chew things anymore, et cetera. But it still can act as that safe haven. And it can still be a place that you to streets in once in a while so that when the emergency fire or the emergency vet visit, or the board and train or any of those scenarios come up. Yeah. It hasn't been four years since your dog was Yes.

Positively exposed to a crate, but they've led us.

Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro: Yes. And we're talking about all the pros, but there's one pro that I hear a lot that I've seen you discuss a little bit where people say dogs are wolves that love their den, and that is their den and their den animals.

[00:13:00] So that's what their crate is. Throw a blanket on it if you need to make it more of a den. Can you share a little bit about your feelings about that myth?

Malena DeMartini Price: I absolutely can and will first of all. Many may disagree, but I feel like it's a socially important message to say we need to say dogs that are domesticated, pets

Malena DeMartini Price: not wolves. .

Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro: Correct. Period.

Malena DeMartini Price: period. End of story. Whether we're talking about the den or the hierarchical, Dogs that are domesticated, particularly those that are pets are not wolves. So let's not even put the same this is not just apples and oranges.

This is like apples and martians or something. So first, that's first and foremost, going to wolves. Yes. There's a certain den type of importance in their lives for many reasons. A couple things, the den. Doesn't [00:14:00] have a great door on it. And they are typically only used for younger pops safety and wellbeing.

Now, not that they won't return to the dens, a little older, et cetera, but it's just so different than what we're talking about when we're talking about a crate. I don't care how comfy your dog's crate is, they're not looking at it as a den. And yes, I'm anthropomorphizing because I think it's important that I say that's not what they're encountering.

Yes. They're encountering a place that they have learned. Not intrinsically hardwired. This is not an instinctual no. This is a learned behavior to go into a crate and feel comfortable and settled in that crate. And I'm sure we'll probably talk at some point in time about a little bit of that training.

But that's why, because if it were instinctual, if it were innate, they would go right in there and we would close the door and they'd be fine. We wouldn't have this [00:15:00] conversation at all. So yes, I want everyone to say, yeah, not a den, it is a crate.

Or you can call it a, confinement space, whatever you wanna call it. But it is not equivalent to a den. And I think that's such a myth. Now, what I do think that is a little more on the innate side when not all, but when many dogs experienced tremendous fear. Let's say loud noises or something like that, they may run into a closet.

They may go under a bed, they may hide under a table. So if we can provide a safe haven by acclimating them to a crate so they know I can always run in there 'cause that's my safe space.

Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro: S

Malena DeMartini Price: fantastic. Yeah. Obviously we know fight, flight, freeze, et cetera. So that flight sometimes results in a place to feel safer.

And I love it if we can provide that for them by setting them up to feel safe in an environment. Yes.

Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro: Do you [00:16:00] have a different approach on the how to create some crate comfort with puppies versus adults? Or do you have the same approach for both?

Malena DeMartini Price: That's a great question.

Corinne Gearhart- The Doodle Pro: If you love today's conversation, make sure you hit subscribe or follow right now so you don't miss part two of my interview with Milena de martini price next week. That's where we dive into the how step-by-step ways to make Crate comfort training a joy for both you and your doodle. Trust me, you'll want this one in your player the moment it drops.

Thanks for joining me for this episode of the Doodle Pro Podcast. If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts. And I invite you to follow me on Instagram at the Doodle [00:17:00] Pro for behind the scenes peaks at all of the adorable doodles I work. With daily.