The Sewing Mom

8. Let your readers see the REAL you. Blogging is more personal than conventional websites. Don’t be afraid to tell a few stories from your own life. By being real and personal, you will build a relationship with your readers based on loyalty and trust.

I think I do this pretty regularly and I hope my readers enjoy what they read here.

I would just like to take a moment to say that I am so happy we decided to crate train this puppy.  I grew up having dogs and have had dogs most of my adult life as well.  Of all of those dogs, this is the first time I’ve ever crate trained.   We started by going to PetSmart and purchasing the Bargain Hound Drop Pin Crate.  This was reasonably priced and very easy to put together.  I also liked it’s black enamel frame and removable black bottom tray.  I felt confident that the puppy would be safe in the crate and it would be easy to clean if/when there were any accidents.

We set the crate up in our family room.  We chose to do this because training books we read said that it should be placed in a location where the family spent most of its time.  For us, that’s the family room.  Our family room is connected to our kitchen so it made sense.   I was nervous about having the crate on the carpet if there was a potty accident, but the bottom tray has a lip on it that keeps liquids on the tray.    We also bought a cute little bed at Target and a few chew toys to make the puppy feel welcome. 

Since bringing our puppy home two weeks ago, our crate has proven to be the best purchase we made.  She sleeps through the night in it going to bed around 9 and getting up around 7.  I have actually only had to clean the crate 3 times in the two weeks she’s been using it.  She also spends her nap times in the crate.  Just like when you have a baby, naptime is when we get other things done around the house.  When Plinko is not in the crate, it requires our full attention in order to minimize potty accidents in the house.  When she’s in her crate,  she won’t go potty unless she just absolutely can’t wait any longer.  Having the crate helps too when we need to leave the house.  If we need to go to the grocery, out to dinner, guitar lessons, whatever it is, I know she is safe in her crate and she feels safe and secure.  For some reason, dogs don’t like to go to the bathroom near their beds, so chances are, she won’t do her business in her crate.  As soon as we let her out, we take her outside and this has been helping with the potty training too.

Overall, the crate has been our best training tool for our new puppy Plinko.