crate training

[arasara]

Do any of you think that a snuggle puppy will help with crate anxiety? Kosmo always FREAKS when I leave him in his crate but I have no choice when I am gone in the day. I moved it to the kitchen because there's more traffic there, and I put his food and water in there as well so he can be familiar with it. It has improved a lot since I've done that, but he still hates it when I leave. When he hears me say "Kosmo, kennel up!" he runs away from me. Now he "OCCASIONALLY" goes in there on his own (when the nieces and nephews are over and chasing him, ) but not too often. I have stepped outside with him in there before and I do notice him calming down after about 5-10 minutes. We live in a new development and the builder came into our house for repairs during the day and said he was "quiet as a mouse." I have hoped that this would subside by now because he's been using it for a while. Should I try a snuggle puppy or will I probably come home to find it in pieces? That probably won't fix the problem, but at least he can have a friend when I leave. Or maybe I should make a big section in the basement for him? Thanks in advance

[Maxxs_Mummy]

Can I ask why you need to crate him? I have never crated any of mine and have never had a problem with them. I have left them in the kitchen with a bed and plenty of toys when they were small but I just don't like the idea of leaving them in a crate (or a cage) especially if I was going to work

[arasara]

Hi Maxxs_Mummy,

I feel that I need to crate Kosmo, because he's a tazmanian devil. He will eat, chew, and find everything in the house that he's not supposed to have. We also have wood floors in our house and if he wees on them when I am gone and it sits there until I get home then it could ruin the floor. I bought a crate that was too big for him and surprisingly enough it didn't really have any potty training implicatons on him. I've thought about sectioning off the kitchen but with my luck he will end up chewing the cabinets or something. He's just a handful, especially at this stage in his life. Avi keeps telling me to leave him go but I'm scared he'd find something that I overlooked when I was gone. Here he is in his crate:



It's not too small, but it's not huge either. Thanks for the reply

[JaneB]

I still crate all of our kids. Rudy (the Bulldog) goes to his bed as soon as he sees me pick up my keys - even if John is still home. (he is NOT the sharpest knife in the drawer!) The girls love their crate and race to get in as soon as I say "get in your bed". They often cuddle up in it during the day and take naps together. I used to think crates were awful but have found that with the girls, it keeps them safe and out of trouble while we are away. I think alot also depends on the dog and how they respond to being "caged". Our rescue girl, LooCee, an Akita/Shepard HATED it. I think she housebroke herself in record time so she wouldn't have to sleep in it. She would try to hide from us - silly thing would put her head under the bed with everything else showing. I guess if she couldn't see us, we couldn't see her. Bottom line, you just have to go with what works in your household. No right answer, no wrong one.

JaneB

[Mary]

I think crate training is important Sara as if or when they need it for health reasons it is good to have them use to it so it is not traumatizing on top of being ill or hurt. Make it a special place. I keep toys in the crates, blanket for laying on. Sounds like he just hates the separation piece from you not the crate. I think most dogs go through this when we go out the door. I give mine each a biscuit before I leave. Don't know if that is right or wrong but it works for me cuz they are excited to crate and get their treat.

[Nicki]

Everytime I go into the bedroom Jack and TedBear rush into the crate in the hopes of their bedtime treat

We also have a crate in the kitchen, Rupert "insisted" it was left up after Jack's operation, they often go in there during the day.

Maybe give Cosmo his meals in the crate so he associates it with nice things - and put him in with a treat a few minutes BEFORE you leave, so that there isn't an association with you going.

[Maxxs_Mummy]

LMAO Nicki! I can just imagine Rupert throwing a huffy fit as you were taking the crate down! They seem to have this knack of getting what they want don't they?

Maxx goes in a crate at the groomers if I am running late to collect him and he's also been in one at the Vets on occasion. He doesn't mind it but I just couldn't imagine leaving either of them in a crate and going to work.

Arasara, we have wooden floors too. The only carpet we have is on the stairs! I wasn't criticising you I was only asking why you felt you needed to crate him.

Charlie has damaged our wooden flooring in the lounge by peeing on it but tbh we've just accepted it as part and parcel of having dogs. The dogs were one reason we had wooden floors and leather suite - no way was I going to stop them from jumping on the sofa

The one stupid thing I did was to buy white bedding - it's usually decorated with paw prints and fur blobs Hubby always says to them "That'll teach Mummy to buy silly white bedding instead of dirty doggy paw colour bedding, won't it?"

[Maxxs_Mummy]

BTW Nicki, I love TedBear's new pic but I am having Roops withdrawal symptoms

[Mary]

Charlie has damaged our wooden flooring in the lounge by peeing on it but tbh we've just accepted it as part and parcel of having dogs. The dogs were one reason we had wooden floors and leather suite - no way was I going to stop them from jumping on the sofa

The one stupid thing I did was to buy white bedding - it's usually decorated with paw prints and fur blobs Hubby always says to them "That'll teach Mummy to buy silly white bedding instead of dirty doggy paw colour bedding, won't it?"

Isn't that the truth....when I go shopping for a quilt I look for what will look good with paw prints and hair or what will you see it on the least. But then again it is their house too and they do not get upset with me if my hair is on the quilt

[Karlin]

An X-pen might be an option that makes him happier. If he's chewing a lot, etc, that suggests he is bored (and also teething at his age) -- have you looked into freezing some kongs and leaving one for him? I presume he gets out at some point midday or so for a wee, and at that point a second frozen kong could be left in for him (subtract that food from his overall daily total of course).

How about leaving a radio on for him, or a television, if you don't do that now?

Personally I hate crating dogs for long stretches -- eg anything more than a couple of hours, when there's no other option -- but at the same time feel it is important to crate train, as this makes transport and so on so much easier. Yes I know a crate is seen as a den and all that, but a dog woud not by choice spend hours sitting inside a den or even in a dog bed, so I don't like keeping a dog in a small space for long stretches. Mine stay in an upstairs room, sometimes my bedroom; I've never had any problems, not even when they were young. I just keep what I don't want chewed away from the dogs (always a good plan! ). Some dogs are crated 8 hours while their owners are at work then crated 8 hours at night while sleeping meaning the dog spends nearly two thirds of its entire life in a space only large enough to stand up and turn around, and I have real difficulty with believeing there's much quality of life in such a situation. We would find that shocking, if a zoo animal was confined it this way for so many hours -- even for an 8-hour stretch -- so I really cannot see why dogs are seen as a different class of animal. If at all possible I think it is better for them to have at least the increased space of an x-pen, if not a room (even a utility room or somewhere small).

Have you actually crate trained him, or did you start by leaving him in the crate? Crate training takes time and some work, to always have good associations with the crate and to contrinually reinforce those. If he was suddenly left in for long stretches without being trained in to using his crate, then he likely has no good associations with it -- only that you leave, and he's left in a crate.

There's a lot on the web on 'crate training' if you google it. I'd certainly work to improve his associations with the crate by using some of those techniques, as that should help. There are many things you can do along those lines.

I'd be very reluctant to leave any toy that can be torn apart by a chewing dog in a crate, unsupervised. Mine like to destuff soft toys so they are not allowed to have them at all except when I can keep an eye on them. For the same reasons I'd not leave things like socks or anything that could be torn up and swallowed. Appropriate toys would be kongs, nylabones etc.