Playpen advice

I bought the superyard playpen for Bella. I took two weeks off of work to help her get comfortable with my family and home, but I am returning to work on Monday. She won't be alone at all while I am at work--my grandmom will be with her.

I got the playpen so Bella will be safe when my grandmom needs to take a shower or do some laundry . . . but Bella goes crazy when she is left alone in it. She starts crying and clawing, biting and scratching at the playpen. I am afraid that she will hurt her paws and her mouth as she tries to get out--she even tries to jump! Any ideas on how I can make it safer for her?

she is basically saying "how dare you leave me in here"! same as a child crying when he doesnt want to sit in his car seat! i wouldnt worry so much, she will just have to get used to being in there the odd time. try short periods of maby a half hour at a time over the next few days and dont be tempted to pick her up or give in too quickly, let her cry. make sure she has her toys and chewing goods in with her, a nice soft fleece and drinking water. encourage her with a few tasty treats now and then and hide one in her bed inside the pen so she realises its a good place to be also a good idea to keep the pen in a high traffic area of the house so she can still be a part of whats going on around her and hear things. i dont think she can come to any harm trying to get out as long as there are no sharp corners or cracks that she could catch a paw in.
she will soon see that its not that bad in there and it will help her learn to keep herself pacified while you are out, without her getting stressed so much.
this worked great for my pup anyway and he loves his pen, he goes in there himself sometimes for a time out. hope this helps, good luck and she is sooo cute!!

Just think what would she do if no one was there - well she would make a fuss for a few minutes and then give up as it was getting no attention and probably go to sleep.

Playpens ..........................

My continued fear with pens without a roof - is that the dog will jump up and either catch a paw or its neck on the way down. Obviously pens with straight top edges, are less dangerous but some (Croft Concept) have a rounded top line which is a danger !

The remedy for me was either a pen with sides very high or make or buy a top cover to ensure that the pups for example, cannot possibly hang themselves - which has happened to others.

The Croft Concept Pen has a plastic base which if you buy two, one can then be used as a 'ROOF' and even secured by rubber straps.

Regards Mark.

When mine were little bought some little light weight panels from Canine Concepts and made a pen to the size I wanted. I was worried they might injure themselves also, so I threaded a towel through it which acted like a baby bumper!