• If you're a past member of the board, but can't recall your password any more, you don't need to set up a new account (unless you wish to). As long as you recall your old login name, you can log in with that user name then select 'forgot password' and the board will email you at your registration email, to let you reset your password.

home puppy set up

gamefanz

Well-known member
I thought I would share our puppy set up for when Toby comes home. There is the kitchen set up that gives him access to the dog door and give us access to our kitchen to cook.
Also a few months ago we bought an automatic kong dispenser for when we got a new dog, we could leave the house and it will dispense kongs every hr so he is not bored. Of course that will wait until we can trust him to be outside his kennel when we are not home. It was not cheap because the item was discontinued a long time agao. I found it on Amazon but I see that it is now sold out. Thank goodness we got it when we did.
There is also a picture of his bedroom set up. We don't want him on the bed so he gets his own bed.
His bowls will be in the kitchen area near the dog door until we go somewhere then his water bowl will be in his kennel. There will be a cushion inside the kennel once we get him.

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=511e9a70aa808f08&sid=0AaOGTZozZs2LEng
What do you think? Anything missing?
Becky
 
I forgot to explain there will be wall brackets and zip ties holding the play pens in place. So it will not fall down if he pushes it.

Becky



I thought I would share our puppy set up for when Toby comes home. There is the kitchen set up that gives him access to the dog door and give us access to our kitchen to cook.
Also a few months ago we bought an automatic kong dispenser for when we got a new dog, we could leave the house and it will dispense kongs every hr so he is not bored. Of course that will wait until we can trust him to be outside his kennel when we are not home. It was not cheap because the item was discontinued a long time agao. I found it on Amazon but I see that it is now sold out. Thank goodness we got it when we did.
There is also a picture of his bedroom set up. We don't want him on the bed so he gets his own bed.
His bowls will be in the kitchen area near the dog door until we go somewhere then his water bowl will be in his kennel. There will be a cushion inside the kennel once we get him.

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=511e9a70aa808f08&sid=0AaOGTZozZs2LEng
What do you think? Anything missing?
Becky
 
Be careful about giving him unsupervised access to the yard when he first comes home. I was shocked by how many places Oliver found to escape, and that was while we were watching him!
 
Thank you. We have an 8ft wood fence and we reenforced that with chicken wire at the bottom that goes into the ground then covered again with dirt. This way if he digs he will only get the chicken wire. The only concern at this point is the gate. we will have to see what he does with that. If he tries to get under it we will have to put chicken wire on the bottom of the gate and hope we can still open it.
Becky


Be careful about giving him unsupervised access to the yard when he first comes home. I was shocked by how many places Oliver found to escape, and that was while we were watching him!
 
Oliver has been doing a bang-up job of locating all the bunny bolt holes in our yard. I think we have now blocked off all of them, but I don't trust him not to discover some we missed. I make him wear a collar with ID now, just in case! We do plan to microchip him also. But if he got out, we are right next to a busy high speed road. :yikes
 
This looks good Becky :) I am starting to think about how to organize the home when we get our little one, it is good to see what others are doing.

Habba
 
LOL I'm sure the holes are just too much to resist :lol: Dang bunnies:lol: So far we do not have any critters making holes. We have tons of birds though. I only feed the hummingbirds. I just hope he does not catch my hummers.
Our breeder microchips before we get him and we just transfer into our name. But collars are always good.
Just not sure if we are missing anything to do before he gets here. I mean we haven't had a puppy for so many years. I feel like I am forgetting something.
Becky
 
Thank you Habba. Its not the perfect set up but the best we can do so dog and humans can utilize the same space. I hope you can configure your home so everyone is happy.
Becky


This looks good Becky :) I am starting to think about how to organize the home when we get our little one, it is good to see what others are doing.

Habba
 
We have an 8ft wood fence and we reenforced that with chicken wire at the bottom that goes into the ground then covered again with dirt. This way if he digs he will only get the chicken wire. The only concern at this point is the gate. we will have to see what he does with that. If he tries to get under it we will have to put chicken wire on the bottom of the gate and hope we can still open it.
Be sure to lock your gate(s), so no one can open them and let your baby out, or (God forbid) take him.
 
You must be getting excited now! Your puppy is almost home. :)

Two honest comments in response to your post: first, kong dispensers are quite popular and are a nice option... BUT... this is a small dog breed and cannot be given lots and lots of stuffed kongs daily, even small kongs. A single medium kong would contain enough food for an entire day for many adult cavaliers! :lol: I'd only get very small kongs, and pack them with something that will provide few calories, such as a few small bits of kibble and the rest, mashed banana. You can freeze them to make them last longer. If you opt to use this regularly, do not feed him -- you will want to split his entire daily ration of food between the kongs perhaps, and pack banana around them, and release them only every 4 hours or so at mealtimes. Otherwise you will end up with an enormously fat cavalier if the dog is being given stuffed kongs every few hours, in addition to his meals. You will ned some option like this for feeding if no one is home a lot of the time -- young puppies need to be fed 4 times daily and should never be left with a day of food left on the floor to free feed (free feeding is generally a bad idea with this breed, which is very prone to becoming overweight). The more time you can be there during the day with your puppy (and adult) the better -- they are not a great breed to leave alone all day and puppies need a lot of input from their people for socialising, behaviour and housetraining. It can take forever to housetrain a puppy if people work all day.

The second point: I would never give a cavalier (adult or puppy, but especially *never* a puppy) unsupervised access outside, especially not any ability to be outside when no one is at home. It is inviting disaster -- puppies can get into so many things including poisons like certain plants and weeks or snail bait etc, they can dig their way out and squeeze through tiny spaces, and they are a number one target of thieves, especially young, unneutered dogs. Barking can cause neighbours to report the dog which could see the dog impounded -- and see this post on all the reasons why dogs for all kinds of care and welfare and happiness reasons, just should not be left alone at home, outside: http://www.cavaliertalk.com/forums/showthread.php?31670-Yard-outdoor-dogs-no-thanks-please

And this: http://lizcatalano.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/the-great-outdoors/

This is an indoor breed. Puppies lack the ability to keep themselves warm and even adults only have a single layer coat -- they lack the warm undercoat that keeps many breeds warm, or the build to keep warm. So they definitely are not a breed to be put outside in winter or in-between seasons. A lot of good breeders will not home where the dogs will be left with unsupervised outdoor access -- and this is a standard for breed rescue; there's no way any cavalier breed rescue would put a dog into a home where it would be left to go outside during the day when no one is home. It is just too risky and is considered poor animal welfare.

What to do, then? There are many options. You would be much better to have him in a puppy playpen (xpen) inside in a safe area like a kitchen, with an open crate inside, a toileting area, and his toys, fresh water etc.

If you haven't downloaded it i would recommend immediately getting the free copy of well known trainer Dr Ian Dunbar's After You Get Your Puppy. He has illustrations of good indoor setups and it is one of the best guides to raising and training a puppy:

http://www.dogstardaily.com/files/AFTER You Get Your Puppy.pdf

www.dogstardaily.com, the main Dunbar site, is full of great advice, videos, blogs etc. :)
 
Thank you. I never thought of too much snacks in the kong. I don't work so it would only be in use when I go out shopping and such. Weekends would be the only worry. I like the frozen idea. I only bought puppy kongs, little teeth LOL
He will not be using the dog door unless I am home until I can trust him. I figure if my little pekingese could use it as an adult so can he. I mean my peke hated cats but still stayed in the yard. I do know they are not the same breed but I cannot imagine a grown dog cannot stay in a backyard that is reenforced to go to the bathroom and play. The only plants I have are on the table out back. I am a renter so I cannot do anything with the yard, sadly. Besides rocks (which I am concerned about)there really is nothing out there to destroy or eat besides grass.
Its hard to imagine that I can never trust this breed even in a fenced in backyard that is 8ft tall. Are they really that bad?
Adding I would NEVER force him to stay outside, that is why I have a dog door. I want him to have the freedom to choose when he goes in and out. I will put up with puppy training but I will not allow him use of my home when I am not here to pee in the kitchen. My Peke learned and so can he.

Becky
 
Its hard to imagine that I can never trust this breed even in a fenced in backyard that is 8ft tall. Are they really that bad?
Adding I would NEVER force him to stay outside, that is why I have a dog door. I want him to have the freedom to choose when he goes in and out. I will put up with puppy training but I will not allow him use of my home when I am not here to pee in the kitchen. My Peke learned and so can he.
I would totally trust Clancy (my adult) to go in and out through a dog door, and I did, when he was young. Since he developed epilepsy and a habit of murdering songbirds, not so much.

With a little baby, I would not. Just because of the risks of escape.

The rescue I got Dillon from insisted on fenced yards, but they encouraged dog doors. Most rescue dogs that come from mills are difficult if not impossible to housebreak, and dog doors are a huge help.
 
Sorry if I sounded rude above. I do appreciate advice but please ask me questions before lecturing if you are not sure what I am doing.
Thank you
Becky
 
Thank you. Yeah I wouldn't let him out alone when he is so small. Actually right now I am just hoping he can even get out the door with him being so small LOL
The dog door has always helped us with training our peke and it was so easy. We moved 7 times with him and always had a dog door. I won't get a dog if he cannot have access to one. We love this dog dog door invention.
Becky



I would totally trust Clancy (my adult) to go in and out through a dog door, and I did, when he was young. Since he developed epilepsy and a habit of murdering songbirds, not so much.

With a little baby, I would not. Just because of the risks of escape.

The rescue I got Dillon from insisted on fenced yards, but they encouraged dog doors. Most rescue dogs that come from mills are difficult if not impossible to housebreak, and dog doors are a huge help.
 
The dog door has always helped us with training our peke and it was so easy. We moved 7 times with him and always had a dog door. I won't get a dog if he cannot have access to one. We love this dog dog door invention.
I miss having one so much! I paid a boatload of money for a dual paned sliding door one, like you have in your picture. But 2 of my cats learned to use it, and neither will stay in the yard. When we lived out in the countryside it wasn't a big deal. But now we're in a suburb with a busy road, and I am too afraid of them getting run over to install it here.

Also Clancy could seize and fall off the deck, or down the casement stairwell to the basement. :(
 
I'm so sorry about your pup. I can't imagine what it must be like. Poor baby.
I was wondering about electrical outlets. should I use baby covers? My peke never bothered them but unsure of this breed.

Becky
 
I used a playpen that I could add bits on if I wanted to make it bigger which i did and a crate for sleeping. I didn't put a dog door in until they were about 12 months old. What you have there looks quite good. Like you I am home most of the day too. My place is fully tiled so any accidents were easy dealt with not that they had many anyway. The crate will be great for him when you go out shopping, once he gets used to it, they are safe and it gives you peace of mind. If you are anything like me you will worry anyway. Lol
My two don't use the crate now they have their own beds in our bedroom so I can hear them get up to go out. When I go out now they have access to outside by the dog door and it's all fully fenced no escape routes whatsoever. When I go out they are up on the sofa or chair snuggled up and are still there when I get back. The only thing they have chewed is the grass!
I always make sure every room is closed and that there is nothing lying around for them to get into. I don't think you power points will be a worry if they are not in use. I boxed in my power point that was being used by the computer as that was they only one exposed and I didn't want them to get access to the cables.
I think your only worry would be your gate? Don't you have an area at the back with no gate to worry about?
If you are home most of the time you will be keeping him entertained anyway and when you go out he will be in his crate so no worries.
 
I thought I would share our puppy set up for when Toby comes home. There is the kitchen set up that gives him access to the dog door and give us access to our kitchen to cook.
Also a few months ago we bought an automatic kong dispenser for when we got a new dog, we could leave the house and it will dispense kongs every hr so he is not bored. Of course that will wait until we can trust him to be outside his kennel when we are not home. It was not cheap because the item was discontinued a long time agao. I found it on Amazon but I see that it is now sold out. Thank goodness we got it when we did.
There is also a picture of his bedroom set up. We don't want him on the bed so he gets his own bed.
His bowls will be in the kitchen area near the dog door until we go somewhere then his water bowl will be in his kennel. There will be a cushion inside the kennel once we get him.

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=511e9a70aa808f08&sid=0AaOGTZozZs2LEng
What do you think? Anything missing?
Becky

You had me at automatic kong dispenser
 
Back
Top