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crating question...please help!


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ShihNanigans,

I also like crates because they're safe & good for housetraining. I just feel really bad leaving Lullaby in there for more than a few hours (overnight is the exception; she sleeps in her kennel at night for about 7 or 8 hours).

How long do you leave your dogs in their kennels during the day?

Sometimes my husband & I are gone for 6 hours at a time during the day, so that's why we got the baby gate. One or two hours = kennel up!

Kay

Phyllis--

We do have potty pads. Lullaby knows how to use them, but we haven't been putting them out b/c she has been doing so well with housetraining. We wanted to see if she would hold it till we got home. We might put out a potty pad for her, but at the same time it almost feels like we're going backwards with housetraining if we let her use them again. What do you think?

Kay

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Did you consider picking up any bathmats/carpets/rugs?

-m

Yep, we will do that from now on. The accidents happened the first day we tried the baby gate. We left it in there b/c she likes to sleep on the bath mat. We thought that she would consider it a bed, not a potty! Oh well.

Kay

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Phyllis--

We do have potty pads. Lullaby knows how to use them, but we haven't been putting them out b/c she has been doing so well with housetraining. We wanted to see if she would hold it till we got home. We might put out a potty pad for her, but at the same time it almost feels like we're going backwards with housetraining if we let her use them again. What do you think?

Kay

Kay, I have never used them, but I have a friend whose baby uses them in bad weather but goes out the rest of the time. I think if you are going to be away, they would be a good alternative. But someone with more experience will be able to help you more. I wish you luck in finding the perfect solution.

This is Nicky's crate, before the disaster of yesterday. Bed, rug inside & rug outside are all in the trash now :(

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ShihNanigans

ShihNanigans,

I also like crates because they're safe & good for housetraining. I just feel really bad leaving Lullaby in there for more than a few hours (overnight is the exception; she sleeps in her kennel at night for about 7 or 8 hours).

How long do you leave your dogs in their kennels during the day?

Sometimes my husband & I are gone for 6 hours at a time during the day, so that's why we got the baby gate. One or two hours = kennel up!

Kay

If my husband is out of town they absolutely have to stay in the crate all day while I am at work and the kids are at school. The only exception to that is when they are really little, we try to work something out. Now that we have "little what's his name" (I know, we're working on a name, and I expect a decision any time now), it changes things a little. I can't remember how old Lullaby is, but our baby is 13 weeks, so I came home a little early yesturday and Tuesday when Hubby was out of town, but he was fine in there for most of the day.

Rocky was only eight weeks when he came to us. That is really tiny. We had a neighbor come in at noon to feed him, take him out to potty, clean the crate if he had an accident and let him run around a bit. That was for the first month or so, but after that, he was fine in the crate all day by himself. Now I have three in one big crate and the baby in his own. When they are all big enough, I will probably gate them in a safe room, but for now, I feel better with them in a crate. Rockefeller would probably be fine out now (he's 2 1/2), but it wouldn't be fair to the others, plus they all like to be in the crate.

I really do think she would be okay for six hours (although I can't remember how old she is). It sounds harsh, and is not ideal, but what is the alternative? She jumps over a gate, eats something bad for her, scratches to door to bits or has accidents that set her potty training back. I am a big proponent of crate training. It has worked really well for us. I don't think you should feel guilty for keeping her safe and secure until you get home.

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ShihtzuBeauty

Another alternitive to the baby gate which I've used is an x-pen. This is the problem I had w/my sister and her last 2 furkids. :inlove: My mom has her jack and she rehomed her tzu w/out me knowing because she knew I would have taken her.

Anyway she would leave them crated all day while she worked then crate them at night to me this seems excessive and she wondered why they "misbehaved". Well...they were in a crate 16hrs. a day!

This is time w/out any interaction w/loved ones not to mention there was no time to run, play, chew, roll around being silly etc...At least iv you used an x-pen or a kitchen etc...there would be a litle more room for them. jmho

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ShihNanigans

Another alternitive to the baby gate which I've used is an x-pen. This is the problem I had w/my sister and her last 2 furkids. :inlove: My mom has her jack and she rehomed her tzu w/out me knowing because she knew I would have taken her.

Anyway she would leave them crated all day while she worked then crate them at night to me this seems excessive and she wondered why they "misbehaved". Well...they were in a crate 16hrs. a day!

This is time w/out any interaction w/loved ones not to mention there was no time to run, play, chew, roll around being silly etc...At least iv you used an x-pen or a kitchen etc...there would be a litle more room for them. jmho

Agreed...maybe I should clarify. Time in the crate needs to be balanced with lots of playtime and human interaction when you are home. They need a good walk most, if not every, day, and play time when they are allowed--even encouraged--to run around the yard or living room. Rockefeller is happy to play fetch with his tennis ball in the Family Room whenever anyone is in there watching tv.

Also, our pups sleep in the "big bed," which I was not thrilled about at first. But, I realized that if they spend time in the crate during the day, they should be with us at night. Yes, all four are in a queen sized bed with us at night (except for Libby Lu, who sometimes abandons us for her bed on the floor next to me). That's a personal decision, but it works for us (and many others on the forum).

No question that they need lots of love and human interaction. After all, that's why we have them, right? I just think it's possible to have a healthy, happy dog even though you have to go to work. Now that my husband works from home, he will tell you that they sleep most of the day anyway--often in their crate with the door open!

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ShihtzuBeauty

Agreed...maybe I should clarify. Time in the crate needs to be balanced with lots of playtime and human interaction when you are home. They need a good walk most, if not every, day, and play time when they are allowed--even encouraged--to run around the yard or living room. Rockefeller is happy to play fetch with his tennis ball in the Family Room whenever anyone is in there watching tv.

Also, our pups sleep in the "big bed," which I was not thrilled about at first. But, I realized that if they spend time in the crate during the day, they should be with us at night. Yes, all four are in a queen sized bed with us at night (except for Libby Lu, who sometimes abandons us for her bed on the floor next to me). That's a personal decision, but it works for us (and many others on the forum).

No question that they need lots of love and human interaction. After all, that's why we have them, right? I just think it's possible to have a healthy, happy dog even though you have to go to work. Now that my husband works from home, he will tell you that they sleep most of the day anyway--often in their crate with the door open!

Yes I agree balance is key and those who work should be able to have a furbaby but there has to be acceptions made such as someone coming home for lunch/breaks to play w/them let them out etc...or as you stated them being allowed to sleep in your bed or their own bed at night etc...this wasn't the case as I stated above w/my sisters 2 babies.

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Sounds familiar....Harley sleeps on the bed at night, then sleeps in various places during the day - his crate, his bed, on top of my shoes, under the table, at my desk... then he has the run of the house in the evening. Admittedly a lot of the daytime sleep he is near me in whatever room I happen to be in; but he also is fairly good at occupying himself, often I will hear him charging about the house with his toys, killing the stuffed animals, rolling, tossing and fetching the balls, gnawing the chewy stuff. In the evening he does some of that, but it becomes more of a social event involving the pack.

We have begun leaving him home alone at times, at first it was a few minutes here, a few minutes there just to get him used to the idea. He's fairly well potty trained and has never displayed a tendency to get into puppy trouble around the house, so we've allowed him to remain free at these times. Now I can leave for two or three hours, and when I return he is usually napping and has been good.

I don't take it for granted that this is an unusually well-behaved little boy! :bye1: I've had the downstairs neighbor listen for him, he never makes a peep, I've snuck to the windows to watch him, he just goes about his usual routines, we've never returned to find any sort of mishaps or mayhem.

Now, I don't know how he'd feel about longer stays. I know when I leave for band practice or gigs and I'm gone for hours at a time, he misses me terribly. Those things keep me out past bedtime, which I think he views as an important group event. Perhaps in the day it would be different. Shannon has told me he cries, waits near the door, watches at the windows, etc., but I hope he will respond more positively as time goes by and he sees that while I'm out late, I always return. He used to wig out over her going to work and returning home as well, but now it's just the way his day goes and he's fine with it. Still visibly (very) happy to see her at the end of the day, of course...

I think the crux of it is, you need to take into consideration Lullaby's behavior, feeding and potty habits, and accept that there will likely be some transition time required for any significant change of the daily routine. I don't guess this really answers the question...

-m

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