Suggestions ?

[luvnkitty]

Hi Everyone ,
We have had our puppy for 3 weeks now. She seemed very well behaved for the first 2 weeks.

For the first week or so we would put her in cage while we were out.
We now leave the cage open and gate off a nice size area. At first she seemed to be doing fine. I felt better, I hated the thought of her being in a cage for 3-4 hours a day.
This last week she has been a little rascal. Lately she has been tearing up her WEE WEE pads into a thousand pieces when we leave her alone.
With that.... she ate most of her feces and smeared the rest of it all over the floor.
I leave her toys in the area hoping they will keep her busy . I also leave a radio on . .
It seems that if she knows we are somewhere in the house she is pretty well behaved. Once we leave she gets into trouble.

Any suggestions ?

[franp]

Leave her in her crate...That is my suggestion..There is NOTHING cruel about crating a dog IMO..In fact most dogs( my own included) see thier crate as thier "place".

Dogs are den animals and thier crate is thier den..

Dari is 5 years old; her crate is still open and in the living room. Guess where she takes her new toys? Into her crate...

Do not leave the crate open.Put her in and leave her there. This is how she will learn to be housebroken as well..

fran

[ledhed]

I've always kept the crate closed and latched for Napoleon when I can't be home with him. He's never minded staying in there and it keeps him out of trouble when I can't be around to watch him. I think a lot of people let their own guilt issues get in the way of crating their dogs when it's actually very sensible to do so. ;) Put a couple of favorite toys with her in the crate, and don't make a big fuss about it.... just be very matter of fact: "it's time to go in your crate now"... The dog won't mind being in the crate.... probably will just nap until you get home (This is of course, assuming you're not leaving her in there for twelve hours at a time, but a few hours should be ok, provided she can hold it that long and not go to the bathroom in the crate).

When you think about it, it's probably not very realistic to leave a puppy alone and expect it not to get into trouble... he's only just figuring out right from wrong himself. I think a good rule of thumb is that if they can get into it and chew it/tear it up/pee on it/eat it they will. evilicon It's up to you to remove that possibility by keeping them crated when you can't directly supervise them.

Also, it's my understanding that leaving the crate open when you're not home sort of eliminates the value of the crate as a housetraining aid. :(

[luvnkitty]

Thanks everyone .
My husband has been telling me the same thing.
Both of your responses make sense. She does go into the crate on her own when she is tired.
Guess I dislike the crate more then she does.

[Carolyn]

Ferris has never liked being crated....and yes...it's my fault for not training him properly. He's older now and ok being loose during the day....but on a side note.... One day (Ferris was very young) we crated Ferris when we were going to leave the house for a couple of hours. Well...you're NOT going to believe this but when we came home....there was Ferris grinning at us at the front door. I ran to his crate and I swear...it was still latched! We have never been able to figure out how he managed to get loose....and nothing seemed to be bent out of shape. :eek: That was the last time we crated him. Carolyn

[miss heather]

Ferris = Houdini-dog :D

[Martina]

Ferris, the Great Hound-ini :D