Hi, Our pup Jordy is settling well, my Hubbie has been sleeping in sofa near his crate and only one toilet break needed at night (at mo) so we're more rested. He is getting more confident with our older dog and sometimes is to jumpy and bargey to her. I want to introduce time out for these times so he calms, I have popped him into his crate, but he screams if in there with door shut in day! I don't let him out till he is quiet, but has anyone got tips re helping him settle in crate during the day? In 4 weeks we're back to work and 8-9 am 3 days a week he will be left crated before he is picked up by my sister. Is only an hour I need to build up to, but at the moment he is definately not ready! He has only been with us 6 days so we haven't left him alone at all yet, should we start building that up slowly? Any tips or suggestions welcomed!
He's really cute Since you have 4 weeks up your sleeve I'd start really slowly and first just make the crate a nice place to be without shutting the door. Feed him in there. Leave surprise food treats in there. Once he's happy to go in the crate himself for a meal or treat then start shutting the door briefly, while you're still there. Then introduce short absences where you step out of the room but stay in the house. Then introduce leaving the house for a very brief time. Once you can do that gradually build up the time till he can do an hour. That should not take the whole 4 weeks but it's ok if it does. Always leave him in the crate with something nice to eat. Don't use the crate as 'time out' (as in using it as a consequence for overly boisterous behaviour). You want going into the crate to be a really nice thing, never somewhere that means isolation or the end of fun.
Thank you for your response! I will start leaving little treats for him in there. He eats in his crate anyway and happily goes in for food, in fact when he hears his bowl being filled he runs in! I will ensure I don't use crate for time outs, we will maybe introduce another stair gate to seperate dogs if needed. We're so glad we planned lots of time off between us! Would have been stressful and less enjoyable if we had to rush everything!
The first time I tried to crate train a dog I was unsuccessful. I had him in the utility room in the crate for food and toys and treats but ultimately it was not somewhere that I could leave him while I did any thing else. Wiggy was a great dog and I didn't continue as there was no need as he was not at all destructive. The last two dogs I have successfully crate trained but this time I have had the crate in the kitchen with me and covered it with blankets so that it is a little den. The crate was right by the desk where I work and I was able to increase the time very gradually that I asked the dogs to stay in the crate. The door was never shut when I was with them and I was making it their choice to go to the crate. This makes it a very strong behaviour. I get rid of the crate quite quickly at about 9-12 months as there isn't enough room in my kitchen for it to stay there long term. Just telling you all this as I think it makes a big difference where the crate is situated. I believe that it is the separation that makes it punishing not the crate itself.
I would say the baby gate is the way to go. We put one up between our kitchen and hall to give our older dog her space - it's still there . Red has her crate she sleeps in, in the kitchen where I am a lot of the time. You will find that during the next few weeks, Jordy will get into a routine and you could give him a small kong in his crate at that time of day. You might find that he wants to sleep then anyway, so leaving him for a short space of time won't be an issue. I always toss in a few bits of kibble when Red needs to go in her crate (just at bed time and when we eat our evening meal). We do have a crate in the sitting room which is used for time out when Red is getting too boisterous with Sky - only ever leave her in there a few minutes. She used to go to sleep for a bit in there, now she sits quietly and we let her out.
Tatze (four years old) has her own chair which is her safe place from the pups. When she's had enough play she dives for her chair and I don't let the pups near her when she's on there. They soon learn .
Thank you, we have his crate in our lounge so we're nearby for company! Our kitchen is more the cats domain at the moment! It's interesting regards position in house certainly! We to hope to not require it beyond a year or so though that will depend greatly on his level of destruction!
Thank you! I've read lots of your previous posts and they have been so useful and I've really related to them! We are off out for a new stair gate shortly!
@Boogie Is that a unicorn or a pony? And is that a part of Tatze's relaxation therapy? - strictly professional question
I apologize to Tatze, the pink threw me...of course it is a camel. I was watching your snoozing dogs video on Youtube earlier and Tatze looks so comfy in her chair.
This was the beginning of the Lambie network @Harley Quinn https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/lambies.8975/#post-134296 .
I am so pleased that some of my previous posts have been useful for you. I have to say, the people on this forum have helped me SO much. I would like very much to be able to help others .
This is the wonderful thing about this forum. We come, we learn then we share. I love it. I've just looked back at one of my first posts - this was my question. "How do you teach your dogs to settle down? For example, this morning we are going for our big walk an hour later, so Tatze is antsi - trying to get us moving and OUT! Her routine is - get up, run to the green, do poo and wee, run round the block (Mum is on a fitness kick), breakfast, chew, mooch for an hour often in the garden, long walk for an hour or two, bonio, sleep (Mum sometimes goes out), walk round the block, evening meal, bone, training, snooze on sofa, bed. She's a really good girl, but I want a way of telling her we're changing the routine a bit! Do you wait 'till they are settled then say 'settle down' until they associate the two things? We use 'wait' for wait then be released one way or another. 'Stay' if we are leaving her. I want a way to get her to wait without being on alert for what's next! In other words 'settle down' "
