Hi all We collected out beautiful black labbie Tilly two weeks ago tomorrow, she is 10 weeks old today and it's love love love all the way....she's been amazing, adaptable, loving, funny and playful. She seems happy and bright, toilet training going really well and last night slept through til 6.45am!!! She loves her crate, toys, meeting new people and today had her first puppy playdate with a friend's 4 year old mini schnauzer and that went really well! She's been on a few socialisation wee excursions and they have all gone great so is getting used to the sights and sounds of the world around her. She chews but can be distracted with her toys, has been pruning plants in pots in our garden and does like grabbing the odd wee stick in the garden too, but treats can help distract and she drops them. Hope we're doing OK. We've got a few questions about what feels like the "next stage"... When and how do you start to leave your puppies? Once she is asleep she is fine if we leave the room with the crate door shut, she takes herself in there when she wants to sleep. But when she is awake we play with her, interact with her, she enjoys tug toys and squeaky toys, chuckit balls are quite a hit too or she also busies herself with chewing toys in her crate (door open), she is also fond of chewing the skirting board, chair legs and the like so need to be around to distract her with more appropriate toys to chew on. She is mostly just in the kitchen with the baby gate shut but also has access to hallway (wooden floors) with us being around. All other doors to the other rooms are shut or have babygates (we live in a downstairs tenement flat). But how do you start to leave her..what we have done today is we have begun popping a filled kong (have experimented over the past week with both frozen and unfrozen mashed banana, cream cheese, peamutt butter and some kibble mixed together) in the crate and shutting the door and she immediately starts chewing away on the kong and then we left the room for a minute or two, but she started to cry. Is crying within a couple of minutes what what you'd expect when you start to leave them are we even doing this right? Should we return before she starts to cry? Just go out for 30 seconds or a minute? We went back in when there was a break in the crying and let her out to let her know we were coming back and gave her lots of prise and love...but just not sure the best way to do this...don't want to mess up how to do this so any advice greatly appreciated! Am also just wondering when and how we should introduce using a harness and lead?? Any advice on this greatly appreciated. Also she has on occasions picked up her water bowl and chucked the water out on the floor!! Not sure the best way to prevent this from becoming a more regular habit...tips appreciated with this one. Thanks in advance for any info, we are new pup parents and just wanna be sure we are doing the right thing...
Hi @JuliePenguin Jo Laurens has written a very good guide to crate training, which will answer your questions and more. http://dogworks.org.uk/downloads/ There is also a thread on crate training on this site. But looking through what you describe I believe you have been doing an excellent job. The idea is to make her feel comfortable being in there. From your description I think you may have made the transition to leaving the room a little too quickly. Try having her in the crate with the door locked and you staying in the room at length. When she is comfortable with you doing things in the room and you just sitting around, then make the transition to leaving the room. When you start leaving the room, the only time you will go back when she is crying is when she is distressed, otherwise ignore the whining. You should be going back and rewarding her for being quiet. She shouldn't have access to your skirting board. Use the playpen to prevent her from getting to your woodwork. The water bowl? Buy a larger, heavier water bowl. Don't buy one made from plastic.She will just end up chewing it. Buy one she will not be able to pick up. Warning she may decide to walk through it. You should have your puppy on a houseline. You can use that to re-direct her to other areas, and in particular for taking her to the same spot in the garden for toilet training. As for a harness, you can have one on her now. You can attach the houseline to the harness.
Yes, there is a whole chapter on alone training - which follows on from crate training - in my free booklet 'New Puppy? No Problem' which Michael has linked to the downloads page for. You can also read an article on crate training (essentially the same article) I wrote here: https://thehappypuppysite.com/crate-training-a-puppy/ You need to get her secure IN the crate, with the door closed, with you sitting outside it working on a laptop or reading a book. The crate needs to be associated with YOU and with 'hanging out with you', in order for it to feel like a safe and comforting place even when you are not there. Yes, buy a heavier water bowl - ceramic, even... And have the pup with the harness on and house line attached to the harness. If you notice her trying to chew the harness (they can often get their lower jaw under it) then put the house line on the collar instead when you're in the house. And put the harness on whenever you go out with her, even if she is not on the ground yet and you are just carrying her....
Thanks soo soo much to you both @Michael A Brooks and @Jo Laurens for all your advice...all soo good and sensible and thank you for the link to your New Puppy booklet...which I had already downloaded but honestly think my brain has gone to mush I clearly hadn't taken in the info...have printed it off now! We tired her a couple of times in the crate with us in the kitchen and crate door shut this afternoon with a frozen kong, worked for a while (10 mins perhaps) but once she had got as much put of the kong (her wee tongue can't seem to get at the very bottom of the kong) as she could she started to whine a bit...dropped kibble in as you when no whine...how long should would you say she stay in there these first few times?? Watching a whole movie with her in it sounds like quite a long time... Great tips on our other two queries.. we're off to buy a heavier bowl tomorrow, the one we've got is metal with a rubber bottom! And will get her a harness too and house line! THANK YOU so much again, your help is invaluable and posts are very reassuring and good. Julie, Tim and Tilly
Hi @JuliePenguin the idea is to gradually build up the amount of time she stays in the shut crate. Don't go from one minute to 2 hours in one or two sessions. Build it up gradually, observing how she handles it. Just make sure you don't allow her whining to result in you opening the door. Choose a moment when she has been quiet for about 10 seconds. Of course, if she is distressed, then open the crate and comfort her. You want her to think of the crate as one of the best places in the world.
Thanks @Michael A Brooks ...today went well, we had the crate door shut for longer as she seemed much more relaxed only a wee bit of whining, stuffed kong and dropping treats whilst she was quiet and she eventually fell asleep. Was so proud of her...she had a play after she woke up in garden and slept while we had friends here this afternoon, in her crate with the door shut and woke up for the last hour of their stay, full of beans and fun! Will continue working on the crate with the door shut next week, extending the times as she feels more content with the door shut...we also got her harness today and BIG ceramic water bowl! We soo appreciate both your input, and yours too @Jo Laurens, thanks soo much for your wise words on all thing puppy...we are both feeling a lot better about everything...think it was a combo of over tiredness, the puppy blues and a bit of coming back down to earth after the high of Tilly's arrival...she's snoozing away now, flat out in her crate door shut (she never seemed to mind the door being shut when she's asleep). Three kongs are all stuffed with yummie stuff, and in the freezer for tomorrow! Thanks lots again! You guys are this forum is a lifesaver for us new puppy parents xx
Yes, I think there is the equivalent of postnatal depression for puppy owners!!! With the crate, make sure she is tired and ready to sleep before you have a crating session. You want to reach the point where she has finished the Kong and then learns to relax after that. It's not good if you are constantly feeding her kibble or Kongs to keep her quiet - you need to 'practise' relaxing in the absence of those things, so once the Kong runs out, that's where the work is... Personally, I do go a bit cold turkey with the crate. I spend a couple of days playing crate games (see Crate Games DVD) with it, to build an amazing feeling about it, then I do just plonk the puppy in there and work on my laptop for an hour or two with the pup sleeping in there and *me right next to the pup*. That latter is really important. If the pup makes noise, don't worry. And some pups may kick up a heck of a noise and have a huge paddy in there, about wanting to come out - but if you are right next to the crate, they are not doing this because of separation anxiety - you've removed that variable. They are doing it out of angry 'let me out of here now' stuff. And they need to experiment by doing this a few times, to learn that it doesn't work and they won't get let out. Once they've shut up, then you can let them out. It doesn't usually take more than a few attempts of this with you next to the crate before they learn that noise really doesn't work.
