Hi all, Just looking for some advice if possible, I've recently brought an 18 week old lab puppy into my home (Mollie). There was a flight involved so I am expecting some stress in her adapting to her new environment. Question is, I am going to crate train her and she is fine on a night as long as it is in my bedroom. I am planning on moving it later to a penned area where she can have more space when I go out (only for 4/5 hours at a time). However, when I have tried to leave her sight she gets upset and starts whining and barking and also wees. I have tried having the crate downstairs in the living room for her to get used to it, is this a good idea or should I keep it upstairs where it will end up being full time? Also any advice on making the penned area less stressful for her when she can't see me (even if I am in another room or downstairs she gets upset). I would like to be able this area as her 'chill out' area as well as for when we need to go out and leave her alone in the house. Thanks in advance, Mat
Hi Matt I have a Mollie too. She is a two year old yellow Labrador. For what it is worth, I deliberately moved Molly's crate from room to room and she seemed fine with that. My situation was somewhat different as I got her at 8 weeks. Molly has never slept upstairs with us. I was lucky in that she had been raised in an ordinary house and lived in a pen/crate with her 11 litter mates. I used to say that she adapted to life with us so easily because it was better than being walked on and peed on all the time. You are obviously kind and sensitive in recognising that your Mollie had had a stressful time of it so,I am sure you will find the best course for both of you. Just remember to clean up her accidents with a proper enzyme cleaner otherwise it will leave behind a smell (which you won't be able to detect but she will) which will tell her "This is the place to pee" All the Best Tina
It would be useful to get her to accept being penned/crated where it suits you best. Try leaving a radio on and settling her in her crate with a frozen Kong so that she's distracted for a while when she's on her own. Let us know how you get on.
Thanks for the responses. I do put the crate back in her pen during the day and leave the door open for her. The problem is as soon as I close off the pen and go out of sight she starts whining and crying. I am trying to put her in there and leave her for various amounts of time when I am home, however I will be out the house for a few hours later today so she will have to be left there (max 4 hours). Do you think it would be better to keep her in the crate or leave the crate door open and close the pen off. I am worried she will pee in the crate if she is stuck in there with the stress of it, but on the flip side I am worried she will try and force out of the pen and either hurt herself or damage parts of the house in the process. Thanks again.
Hi Mat, You might use clicker training to help with this problem. There is a KikoPup video about training your dog to be left alone that might help. You will need to "charge your clicker first" [video]https://youtu.be/LGxhcb-itO4[/video] Using a tasty kong to ease her being left for a short period is a very good idea and that is what I did when Lilly was a pup - she usually went into her crate when we were getting ready for work/school to wait for it. It can be useful using her kibble for all this training rather than feeding her kibble in a bowl because you can get through a LOT of treats otherwise. There are loads of helpful training videos on YouTube, KikoPup is pretty good for starters. Hope this helps.
Thanks Jacqui (and everyone else), Will work through the training tips in the video regularly and see how she gets on. She will be left alone today for the first time, so the plan is a couple of kongs plus another kong toy with some of her kibble in it that she would have had for dinner. I've mainly been using her kibble for treats and taking it out of her meal times. Let's she how she gets on!
So, to update. First time I left her in the pen a few days ago our security guard said she cried for maybe 15-20 mins so I was fairly happy. Couple of puddles when I went up though, second time (this is only for 3 hours or so at a time and not the same day) bit longer crying and a couple extra presents for me to clean up unfortunately. So today I've been working through a lot of clicker exercises and treats in and around the crate and had her sleeping in the crate itself as opposed to giving her the whole pen for about an hour while I was in another room (which she doesn't normally settle). So I thought after having her out for some food and a play and a little wander for a couple of hours I could leave her in there with a kong and some toys for an hour. I was wrong! Came back to hear she'd been crying for most of the time I was away and her having pooped in there and spread it around. Just when I thought I was getting some progress, I have decided to focus on keeping her in the crate as opposed to the pen as she is having a few potty accidents elsewhere in the house I think may be caused by her being able to go on the tiled floors in the pen. I was hoping to have her settle in the crate when I was out as well as she did when I was in the other room. I have also been trying the click and treat for quiet when she starts to cry at first in there.
