hi guys In a few weeks when my little pup is 16 weeks I will be starting to leave him in the crate whilst I go to work as he will soon be getting too big for me to take with me all the time. I’ll write out my plan and I would appreciate any kind advice / suggestions to improve it Monday morning 6.30am wake up & toilet 6.45-7am breakfast 7.15am ish toilet 7.15am - 8.30am ish play / training/ toilet / walk 8.30am-9.30am nap on the sofa 9.30am frozen kong and in the crate 9.30am-1pm in the crate 1pm toilet / lunch time 1.15pm - 2.30pm play / training / cuddle & toilet 2.30pm crate 4.30pm partner home and out of the crate for toilet / play / training / walks / dinner & loads of cuddles then we go to our evening routine with pup he spends a lot of time up on the sofa with us he absolutely loves it up here! Tuesday morning 6.30am wake up and toilet 6.45am breakfast 7am toilet and walk 7.20am toilet and crate 9.30am I am then home for the entire day so we play train and go out as and when we want too more relaxed approach to the day and really no need to crate in the day Wednesday morning Same again but in the crate from 7.20am - 10.20am when I then come home for the entire day Thursday will be like Monday Friday every other week will be the same as Monday and the other week I will be home all day until my partner gets home Weekends my partner is always home! Does this schedule sound ok? I would appreciate any input Thank you Teide and pies
Schedule sounds ok, but it will take a long time to build up to leaving him for 3 hours if you have not started crate training yet.
Thank you for your reply! We started crate training the day we got him and we’ve had him just over 3 weeks now His nighttime crate training is great and his daytime training is coming along. Of course there is whining sometimes but I reward quiet behaviour! I leave little treats in there all the time and he often takes himself in there for a lay down! He had a great 30 mins in there this morning whilst I got myself showered and dressed I rushed because I was worried about him turns out I didn’t need to be and I had 10 mins spare for myself
3.5 hours is quite a long time without a toilet break. Luna is 16 weeks tomorrow and still can't go this long during the day. Are you able to have a small pen set up for him with access to water, toys and a puppy pad if he needs it?
We do have a gated off area in the kitchen where his crate is would be lovely if he could be trusted by then not to chew everything but we will see He sleeps around 4 hours after breakfast toilet play & training. Ideally would like to try leaving him there for an hour with run of the gated off area of the kitchen with frozen kong and toys and see how we get on whilst we pop to do the food shopping or do some housework upstairs but it’s just building up to these things.. His bladder control gets better everyday I am very proud of him! We were lucky when we got him the breeder said the puppies would never toilet where they sleep and he never has! No accidents in the crate day or night
If Luna is happy chewing a cow ear then as long as she is in the hall and can see us if we move she will happily let you do housework. Also she loves taking her 'wubba' (great toy would highly recommend!) and playing by herself. With hard floors like you have Pies will be able to play by himself easily as when they throw it in the air it will move so he will be able to chase and do it again!
Hi we tried the gated off idea last night whilst we went food shopping and it was fab! Pies didn’t whine when we left or returned from food shopping! He was asleep on his bed when we got back and no accidents or anything chewed up! We were gone 45-1 hour! He seemed so much happier as well!
Thats great news! He wasn't confined to his crate and had space to roam until he was tired and went to bed I am not a fan of crating if it can be helped especially if they are crated all night.
Oooo I’ve never heard of that toy sounds great though I will have a look online and see what I can find Pies does love his kongs! With hard floor they’re fab too! Roll around loads
It is great fun and has different textures. This is the one we got for Luna and it is one of her favourite toys. https://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=177&pf_id=65005
I feel much better about the idea of leaving him out in the kitchen now He seemed so happy! Just did his own thing I imagine whilst we were gone! I left the radio on for him and the kitchen light I threw down some kibble around the kitchen to distract him whilst we left so that it wasn’t made into a big deal. I’m so proud of him! I think as long as we give him the tools for success by not leaving anything in his reach he could get too or anything dangerous then he will thrive I could be wrong but I eventually would like to get rid of the crate completely and I think it really does depend on the dog as to when this happens
That is exactly what we have done, make sure things are out the way so that Luna is tempted to get into trouble. We don't crate at all and Luna is great, she takes herself off to bed at night when she is tired. She hated the crate and would get herself so worked up about it, she settles so much better without it. It definitely depends on the dog, we are very lucky that Luna isn't a destroyer! She is a mouthy dog but she doesn't chew hard on things that aren't her toys ... apart from your hands! But she has lost 4 teeth and has her adult ones coming in just now so in a lot of discomfort.
one thing about the kong wubba Kyko had one when he was about 8 months and destroyed it. I would be very careful leaving them unsupervised with it as they could eat the threads, which would be very dangerous
Since 4 months, after a gradual build up Gwenni has been in our kitchen for 6 hours when I'm in work. She uses a crate at night as she's with us but not for the day as that's too long. She initially had puppy pads but I could take those away at 6 months. One thing I read which I think helped enormously is good thing happen when you leave. So Gwenni has her breakfast in a kong wobbler, snake food toy, dispensing ball, frozen kong, kong bone, a licki mat, all of which get mixed up each day but she has at least 3 things to do when we leave and safe toys all around her too. This is the same whenever we leave her we leave her with some goodies to eat and hold back some of her tea if we go out in the evening. She has chewed only a few things she shouldn't have and we make sure the kitchen chairs are up out the way. She also has the radio on (radio 4 lol) - mostly to mute her hearing the gate when the post man comes. We also have a camera linked to my phone just so I can have peace of mind.
Pies has really taken to his crate at night and after last toilet before bed he takes himself him there no fuss and goes to sleep Pies gets worked up in the crate sometimes in the day... after seeing how happy he was yesterday and seeing how well behaved he was I now feel differently about the crate in the day time.. I have moved the crate from the kitchen to the living room and put his other bed in the kitchen where the crate was and he will come lay on the bed in the kitchen whilst we cook but he will chill on the sofa with us when we are in the living room.. We have the kitchen and living room gated off as it’s open plan. I just want to do what’s best for my boy and his happiness and well being and it seems he will be much happier in the kitchen with room to run around and play Oh wow! Poor girl I bet she’s hurting bless her! How old is Luna again? Pies still has all them tiny needle teeth but I am keeping an eye out just to check if he’s losing any I still can’t get over how fast they grow! Makes me so emotional ahah
That sounds amazing! Pies loves his kongs and when I’ve been leaving the room for longer periods I’ve been throwing kibble on the floor so he doesn’t even notice that I’ve left haha no fussing We have a lick mat what do you use? Pies wasn’t really interested in his and I thought he’d love it! Haha radio 4 fab pies had the hits radio on he does like the news as well haha!! I’m thinking about getting a camera for when I start going to work without him for both our sakes really haha I can see what he’s getting up too and also just watch him as I know I’ll really miss him!
In her lickimat she has either peanut butter ( pure nothing else added) , meatful salmon wet food pressed in and on occasions lactose free soft cheese. We are talking about a dog here that likes lettuce though!
Pies sounds like he has settled in so well! Glad to hear he is happier during the day too We are the same and want to do what is best for Luna, Had to rush her to the vet last night to make her sick since she ate something she shouldn't She wasn't best pleased last night but back to health today. She was 16 weeks yesterday and weight 13.1kg, she wasn't even 4kgs when we got her 8 weeks ago! She is growing so quickly. She lost her first tooth at 14 weeks 3 days, gutted we haven't been able to catch any of them yet tho.
We have puppy peanut butter from Amazon and mix it in with banana, freeze for 10 minutes to set the banana and off she goes. Teide, try using a treat that Pies loves, when he knows what it is it might make him want it more.
