When we first got Riley..he would bark constantly. It was so hard..we couldnt put him in a crate, we couldnt put him in the kitchen with a gate in front of it.. he wouldnt sleep at night.. so on so fourth.. Finally.. I got a heating pad, and I put it under his little crate, without the door on it..and he would go in there, and sleep.. The warmth of the heating pad, made him feel like another body was in there sleeping.. but with the openness of the kitchen, He wouldnt use the pad.. So we got a pack and play(an old one) put a pad in there..and thats how he's learned to go on the pad..and he doesnt need the heating pad anymore. b/c he is use to being by himself at night. He does bark if he hears us coming in the house..or if we wake up and go to the bathroom and go back to bed..he barks for maybe 2 mins.. then goes back to bed himself. Its all a constant process.
I wouldn't advice using a crate as any sort of punishment either.. especially with potty training.. If he has an accident, and you yell at him and put him in the cage, he's going to associate those together, and will have anixety even more towards the cage. If Riley gets kinda crazy, like chasing the cat or something, we put him back in his "room" give him a little break, then bring him out later after hes rested.. |