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Originally Posted by gemy  Jeanie/YorkieTalkJilly gives great detailed advice! She will send you much more info if you request it.
If you don't mind a couple of questions from me; was your puppy always this way with a crate? Peeing/Pooing in it or through the crate? he started out in an ex-pen where he paced frantically until his muzzle would sweat - I read somewhere that the ex-pen may be too big for him to feel secure in so put a crate in the ex-pen and that didn't help at all - he then started to pee out the ex-pen and this has all been from day one - I put a baby gate in the bathroom thinking that the ex-pen/crate was a problem - I came home and he'd peed out of the baby gate and pooped even with his litterbox there which he had never done before and his muzzle was absolutely soaked with sweat and he was manic so I put him back into the crate for safety since I also found pawprints on the wall where he'd been pacing back and forth - I was gone for two hours
Have you tried having him in the crate - when you are in the same room cleaning etc? yes, this is exactly what I did yesterday, I wasn't clear because I was so upset but I had him in the same room with me and he howled, dug and barked for four hours straight!! There was not one single lull in his behaviour which meant that I could release him or treat him in order to show him that barking was not the thing to do in his crate, I was terrified that if I 'gave in' to his barking etc, he'd see that as a reward for all of this barking so he was in his crate for four hours, again sweating etc and I almost had a nervous breakdown hence my rambling initial post and desperation which led me to contact this trainer I hate! I know you said at night you transferred his crate to your bedroom and the barking stopped. But not the peeing etc... his crate is no longer in my bedroom - it's downstairs and open but he sneaks in my room at night and I let him come in to nap with me sometimes with the crate door open and closed - he never pees during these times
My other question is have you taken him outside with you in his crate. In your car to go to a fun place - like a park for walks - or a pet store etc. Or on the bus or subway. yes, he loves his crate when he's not shut in it - he goes there at the end of the day on his own and 'nests' with his blankets and toys - after yesterday's craziness, the kong and carrot he'd ignored with the door shut was sought out, he actually dug to open the crate door to get into his crate! For safety, any time we take him 'bye-bye' we bring the crate and he's okay with it - never pees, whines or barks in the car THis is more to also associate his crate with wonderfull fun things in life to do with you.
Another question is have you thoroughly cleaned his crate with an enzymatic cleanser which gets out the smell of urine? yes, the peeing seems to have gotten better (almost a non-issue) but the barking is worse By now you may have to buy a gallon of the stuff and soak the whole crate in it for a few hours. Think of it as starting "fresh".
When I have puppies I pick up all rugs that are not easily laundered until they the pups are housebroken. It makes it much easier to clean up after accidents.
I agree never have your dog off lead until you can train a reliable come! There is absolutely nothing wrong with treat based training! And nothing wrong with paying a whole lot of attention to your dog, any dog of any breed. The right attention - boundaried - loving - firm when needed - exciting - relaxing - structured - then some free form attention.
And your "trainer" is an idiot! |
Hi Gemy,
Thank you for your reply.
I've responded above in red. If you require further clarification to assist, then please let me know. If you think I'm doing something wrong or could do something better, again, please let me know.
I really appreciate it. x