Quote:
Originally Posted by addevo  We are fostering a 12 lb, 7 year old Yorkie who is an incredible athlete. Raven is a door darter, too, so I've been trying to keep her confined to the back of the house so that she doesn't run out when the front door is opened.
Raven easily scales the baby gate across the kitchen that we've had for years that has successfully contained our dogs plus innumerable fosters dogs.
I then tried crating her during the day and checked on her several times a day on the pet cam. She barked for 3 hours until the dog walker arrived. Then barked for another 4 hours until we got home. When released, she ran over to the water bowl and drank like she'd just crossed a desert. This went on for a few days until I just couldn't bear it any more. She was absolutely miserable and so was I!
Today, I tried blocking the kitchen with a 41" ex-pen. It took her about 3 minutes, but she kept jumping and jumping until she scaled it. (I was watching her on the pet cam).
Raven also jumps on the kitchen counter. (photo attached when our dog walker found her up there the first time) I can live with that, but am terrified she's going to get out to the street and either get lost or struck by a car.
Do you think a taller gate would work? I've looked, but can't find anything over 41" so may have to build something. Does anyone have an idea on what else I could try? |
love the picture of her on the kitchen counter. Did she manage to jump
that high? WOW.
It's great that you're fostering this cutie pie!
First...you can't crate a dog without access to water
Poor poor thing.
Of course she's thirsty. If you decide to crate her again, there are dishes that can hang off the sides of the metal/wire crates - sometimes not specifically for dogs...I bought a little metal dish that sits in a metal holder - it's sold for birds or rabbits or something.
Second, it sounds like she's having some separation anxiety issues, hence the barking. Do you have other dogs around or have had dogs before? She's going to need a little bit of training on your part to stop the barking (if that's what your goal is). Barking for 3 to 4 hours non-stop really sucks for her mentally and for your neighbours if they can hear it. Not sure how long you're fostering her for, but if it's over a month, you may want to look into separation training techniques. This will help whether confined in xpen or in a crate.
Third, you have to made sure she doesn't dart out the door for sure! That's so scary! She can totally get hit by a car
Can you somehow block off her access? Actually, for any new dog, it's always best to limit their access for the first few weeks or even months, until they learn it's your home and they need to follow your rules and are well-behaved (based on your training of course).
Let us know if you want some pointers
