Wookie is 5 months old now, but still sleeps secured in her pen at night. This is a pen, not a crate, and measures 2ft by 4ft. Within it she has her bed, a water dish, and a couple of soothing chew toys, as she is teething at the moment. She has used this pen since we got her at 8 weeks old, and for the first month we would put her in it when we had to go to work. She would be in it until our friend came round to let her out into the garden to do her business, and play with her for an hour before putting her back in until we got home.
When she was 3 months old we made the decision to leave the pen door open when we had to leave her. She has since had the run of downstairs while we are at work ( we have a stairgate to prevent her from going upstairs unsupervised) , and even though she knows when we are going out, she is perfectly relaxed about it. It probably helps that she has our three cats for company, and still has her hour with our friend for the two weeks Pete and I are both working late shifts.
Have you considered not putting her in the crate when you go out? Would that be worth a try? If she associates the crate with you leaving her, maybe that is causing her distress. |