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Originally Posted by Muireann Hello there,
Thank-you very much for all this information..it has been very educational. Is it correct to say that you need to be at home in order to crate train? As I wrote, we are working during the day so Poppy is on her own for 8-9 hours...as you say your wee pet goes every 5 hours and so we thought it best to leave her with the run of the home (except bedrooms and bathroom) with paper at the door to pee and poo when she needs and this was working for us apart from the odd accident but not anymore.Should I have her confined to our utility room when we are away but then of course she doesn't have access to the place we want her to go? Should I pen her with that paper inside the pen as well when we are away and then crate train her when I am home?....
Also one thing to mention was the vet told me that she may have a problem with a loose kneecap sp I am scared of my life that if I confine her she is going to jump up and down for hours and really hurt her poor self!!
I am really appreciating your input as we really want to do things right without being cruel in anyway...
Kindest Regards,
Muireann |
You absolutely don't have to be home to crate train. The crate itself, if small enough, puts dogs in their natural way of being. They won't go where they sleep. And no it's not cruel to have them in the crate that long especially at that age. Your dog is young though so you may come home to accidents in the crate because at that age they have a problem holding it that long. But how your schedule sounds it seems to be the only way. Trust me, he will grow out of going in the crate as he gets older. Just make it small enough for him to turn around and lay down in comfortably. Any bigger than that and it's almost useless.
Also him being in a crate will help his knee a lot more than hurt it. He won't be jumping around because he will be in a crate. How can he? But letting him run around all day he has a better chance of hurting his knee.
Your problems though can be easily fixed with a crate. When you take him out the crate just take him to where you want him to go. If he does go in the crate just clean it up real good. Everytime my dog steps into her litter box she acts like she's trying to avoid land mines. They grow out of wanting to be near any waste, trust me. Good luck.