[QUOTE=RLC12345678]In my opinion, in response to LadyLavendar's post, 8-9 hours is just too long to crate a yorkie. And I don't think they should go all day wtihout food and water either. Because of the risk of a hypoglocemic attack and bladder infections and/or crystal formation in the bladder, they should get food and water regularly throughout the day. QUOTE]
I understand this is a matter of controversial opinion. To clarify I can say that I was under the instructions of a dog behavioralist and questioned the abilty of any yorkie (no older than 14 wks) being able to handle crating for this long, and without water and food. But she told me to try it. And I did and it worked. Millie never messed in her crate the whole time we were gone. But we did make sure we were home immediately after work, no delays and no detours. There was not much for Millie to do in the crate because the area was so small, so I think she did sleep most of the day, no energy exerted and we never had a problem with her physically either.
We did work her up to an x-pen after a while (probably several months later) when we were fairly confident she understood she had to hold it all day and she did fine in the x-pen. We then worked up to leaving her in the house all day, unconfined and that has worked out well too. |