Got a trainer!

[Erin]

Awesome!! I ended up with like 5 or 6 books that I love and refer to all the time. I also read a few that other people recommended and I didn't like them as much. You'll start to see your dog in the descriptions and learn to like the trainer/author who seems to "get" your dog I've seen the "Little Dog" book at Borders, so if you have one of those maybe check that one out too! Or there's always the library! Ours has an online thing where you can order books from other libraries. I did that a lot. We had one town nearby that seemed to have every dog training book so I just "ordered" them from that library and picked them up at mine!

For the record, I'm a fan of crate training. But you guys act like it's like boot camp and you never get to play with your dog. Loki has a medical issue that causes him to pee a LOT. When he was a puppy, this was undiagnosed and not under control so he would literally pee every time I turned my back. It was less stressful for me to put him in his crate while I showered, cooked dinner, etc. and couldn't watch him. If I was watching him, then he wasn't in there. But if he had an accident, he went to his crate while I cleaned it up and then took him out. He went to his crate when he barked, or when he guarded a toy. It was a "time out" in the same exact way you would give a kid a time out. It wasn't a prison. Finally he spent less and less time in the crate as he learned to tell us he wanted to go out. I stopped using it for confinement for housetraining as soon as we got the bell and he learned to ring it. No more mistaking signals and missing that he needed to go, even in the middle of cooking dinner

Sam SCREAMED in her crate (still does ) so it took longer to house train her because she would sneak off. She's not afraid of her crate, she does fine once we leave the house, she's just all about the drama and wants you to know she's unhappy! She would keep it up for HOURS, even though the trainer said she would eventually give up. Not my Sam! So, we mostly confined her to whatever room we were in and let her out every time Loki went out (often!) so she was perpetually empty. We got her house trained eventually.

Now, we only use the crate when they leave the house. They did have free roam for a while, but I was always worried they would get into something even though they were most likely just napping. They also bark at stuff they see walking by (dogs, people, squirrels) and don't do that from their crate and I don't want them to bug the neighbors if we aren't home to quiet them down. So they share a BIG crate, like so huge they each have a full size bed pillow to sleep on and I can leave the top unzipped because they can't even get out. I yell "crate" and load them up when we leave (not for very long, we are home a lot, but still) and they are safe until we return

As far as sleeping on pillows... the whole "higher" thing isn't something I believe in. My dogs know I'm in charge whether they sit on the floor, couch, or back of the couch. Sam sits up on the back of the couch so that she can see out the window and she sleeps on my pillow because she LOVES sleeping on pillows, no matter where they are. It's not a control thing and she's not aggressive. Letting your dog sleep on your pillow is not going to make them aggressive. Not addressing a problem like your dog not letting YOU sleep on your pillow can lead to aggression problems. Most dogs aren't going to have an issue with it.

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by Erin

Awesome!! I ended up with like 5 or 6 books that I love and refer to all the time. I also read a few that other people recommended and I didn't like them as much. You'll start to see your dog in the descriptions and learn to like the trainer/author who seems to "get" your dog I've seen the "Little Dog" book at Borders, so if you have one of those maybe check that one out too! Or there's always the library! Ours has an online thing where you can order books from other libraries. I did that a lot. We had one town nearby that seemed to have every dog training book so I just "ordered" them from that library and picked them up at mine!

For the record, I'm a fan of crate training. But you guys act like it's like boot camp and you never get to play with your dog. Loki has a medical issue that causes him to pee a LOT. When he was a puppy, this was undiagnosed and not under control so he would literally pee every time I turned my back. It was less stressful for me to put him in his crate while I showered, cooked dinner, etc. and couldn't watch him. If I was watching him, then he wasn't in there. But if he had an accident, he went to his crate while I cleaned it up and then took him out. He went to his crate when he barked, or when he guarded a toy. It was a "time out" in the same exact way you would give a kid a time out. It wasn't a prison. Finally he spent less and less time in the crate as he learned to tell us he wanted to go out. I stopped using it for confinement for housetraining as soon as we got the bell and he learned to ring it. No more mistaking signals and missing that he needed to go, even in the middle of cooking dinner

Sam SCREAMED in her crate (still does ) so it took longer to house train her because she would sneak off. She's not afraid of her crate, she does fine once we leave the house, she's just all about the drama and wants you to know she's unhappy! She would keep it up for HOURS, even though the trainer said she would eventually give up. Not my Sam! So, we mostly confined her to whatever room we were in and let her out every time Loki went out (often!) so she was perpetually empty. We got her house trained eventually.

Now, we only use the crate when they leave the house. They did have free roam for a while, but I was always worried they would get into something even though they were most likely just napping. They also bark at stuff they see walking by (dogs, people, squirrels) and don't do that from their crate and I don't want them to bug the neighbors if we aren't home to quiet them down. So they share a BIG crate, like so huge they each have a full size bed pillow to sleep on and I can leave the top unzipped because they can't even get out. I yell "crate" and load them up when we leave (not for very long, we are home a lot, but still) and they are safe until we return

As far as sleeping on pillows... the whole "higher" thing isn't something I believe in. My dogs know I'm in charge whether they sit on the floor, couch, or back of the couch. Sam sits up on the back of the couch so that she can see out the window and she sleeps on my pillow because she LOVES sleeping on pillows, no matter where they are. It's not a control thing and she's not aggressive. Letting your dog sleep on your pillow is not going to make them aggressive. Not addressing a problem like your dog not letting YOU sleep on your pillow can lead to aggression problems. Most dogs aren't going to have an issue with it.

I think your post shows, that this training isn't as black and white as some want to believe, and there is more than one way to train a dog, and while some things work for the majority of dogs, our dogs are still individuals, as are we, and we need to train in ways, in which, we are confortable. That's why these threads can be so helpful, and I love reading about what works for someone.

[diane boden]

I really have one reason not to let my two sleep on the bed, and its from personal experience. When we were down to two little girls, the others having gone over rainbow bridge, we allowed Chloe and Hope to sleep utstairs. As I worked nights They'd spend the week with my mom but weekends Chloe would sleep with me. She was about 10 when it happened, she'd jumped over my legs and instead of hitting matress she landed straight on the floor. She wasn't hurt but very frightened, we think her night vision must have gone, and though she didn't want to sleep downstairs she was afraid to sleep in my room until I came up with the idea of getting her a chils night-light. She was okay after that, but I still worry about one of my two getting hurt jumping or falling from the bed.

[Lula-Mae Famous]

Originally Posted by diane boden

I really have one reason not to let my two sleep on the bed, and its from personal experience. When we were down to two little girls, the others having gone over rainbow bridge, we allowed Chloe and Hope to sleep utstairs. As I worked nights They'd spend the week with my mom but weekends Chloe would sleep with me. She was about 10 when it happened, she'd jumped over my legs and instead of hitting matress she landed straight on the floor. She wasn't hurt but very frightened, we think her night vision must have gone, and though she didn't want to sleep downstairs she was afraid to sleep in my room until I came up with the idea of getting her a chils night-light. She was okay after that, but I still worry about one of my two getting hurt jumping or falling from the bed.

That is one of the big reasons my little girl doesnt sleep with me. My bed is very high and below is hard wood flooring. Not only am I afraid of her falling but im terrified that I will roll over and crush her! She is 3 months and still under 2lbs so she is a tiny little girl.
I want to sleep and cuddle her so much but for her own saftly, she sleeps in her crate.
Also, I do need my alone time as well. This is a great way for me to relax after constantly supervising a puppy all day.
One more? well, ehem... there are times where mommy and daddy want some alone time together...

All in all crating at night works out for me.