Climbing out of her pen?? HELP!!!
 

Hello,
I am a new member to the Yorkie Talk website and I can't believe how much information I have already learned in this short time. I recently adopted a 9 week old female puppy, Reese, who has been the most well behaved puppy (besides the house training accidents of course) until yesterday. I work a full time job and leave Reese in a pen during the day while I am at work. At lunch time my mother checks on her and plays with her for a bit. At about 3:30 my sister, whom I live with gets home and lets her out. Needless to say she is getting the proper amount of attention while I am at work. However, yesterday when my mother stopped over to check on Reese she was greeted by her at the door. She somehow managed to get out of her exercise pen. My mother checked the pen door and it was closed and locked. The only explanation was that she managed to climb out?? Today when I mother went to check on her she was greeted at the door by Reese again. After my mother took her outside and played with her for a little while she brought her back inside and put her back in the pen. She pretended to leave and hid in the kitchen. When she heard her climbing up the side of the pen, ready to fling her self onto the hardwood floor. Obviously my mother stopped her before it happened. Has anyone ever encountered this problem?? I am not sure what to do with her now during the day. She does have a crate that I have her sleep in but I just couldn't leave her in it all day while I am at work. Does anyone have any suggestions?? :confused:

Mojo will jump over anything, he thinks he is spiderman...i just let him have the run of the house...what can i say, he bosses me around:)

oh...and sorry, depending on the type of play pen you have, you might be able to purchase a cover piece that goes on top:)

Really I have never seen one with a cover? Do you know where they sell them? Also, is Mojo not a puppy anymore. I just would be to nervous letting her roam around my apartment all day.

This is a concern of mine as well... I do not yet have a Yorkie of my own but I work all day, would have someone to ccheck up on him but I fear that he would get out of an excercise pen and run all over my apartment...

Is it one of those pens that you can make into any shape you want that is completely open on top? I was just thinking of getting one of those instead of using baby gates to block Beau into the dining room. My pup is a climber too, he has strong little front arms that he uses to pull himself up onto the couch, I would be afraid he would be able to climb out as well.

He chews on furniture, wires, baseboards and carpet too much to give him run of the house.

So what is the solution.

I'd love to know as well... I was hoping to get one of those adjustable pens and leave him and his crate in their while I am at work. But I fear him climbing out and having accidents in my kitchen and living room until someone checks in on him.

I just checked Pet Edge and I saw the cover. Perfect!!! That was a great idea. I am going to order one right now.

As for leaving her all day, the first week I was almost in tears every morning, but it has gotten easier. Reese too likes to chew everything. I am hoping this will stop once she is done teething. She was only 10 weeks on monday. Does anyone know when the chewing really stops?

Did u take any time off from work when you first got her?

Is there a small room, like a bathroom or a laundryroom you can use during the day? I am totally amazed that a 9 week old puppy is climbing that pen but I have read about this before and was shocked. How big is he? I would call the pet supply places or look online for a pen that he wouldn't be able to climb over maybe.

I did not take any time off when I got her but I did get her on a Friday afternoon so I had the whole weekend. She was fine once monday came around. I when my mother went to check on her she was really excited and glad to be with someone and she stayed with her for a couple of hours.

She, is now 10 weeks as of monday and is small maybe only 2+ pounds but is very strong. She climbs right up the 24inch pen wall?? I am just glad that I found a solution. This website is great!

Don't feel bad, I have a climber too, the playpen worked about a week and the baby gate for the bathroom area about 3 days before Tuck chewed through the plastic and ran the whole house all day. Now I have a big solid piece of wood that I secure across my bedroom doorway so it can't fall and he has the run of my bedroom which seems to be working ok. This way his kitten, Nicky can come in and out to play and sleep - they are growing up together and are inseparable - so I don't feel too bad about Tuck being alone all day I do make sure the bedroom is free of puppy temptation though - newspapers, toilet paper roll, etc. It seems to be going ok also leave Animal Planet on for them all day as well.
Dana

Tuck'sMom
 

When you said your pup has run of your bedroom, do you have carpet in your bedroom? What about wires, do you have a problem with your pup chewing wires?

I've thought of enclosing my pup in the bathroom, dining room but even then I'm afraid he'll chew the wood cabinets, chew on the baseboards.

Animal planet is a good idea. I have been leaving Sesame Street, lol! I would also block off one room for her to stay in but I would need to get the wires running along the floor out of her reach first. It is definitely and option I will have to consider. I will try the cover for the pen that I just ordered online and see how she does. I do not see how she will be able to get out, but my luck she will try to wiggle her way through the metal bars?? We'll see?

Yep, Just bought the house and put in new carpet - bedroom too - but hey, it'll come clean when we're all done with "accidents" so far, we've gone a full day with none on the carpet- this was yesterday and now he seems to be using his litterbox for pee pee every time Hallelujah!!!! I leave him with many of his toys, and some bigger, newer chewies that I know he can't get a piece off of. We've had no problem with baseboards just newspaper and pulling off the whole roll of toilet paper and streaming it everywhere. The wires are all secured behind entertainment center, end table, bed, etc. I also think having his kitten keeps him from getting too bored and destructive.

I would crate her. If she is puppy she will spend most of her time sleeping anyway. Plus it sounds like your mother can check on her if you need her to do. But crating is a preference. Some people are okay crating their dogs, some aren't.

Here is a clip of one of my pup at about 6 weeks old: www.geocities.com/tinybittosalt/MVC-004V.MPG

Tuck'sMom
 

Speaking of kitten, I've wanted for the longest time to adopt a kitten/cat from a rescue/shelter. I had my eye on a beautiful British Shorthair Female that was 3 years old for about 4 weeks but could never decide how my male yorkie (Beau - 17 weeks) would take to her. I thought it would be a great playmate as cats are easier to care for than a dog. A second dog would be just too much for me.

Did you have your kitten first and then your yorkie or vice versa? How did they take to each other? And, can dogs catch cat illnesses?

My son brought the kitten home first and it was probably about four months old to Tucker's 10 weeks when I got him. I clipped (and still do) the kittens nails nice and short for Tuck's safety and only let them play with serious supervision at first since Tuck was about 2lbs and the kitten probably about 4 or 5. They get pretty rough and tumble with each other but I've put my hand in front of the kitten's swat at Tuck a few times and he doesn't even put his claws out so its ok now. I don't quite know how it would work with an older cat since our little bouncy ones can be aggravating with all that energy - I find these two are fairly well matched - Its like the races at my house when they get going - great to watch - then they crash curled up together too!
Dana

That was to funny! I imagine that is just what she looks like when she gets out of the pen. I think that she should be ok going forward with the cover for the pen. The only bad thing is now I have to wait about week for it to be mailed to my house. Oh well, it will be the crate for her for a while. Thanks for your post.

They can wiggle through anything! When we first got our Lillie, my husband spent most of a Saturday putting lattice work up on the downstairs deck, thinking she could stay there while we were not home. As soon as he got done, she strolled through one of the holes in the lattice work!

That is to funny! Oh well, now I know! The funniest thing with Reese is that she was the shyest little love bug when I got her a week and a half ago and now she is turning into a little terror! But she is still the greatest thing that has every happened to me!

We call Lillie a Yorkshire Terrorist:) She's 18 months now and weighs about 8 pounds, so she can't do as much wiggling. You'll really enjoy your baby, especially when she gets done with her puppy mischeif stage.

About how long do they typically stay in the "puppy" stage?

Lillie is my first Yorkie, so I can only answer about her, but after about 9 months she was over the worst of it. She was never really bad - liked to turn over the waste paper basket and shred any tissues, unroll the toilet paper and shred it, go outside and pick up a piece of wood and then chew it to bits all over the (white) carpet! By one year she was very well behaved. Just be patient and hang in with Reese and enjoy her!

That is good to know. Reese is not all that bad either she does also like to chew things up, she seems to eat anything is on my floor. She just started to bark in the last couple of days when she wanted to get out of her crate or pen. Before which she would just whimper. A yorkie owner at work told me to get a spray bottle with water and when she is barking squirt the bottle in her direction. Have you ever heard of that? The other problem that we are having is her sleeping. Last week she was getting up at about 2:00AM and then again at about 5:00AM. This week she has gotten a little better and is sleeping until 5:00AM, the only problem is I would like her to stay in her crate until we get up at 6:30 but she just starts to cry at which point I end up letting her out of her crate. Then I am up for the rest of the day. Any suggestions about how I can get her to sleep or at least stay in her crate until 6:30AM when I would get up for work? One last question, am I creating bad habits by letting her chew on our hands. I understand that she is teething and I always try to give her a greenie bone but she seems to prefer our fingers. It was ok at first b/c she did not hurt but her teeth have come in and now she is starting to hurt. Do you think we are teaching her bad behavior?

Lillie has never really had a problem with barking, except outside at the neighbors, or when the door bell rings she goes nuts - wait until Halloween! She has also always been a good sleeper. The first two nights we had her home we put her in a big cardboard box, but she woke us up crying in the middle of the night and my husband went downstairs and slept on the couch with her in his arms. Since then she has been sleeping in the bed with us! When she was real little - say the first 3 or 4 months we had her - she would wake up about 6:00 a.m. and wake us up, wanting to play. But now she goes to sleep when we do and gets up when we do. Lillie chewed on our hands constantly until her adult teeth came in, so I think that is normal. Good luck with her, she'll be the best companion you could ever want!

Thank you for your advice. It is really great to have a place where I can get all my questions answered. This morning when I left the house I felt very frustrated but now that I know these are all very normal behaviors that will subside eventually I am extremely relieved. Thanks again, Chiara

getting out of x-pen
 

I can't believe these little guys are able to do these things. A few days ago my (then 9 week old, now almost 10) managed to get out of her x-pen. We left her for about an hour, in fact this was the first time we left her at all. When my husband returned, he found Kiwi curled up with his socks. We have her crate in the pen, so we figured she got out with the aid of the crate. But After reading these posts, it's entirely possible that she climbed out. It hasn't happened since, but it has only been a few days.
If she does it again, it looks like I might have to invest in a cover.

Does anyone know where i can get this cover in Toronto, Canada?