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09-15-2016, 10:40 PM | #16 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Oregon
Posts: 2,721
| There are so many reasons it is appropriate to crate train for your dogs safety and future success. Safe travel in the vehicle, vet visits, groomer visits, boarding- being comfortable in a crate is a very positive thing. I wish so much I had crate trained Lilah. Sam is our families black lab puppy, we got him at five weeks old (waaayyy too young, long story, his mom had surgery etc etc) he will be fifteen weeks old on Saturday and we have crate trained him. It started out tough, we thought he should be in his own room (bad idea, he was too young and needed to hear our breathing and feel safe in our shared den with his pack) we left the crate open but he stayed behind a baby gate in his own room/hallway. It was misery. We did a lot of reading. We moved Sam next to our bed. He was still too young to expect to hold his potty all night and we didn't want him to have accidents in his crate and therefore not have a positive association with it so we took him out throughout the night- I loved Taylor's advice, it was concise and consistent with reccomendations of many behaviorists- not out to play, not out to cuddle, out to potty and back to bed. Oh! We also fed him every meal in his crate and have him plenty of time to interact with it during the day, walking into the crate meant treats, food and praise. Every time he walked in there he got a treat. It would have been inappropriate to expect him to stay in their with no potty breaks all night, not physically possible. If his only interaction with the crate were negative that would have been bad too, we need some build up of the crate experience. Also, it was unreasonable at his age to have him away from us, he needed to have our presence to be secure especially at a young age (my kids just went back to school and he is now home alone for longer stretches, prior to two weeks ago we had pushed our away time for up to a max of four hours, usually in his ex pen for that length of time though). When we put him in the crate it is his opportunity to have a fun chewy, he loves it. We can drive safely in the car without worrying about him or Lilah or the kids or our driving and everyone is safe and happy. When Sam is neutered we can help him heal by having more down time - with chewies- in his crate. If Sam were a yorkie who had to go to the groomer all the time he could calmly wait in a crate. If Sam ever gets injured- God forbid- and breaks a leg, we can confine him in his crate without him freaking out and hurting himself worse and needing extra sedation because he has been crate trained. I am such an advocate. When Lilah gets a yorkie sister or brother, they will be crate trained- I wish i had done her the service.
__________________ Alyssa and Lilah |
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09-18-2016, 05:18 PM | #17 |
Action Jackson ♥ Donating Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Maryland
Posts: 17,814
| Jackson is free-roam so he's just loose in the whole house when I leave. I've had cameras on him, he just sleeps - goes from the bed, to the floor, to the couch, etc. We slowly allowed free roam over time. I used an ex-pen at first. Then confined to one room. Then he got access to the whole house by 6 months old or so. They act different when you're not home, in my experience. Jackson for example will still, at 8yrs old, go and get something to chew on to be naughty and get my attention to play. when I'm not home, he just sleeps. He doesn't eat, he doesn't play, he doesn't get into anything, etc.
__________________ ~ Brit & Lights! Camera! Jackson! CGC ETD TKP ~ Follow Jackson on Instagram: https://instagram.com/jacksontheterrier |
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crate, crying, sleeping, training |
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