One of the most difficult things with Ace-Chan has been crate training!
Whew!
Because we live in a highly dog populated area, we have him using paper near our front door.
(We don't want to risk him picking up anything from un-vaccinated doggies before his 12 week shots)
Right now we have him on a schedule (we are TRYING to stick with it) during the night.
I set my alarm and take him to his paper at 4 am and then at 6 30am when his daddy gets up.
I am slowly moving the 4 am so that way he will hopefully soon only need to go at 6 30 am!
When we first brought him home he wanted NOTHING to do with the crate :( We put treats inside, toys, everything! He still wouldn't have it. The first 4 or 5 nights I spent on the floor next to his crate with my fingers dangling there like delicious sausages...(puppy bites HURT).
He would cry & whine what seemed like FOREVER! I of course am a sucker and would feel SO terrible! Luckily I didn't give in and let him out *whew*. (only for potty breaks)
In the last week or so we have him (not on his own, he still needs our help) going in his crate and going to sleep at night with minimal to no whining :D yay!
Now that we are mastering nighttime, we need to conquer the day!
Ace is VERY attached to us, he likes to always be with us every second of the day; long gone are the days were you have privacy going to the bathroom :) (we knew that before we got him though haha)
Now the issue...
He screams and barks and cries bloody murder when we put him in his crate during the day! I praise him when I put him in and give him treats, but it seems not to matter to him.
I like to put him in here while I clean and do laundry (He is safe here while I cannot watch him).
Here is Ace acting crazy in his crate! After I put him in, he rolls around, barks, whines, cries, tries to rip his bed, and then finally crawls underneath it and pretends it is a 1000 thread count duvet cover :)
We tried to make his crate comfy with a crate pad & puppy blanket but he decided to redecorate!
His bed is sideways and upside down and the blanket has lots of holes :o
I use the word *QUIET* to try and stop the barking & it works for about 10 seconds haha
He does eventually go to sleep, but after a long and drawn out tantrum. Reading about this, I came across separation anxiety*.
Do other mini aussie parents or just pup parents in general have/had issues with getting their pooches mellow in their crates?
I have to say that Indy loves his crate (he associates it with getting a treat) UNLESS we are home. Then, being a sociable guy, he wants to be with us, and lets us know it.
ReplyDeleteIf you have him uncrated I've heard of using the "umbilical cord" method. You can keep an eye on him while doing other things by keeping him attached to you via a long lead.
As with all things, simple patience and persistence is key.
When Bandit was small we encouraged him to nap in his crate. It went well because we were often in the same room. If we left the room and he was alone, crying would start pretty quickly. He does really well now though he prefers not to be crated at all. Pat (K9friend) below is right, it's all about patience and persistence.
ReplyDeleteAh Thank you both! okay, at least I don't feel alone! he settles down pretty quickly if I am in the same room, but once he can't see me anymore he flips! I am going to be persistent! At least I know I'm not doing anything wrong haha! I felt like the meanest puppy mom making him cry like that!! :0
ReplyDeleteHmm..poor boy has separation anxiety.
ReplyDeleteEva has a playpen instead of a crate. It is bigger and gives her more room. We put many toys for her to entertain herself with. She has never had separation anxiety. We leave her in the kitchen, but we often go to her to play with her. However, at night she is good. She holds her bladder for 8 hours and is pretty good about it now. I think you have to tell him that making noise is not going to let you be with him, otherwise he will never get over it. If he keeps making noise, leave him, until he's quite, go to him and praise him.
Poor Ace! He just wants his way. Maybe he thinks he's the pack leader by demanding his freedom. Neither of my Aussies cried in the crate/kennel. I just blogged about this tonight. I took a wire puppy pen (exercise enclosre) and put the crate inside it with a bed and some toys so the pup can go in and out of the crate but is still able to move around if he/she wants. Unfortunatley when he got a bit bigger, Ninja learned that he could push the whole thing across the floor so at that point I gave up. By then he was ready to run free in my house with no accidents. Chewing was another thing altogether, though. Remember Aussie lover that 22 months is the magic numer. All the training you think is going in one ear and out the other kicks in and your dog settles into a wonderful companion. I saw it with Ninja and all his littermates. :)
ReplyDelete