Locking Dog In Crate when away

Hey guys,

I have to lock up my little girl Tasha in her crate whenever we leave the house and no one is here to look after her... she seems to really bark and howl after we put her in...

I always make it a positive experience.. give a treat for going in herself.. telling her good girl and I'll be back soon...

Soon as I go.. the barking machine turns on... and it seems to last forever, although after we return home once a few hours have passed, she's generally quiet and half asleep...

Is this good for them to bark so much? Is she going to get over the barking when we close her up? This will be a 5x a week or more occurrence (though never for longer an a few hours at a time).

Thanks.

How long have you been doing this?

Does she have to be in a crate? Can she be in a puppy proofed room? (laundry bathroom...)

Do you give her long-lasting toys like a kong? How big is the crate?

You can try things like leaving the tv/radio on. Giving her a warm water bottle. Give her a shirt that smells like you.

How old is she? Does she sleep in the crate? Where is the crate?

Crating does not work for every dog. Some people swear by it and others think it's unnecessary. I think that she will get used to it, depending on how long you've been doing it, but there may be other methods and things to make it easier.

I would prefer to use the crate simply to avoid accidents on the floor and to keep her from getting into any bad habits, like gnawing on my brand new doors or walls...

The crate is medium sized (she's a very small puppy - 10 weeks old) and she has lots of room to move about in it... I've placed a ticking clock under the blanket and also left an old t-shirt inside of there as well...

We keep the crate in our ensuite. She doesn't sleep in it at night, as she sleeps up on the bed with us and is fine there.

She'll never be in there for longer than a few hours at a time... I always make sure to take her outside before putting her in and then right after i let her out.

Any recommendations other than crating for these periods?

If she's only ten weeks old, she'll get used to it soon enough.

Start teaching her the word "Crate" and rewarding her for going in it by giving her a treat, and letting her leave right away. Keep the crate open throughout the day and encourage her to "go to your crate" for various things, and always to get a treat. Feed her in the crate. Any toys or treats that you leave in there for her when you are gone, you should remove when you return home. Make them special toys, only given for special times when you're gone. She'll be fine because she'll quickly learn that barking and howling doesn't bring you back right away. If it doesn't work, she won't keep doing it.

Some dogs I think just don't do well in crates. My stepson's dog who is now 8 months old cried so much in the crate that his siliva would fill the bottom of the crate and he would lay in it all wet. The pup is a pit bull (50 lbs.) and very sweet! They finally decided to see what he would do if they left him out of the crate. All he wound up doing is sleeping on the couch. Normally, if I went over to let him out of his crate, he would be so excited and anxious to get out. When I went over the other day when he was loose, he picked his head up off the couch as to say why are you disturbing me. He was such much calmer. If the crate doesn't wind up working for you, maybe you could use gates and put him in the kitchen area or another room you may have.

Thanks Barb! Crates just aren't right for every dog. Sometimes I wonder, I mean, we all got along quite well before the whole crating craze started . . .

My mom's beagle has some confinement issues. She tried crating him and he just shredded the plastic liner ( and you know how heavy those are ). He was shut in the laundry room for a while until she figured that he could handle being out.

They don't work for everyone.

Crates don't work for dogs with seperation anxiety. And they often don't work for dogs who weren't crate trained (ie, you can't just stick them in a crate and expect them to be happy). They aren't a babysitter; and they're not a permanent solution to anything.

Well.. I've decided to simply pen up the dog in the bathroom during these longer periods of absence...

Which brings up a new question... will I have problems in fully housetraining my dog if I am to leave the newspapers on the floor while she is penned up? I try and get her outside and relieved before she is penned up, and then take her outside as soon as I get home... she's doing well with it... but is it going to make things more difficult in allowing her to use the newspaper for accidents?

I used to use the wee-wee pads and everybody told me how your not suppose to teach your dog to go in the house and then have to teach it to go outside. I gave up using them and just realized that it is normal for them to have accidents. If the puppy has to go it doesn't matter if they are in the bathroom or in their crate if they have to go bad enough they will go wherever they are. My guy has really bad seperation anxiety which is why I stopped using the crate and yes sometimes if I can't catch him in time or I am not home he has accidents but he is still advancing in his potty training. I have him gated in the kitchen while I am not home and he seems to be doing ok in there by himself, much better than when he was in his crate.

I don't think it will make things more difficult. I think you should cover the whole floor in newspaper so she has no option but to pee on the paper. You will then figure out where she likes to go the most and can start to leave areas of the bathroom uncovered except her favourite pee spot(s). She will learn that she is supposed to pee on newspaper and then when you take her outside you can put newspaper down on the ground to help her understand where to go. Does that make sense?

I agree with trying an exercise pen or baby gates. That's what we did with our three--we baby-gated the kitchen (which has two entrances) and left them there while we were gone. Only problem was we have very agile dogs and the BC mix enjoyed popping herself over the gates to say hello when you came in (she stayed in while we were gone, amazingly).

How do you know she stayed in? Maybe she was sleeping on your couch until she heard the car and then jumped back in LOL

LOL, true she's one smart tootsie.

She's actually peeing/etc outside about 80-85% of the time now, in fact... she already is beginning to "indicate" to me that she needs to hit the outside... she sits by the door and puts her ears down and looks at me... soon as I open the door, she goes right down, does her business, and comes back up...

However, there are 4-5 hour periods during the day (Mon-Fri) where she has to be penned up in the bathroom, and she is good about using the paper in there too... but I want to eventually break that habit so she is always JUST going outside... any recommendations or will this cease as she grows?

She still whines and barks alot when locked up too... is that going to end?

When she's about 5 months old she'll be able to hold it in for 4 to 5 hours.