House Training Help

[RD]

I'm always told that it's so cruel to keep my dog in a crate when I'm gone. I get a kick out of this, because my dog does mainly one thing while I'm not there - sleep. I don't see the difference between letting the dog sleep in a puppy-proofed room and letting them sleep in a crate.
And if not giving my young, destructive dogs run of the house while I am gone is equal to cruelty, then I suppose I am cruel by your standards. lol.

Jenn.. honestly, Red is correct. You're letting Emma run the show. When she is truly hungry, she will dig right into her food. I'd continue leaving it down for 10 minutes, removing it if she doesn't eat. Both of my dogs tend to be rather picky eaters and that got them right on track.

 

[tessa_s212]

Jenn, I am sorry you have not been treated the best in this thread.

I know how you feel. I own a dog that is skinny. He will not put weight on no matter what. Sometimes he just doesn't like to eat.

Taking his bowl away if he woudln't eat didn't work either. He only went longer without food, meaning he obviously wasn't going to gain the weight he needed.

We've been adding things to his food such as raw hamburger meat, raw eggs, and broths to get him to eat his food and hopefully put some weight on. We also will not let him out of his crate until he eats. If he wants out, he wil eat. If he doesn't eat, well, he just has to stay in that crate until he does. Sometimes he does want out ofhis crate, sometimes he doesn't. Eventualy he does and he will eat his food. It is hte only way to get him to eat..though it is quite hte hassle..at least he is eating.

 

[lapdog]

Red-point taken about shouting No. You should just do something to stop the accident before it happens and that usually means a little bit of a startle to get the dog to stop. Saying "lets go outside" is a better way to go about it.

Jenn-I was resistant to crating at first. However more dogs are rehomed and put in shelters due to lack of housetraining than you are aware. Thats more cruel, I think. I had every carpet in my home ruined from a 10 pound dog. Its going to cost me major bucks to replace them. So a few thousand dollars later, I smartened up.

All it takes is a month or two of pure diligence on your part. If you don't like the crating when you're home, keep the dog on a leash, tethered to you indoors. Crate at night and when you go out. Believe me, your pocketbook and your dog will be better off in the long run. What is cruel is having a dog that doesn't know what's expected of him and having to put up with an owners disappointment over and over again.

It only takes a few weeks, then its over.

 

[rocco&quiras mama]

Thanks to Sweden we also have no docking spreading world wide.QUOTE]



uhmm.. are you saying that you think docking is a good or a bad thing ???

i´m guessing you are all for docking

why ?? cuz you think it looks cool/good etc. ?

 

[Jules]

I had the same problem with my puppy. She would not eat in the morning. I put her bowl down, left her, and picked it up 20min later. T-Bone did not eat alot a couple of days, but she did not starve. And your dog won't either. After awhile...I'd say 2 months, she eats when I put the bowl down.

Also, I had some problems with T-Bone getting housebroken. After gathering more information I realized that I need to change things first wanting my dog to change her behavior. I fed her perfectly on schedule and took her out on a schedule. You should really read through Red's post about housebreaking. (Thank you, btw )
T-Bone did not give me any signs either, so we had quite a few accidents. But again, after awhile, she got better and now we're in our 4th accident-free week.
Since your dog is sitting in front of the door, maybe buying one of those bell strings for the door...I'm sorry, I forgot the name...will help.

As for her crying in the crate...T-Bone cried sometimes, but I always leave the door open and have some music playing. She loves her crate now. Like somebody said, it is her den. If used responsible, it is great for the dog.