Crate stuff
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Simon and Annie are both doing great. It's been busy and chaotic (and I still haven't posted pics!) But I will :)
Annie has not yet decided to love the crate. I think she'd be happy if I crated her with Simon, but Simon's not thrilled with that idea, so I have not pushed it. She's at an obnoxious age and she wants to chomp on him or step on his head, so I don't blame him. (But maybe there's a way to speed up the process of persuading him?)
I've had pretty easy crate puppies in the past, so I don't have a whole bag of tricks up my sleeve! Last night she gave me a scare by getting so revved that she ended up getting her foot badly twisted in the crate blanket. She is fine, limping a little, but no more blankets for her! (Suggestions for blanket substitutes??)
I know that calm and easy is the way to go. She settles down eventually, but she's quite the loud girl :D. My stepdaughter is getting married at the end of the month and we're supposed to stay in a hotel for two nights. If it were today, I think she'd be too loud for a hotel. My backup plan is to board her at my vet, and I would rather do that than "rush" the crate program we're on. We got DAP spray and we put the crates next to each other and I figure we just have to keep it going.
I'd probably use the kitchen gated off if she weren't a superhero jumper/climber! She can jump to the counter from the floor. And does.
Anyway, we're not frazzled and we have a backup plan for the wedding hotel, but I thought I would put the blanket question and the "any other thoughts?" question out to the group basenji mind. Thanks!
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Did she get her foot twisted up in the blanket because she ripped or put holes in it? You might want to just try a crate pad. I love the Bully Pads, http://www.upco.com and then seach for Bully Pads. Not to say that she will not be able to destroy it, but they hold up pretty well.
And I had to laugh… she is a Tri, right??? Otherwise known as "flying monkeys"!!!! and I can relate since she is related to C-Me (the Tri Mountain Goat).....
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Haha, yeah, I think she's a goat! She hops up on the counter and then looks at you like, "hi, I was looking for treats up here." She clearly sees the world three dimensionally. I'm pretty sure she thinks she could get airplanes if she just tried harder.
Yeah, we think she put a hole in it and then wound herself around. It scared the crap out of me, to be honest. She is forever banned from crate blankets!
I'll look at the bully pads today.
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Bully pads ordered :)
I've upped the ante with crate games (really good drippy treats and more frequent games). I have Simon's crate open in here in my office and basically I'm watching and treating whenever either of them go in. I'm jackpotting when they are both in at the same time.
Wheels are turning in little basenji skulls.
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I love bully pads, they hold up really well. I got them based on suggestions from the forum. I really like crate pads that are only one piece like this (versus the kind with a zipper cover) for cleaning.
Thought I'd share an interesting observation I made after some mat or "go to place" training with Zoni. After I did that for only a short period of time she seemed to generalize it quickly to crates. She has been fine in crates in the car previously (typical show dog behavior I guess) but not so much in the house (she normally stays in a kennel in the basement). After this observation, I was having a hard time getting her out of the crate sometimes and she would just fly into it whenever we went by one in the house. Kinda funny and pretty fortuitous since she has needed to sleep in a crate recently.
Edit: And the relaxation protocol mentioned on the forum previously may help as well.
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I sent UPCO a message about the strength of the bully pad because Kipawa is a real chewer! Here is their response and my message below that:
It probably will not last.
On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 4:12 PM,
