Just need to vent

[luzmery928]

about the crate..this I know but how else can I punish him especially when I am ready to jump out the window.(won't do much though, I live on the first floor)

[jys1011]

wondering if I can put myself in there while I'm doing my floor exercises…lol

I didn't want to ADMIT IT but I guess I have to now since you did :eek: :eek: LOL I have put myself in there when I want to do scrap booking while watching TV with the Bs so it's not at all a BAD idea!

I ditto everything Arlene has said. There is NOTHING on the floors & I mean NOTHING. It's just like when you have a toddler in the house. You keep nothing within reach. I use a 48in high expen which works well both inside & out. And I have had to resort to putting Vicks Vapor Rub on the couch corners because they were looking "rounded" too LOL LOL!!

Anyone who sits on my couches suddenly feel their sinuses cleared :eek: :eek:

[luzmery928]

OMG that is too funny..the whole putting urself in the expen

[lvoss]

@nomrbddgs:

Hope your's isn't a climber. I put Sugar in an x-pen for 1/2 a second-she climbed out! I'm going to look for one with a lid that ties down-or something! (I wonder if it's a tri-thing)

I don't think it is a tri thing. Each of Sugar's cousins from my Magic litter could and would climb a barrier by 5 weeks old. At a lure trial a couple of weeks ago, a woman commented that our dogs were like popcorn because when my husband would open the top of the x-pen Rio would pop up and out into his arms.

Here is a link for a top, http://www.petedge.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=3290&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=0&iSubCat=0&iSubSubCat=0&iProductID=3290&AS=1

It is not just climbers you need to be aware of though. In house where the x-pen is not staked down they can push them up and escape under them. Nicky would push the whole x-pen until he could leverage it against a wall to get out.

[Quercus]

<<it is="" not="" just="" climbers="" you="" need="" to="" be="" aware="" of="" though.="" in="" house="" where="" the="" x-pen="" staked="" down="" they="" can="" push="" them="" up="" and="" escape="" under="" them.="" nicky="" would="" whole="" until="" he="" could="" leverage="" it="" against="" a="" wall="" get="" out.="">>

Yep, that is Querk's technique too! Nicky and Querk sound SOOO much a like :)</it>

[luzmery928]

Well that's out then. Champ is a wannabe escape artist (he hasn't learned how to climb) but I can see him pushing the expen throughout the house causeing a bigger mess. I look at him when he's wilding out and I just give up most times. He looks at me like what mommy let's play. What else to do but grab them, give them a huge hug and accept the fact that I'm owned by my B not the other way around. It's crazy how nuts he gets me but I love him more each day. I love holding him and kissing him, even chasing after that little brat has made life somehow better. This morning he ran into my daughters room and took her sock (what a shock it was on the floor) so I chased him and grabbed the sock, well he stormed back into the room as soon as I had pulled the sock out of his mouth and grabbed another one and started running around the house and I couldn't help but laugh. Little stinker!

[lvoss]

It sounds like Champ would really benefit from a good positive reinforcement training class. It would give you a vocabulary to communicate with him and some good techniques to divert some of this behavior.

[luzmery928]

Yes we are planning on doing this real soon. Have someone who is good with dogs give us some basic lessons for a few weeks starting next week and are also looking into going to the petsmart classes.

[nomrbddgs]

Thanks for the site Lisa. Hmmmm-could be a family thing then. Ha Ha-sounds just like a Basenji thing. I know Shadow would lift it up too-luckily he's just too lazy! He puts himself in the crate now_with the door closed_and then lets himself out. Plus because he's such a stinker for doors,everything is baby proofed and battened down!

[luzmery928]

Crate, my B can't even look at it. I tried gussing it up with toys, treats, blankets. He just pulls everything out. Now I just use it as sort of a time out for a few minutes since he dosen't potty in the house anymore(only when he's left out of a room we are in).

[Tanga]

Hey everyone. Our female B I don't think was ever kennel trained properly… When we first got her 6yrs ago (@ age 5), we used to put her in her kennel. She used to throw these wild fits (I call them her temper tantrums)....she would lie on her back and flail her legs in the air, whine and shriek and chew on the bars....after that we did not put her thru that again. When she is locked up with our other B then she is fine. Aside from that our 2 seem to pretty well behaved.....neither one climbs and they are never locked up, they seem to sleep all day.

[luzmery928]

Yeah our B is now trained and he even goes in on his own when he knows we are leaving but as soon as we come home he starts crying until we let him out. Happy to have come this far though.

[JazzysMom]

Keoki is crate-trained at night only. When it's bedtime, he goes right in and waits for his treat, then goes to sleep for the whole night. Most morning I just about have to coax and cajole him to come out to go potty.

Any other time he's put in the crate, like if I have to leave for a while during the day, he gets crazy. He pees everywhere and tears up whatever is in the crate. It's a disgusting, pee-covered mess. When I get home, he is clawing at the door, screaming, desperate to get out.

I actually have day bedding and night bedding because the night bed is expensive and I've already had to sew it back together after leaving it in during a day trip. When I go out during the day, he gets some cheap fleece and paper towels.
The stupid thing is, he goes in by himself and sleeps in his crate during the day all the time.

[Duke]

Daisy is crate trained when we leave the house during the day, but she used to kick up a storm in there. Neighbors commented on the sound of a crying child. Whatever it takes, but she has no choice being crated while we're gone. Duke is in his own crate, so good they observe each other. She has to calm herself to sleep, I can't worry about it unless of course there is damage to herself or the crate. No problems with that. But at night, she won't have anything to do with the crate. So we let her sleep with whoever she wants. She does sleep all night and no messes (anymore). I shouldn't say or even think this, but "knock on wood" I/we haven't had any messes in the house for a couple weeks. (fingers crossed) She is 6 mos old plus 2 weeks.

[jys1011]

Luzmery-how great that Champ is doing better with his crate. Hard work does pay off!! Good for you!

[tanza]

@luzmery928:

Yeah our B is now trained and he even goes in on his own when he knows we are leaving but as soon as we come home he starts crying until we let him out. Happy to have come this far though.

Well that would be normal, wanting out when you get home… You should hear mine when we stop while on a road trip...gggg... it is not pretty....

[Quercus]

@JazzysMom:

Keoki is crate-trained at night only. When it's bedtime, he goes right in and waits for his treat, then goes to sleep for the whole night. Most morning I just about have to coax and cajole him to come out to go potty.

Any other time he's put in the crate, like if I have to leave for a while during the day, he gets crazy. He pees everywhere and tears up whatever is in the crate. It's a disgusting, pee-covered mess. When I get home, he is clawing at the door, screaming, desperate to get out.

I actually have day bedding and night bedding because the night bed is expensive and I've already had to sew it back together after leaving it in during a day trip. When I go out during the day, he gets some cheap fleece and paper towels.
The stupid thing is, he goes in by himself and sleeps in his crate during the day all the time.

here is a possible thought…although I don't know if it really matters....does he scream right away as soon as you leave? If not, it may be that he can't hold it as long during the day, and he is actually flipping out because he wants to pee in the right place. Everyone (dogs and people) can go longer thru the night without peeing because our kidneys slow down production a couple hours before our normal bedtime. during the day, we all need to pee much more frequently. Just a thought

[JazzysMom]

He gets upset as soon as he realizes he's in the crate w/the door shut. I can be gone one hour and he'll have urinated everywhere and torn up whatever is in the crate w/him.

Last night I knew I'd be gone for several hours so I tried occupying him – I let in his crate with him a KONG stuffed with a little canned dog good and some raw carrots {a favorite}, two empty paper towel tubes, a small rawhide chew, and a bunch of loose paper towels. I also left a radio playing. The other two dogs were next to him, Jazzy in her crate and Gypsy on her big pillow.

When I got home the rawhide was gone,the KONG was empty, the paper towels tubes disintegrated, and the bedding full of holes and urine -- all as I'd expected. LOL

I let the dogs out for about an hour, brought them in, put him to bed in his crate as always at night and he curled right up and went to sleep like a good boy.

Maybe it is because we are a homeschooling family, so we are here ALL the time -- the dogs are only alone during the day one - three times a week -- and he just has it in his head that closed crates are for night time only. During the day we are expected to be home to serve his needs!

[luzmery928]

I wonder would it help if you put a cover over his crate to make it look like it's dark out. I know they probably are too smart for that but it might not hurt to try.

[JazzysMom]

I don't know… I could try that...but we are talking about a dog that has a nightlight next to his crate at night.... seriously, w/out he cries and cries. I think he needs to be able to see that Gypsy and Jazzy are nearby.

I will try the blanket idea tomorrow; we are going on another hike and I don't think the dogs can go on this one.