Crating a puppy daily while at home

[Rene']

Our puppy is 13 weeks today, we've had her for 10 weeks. So far we only used the crate during the night and when we have to leave the house. She has started getting to be more of a handful in recent weeks and she naps much less and for shorter periods. I'm getting worn down with the constant supervising of her. My girls help a lot, but even when the puppy is sleeping I'm on alert for when she will wake and have to be taken out because she is not totally house trained yet.

 

The only time I feel I can really relax is when she is crated for the night and then I'm going to bed too. I need a break!

 

So I want to crate her during the day when we are home - I'd also like to crate her when we eat dinner because I don't like the dog laying at our feet or wandering around us when we are eating.

 

I know she is going to whine. Right now she generally does not whine at night when she's put in there for bed but she's usually very tired by then. She does whine when we crate her to leave the house, but as soon as the front door is shut she settles down. I'm prepared to ignore the whining but I want to do whatever I need to to be successful.

 

So, should I just start putting her in there for however long I'd like her to be, ignore the whining and take her out after say, an hour?

 

Or should I put her in and when she has stopped whining for a few minutes let her out, and slowly increase the time?

 

Treats every single time or just at first? Or none?

 

How much "play" with her between crate time to ensure that she is not too keyed up?

 

I would greatly appreciate any advice!

[Ellie]

She should stay in the crate unless someone's entire attention is devoted to her, until she is housebroken.

 

I don't see a problem with crating her while you eat.

 

Once she's housebroken, I don't understand why it would be a problem for her to be out during the day while you're home (other than for meals).:confused:

 

Are you taking her out for regular walks (Dog Whisperer walks, not just her dragging you along on the leash)?

[Mama Geek]

I agree with Ellie. Also you can put it a piece of clothing that has your scent, like a dirty sock or something.

[Chelli]

We actually housebroke our dog using her crate. I had a friend of mine you used to be a veterinary assistant tell me how to do it.

 

So, no, I don't think putting your pup in the crate during the day is a bad thing :001_smile:

[Truscifi]

We used crate training to house break our dog too. And she still gets sent to her kennel if she is being too rambunctious. We just put her in until she calms down, no set time period, but was a young adult when we got her, not a puppy.

 

My parents did crate train their dog as a puppy. They took him out every hour and walked him and played with him for a while. They put a treat in his kennel before they put him back in it (though to be fair, his "treat" was actually just an extra piece of his regular dog food). He now loves his kennel and will hang out in it with the door open if no one is paying attention to him, so it seems to have worked well.

[Rene']

Once she's housebroken, I don't understand why it would be a problem for her to be out during the day while you're home (other than for meals).:confused:

 

Even though she is mostly housebroken (this does refer just to potty training, right?) she still has to be watched constantly to make sure she doesn't chew on the furniture or try to jump on the couch, etc. I'm just wanting 2 or 3 times a day when I can put her in the crate for an hour or so and just have a break from constantly keeping track of her.

 

Eventually I'm sure this won't be necessary, I don't know how long it takes a dog to be trusted not to chew on things or go in places they aren't supposed to. I do have parts of the house blocked off for now, but she can fit under the bookcase, and there are cords behind it that she could chew on.

 

Are you taking her out for regular walks (Dog Whisperer walks, not just her dragging you along on the leash)?

 

We are trying. :lol: I made the mistake of letting her be off-leash when she was younger and my neighbor walked with us with her two puppies - one of them is our puppy's brother and they are never leashed. The puppies were pretty good about staying with us, but they did run around and frolic. As they've gotten older they've wanted to wander farther away. And since it's against the law to walk her off-leash anyway, I decided to stop doing it. So she pulls and pulls right now and I'm still learning how to train her concerning this.

[Rene']

We used crate training to house break our dog too. And she still gets sent to her kennel if she is being too rambunctious. We just put her in until she calms down, no set time period, but was a young adult when we got her, not a puppy.

 

Our puppy has started going through very rambunctious periods where she will bite me and run around like a crazy dog. Normally she is very good and relaxed. Often she is content just to lay next to someone and chew something. She might put her mouth on me but normally does not actually bite down. I think she is doing this because she is tired, like a cranky toddler needing a nap. I was afraid to put her in the crate when she does this though because I don't want it to seem like a punishment, but I might do it and see what happens.

 

My parents did crate train their dog as a puppy. They took him out every hour and walked him and played with him for a while. They put a treat in his kennel before they put him back in it (though to be fair, his "treat" was actually just an extra piece of his regular dog food). He now loves his kennel and will hang out in it with the door open if no one is paying attention to him, so it seems to have worked well.

 

This is what I hope happens with Bailey. :001_smile:

[Samiam]

We crated our dogs during the day, if we are not able to watch them. In our old house (where the dogs were puppies), the dogs were not allowed upstairs due to it being newish carpet. Our homeschool room and play room were both upstairs. Thus we were home, but the dogs were in the crate.

 

We would go down about every 2-3 hours to let the dog out, take to bathroom, etc etc. By early afternoon, after lunchtime, we were down stairs for the rest of the day. The dogs came out of the crate.

 

While I don't see an issue keep it crated while you are not in the room, or at dinner, etc, I don't think you should keep it in the crate, just to avoid chewed cords, etc. I mean, you just have to watch the puppy and hope to avoid that stuff.

 

It's like trying to keep a baby always in a crib so they don't wander around and get into stuff. Puppies, like babies, just have a period in their life, where you have to be extra watchful, and basically ALWAYS know where they are and what they are doing.

[swellmomma]

I can see crating for a short while during the day in order to get other chores done etc. But I do not think crating to avoid things being chewed is the way to go. That will not train her not to chew, it simply avoids the situation.

 

I don't use a crate here so I have not used on during the day while here. Chewing on cords etc was something Delilah did a few times but now at almost 5 months she rarely does. It did take me training her what she could chew. Right now her toy box is right next to the tv complete with 2 cords running right past it. She ignores those cords and gets her chew toys out of the box. Meals both pups generally go off across the room and lay down while we eat.

 

We lucked out in that Delilah is such a mellow dog and even though she is only 2months older than Onyx she acts like an adult in temperment and he follows her lead.

 

When I need them to be out of my hair for a bit I either have the kids take them for a play in the yard or a walk. I feed them about 30 minutes before we eat. Followed by a potty break and either training or active play. That means they are happy, full, and tired out and usually fast asleep by the time we are eating.

 

The crazy zooming around is normal for the age of pupy (so is the chewing given this is the age of teething). Usually when the puppy crazies hit I know they need some more stimulation either through exercise outside, or through training. If they are going to do 50 m sprints they can do them in the yard lol

 

Walks with leash, I am learning as I go. Delilah is a puller, we had to switch to harness because she was hurting her throat pulling so hard. Onyx walks with loose leash naturally. Once we have gone for a good 30 minutes she falls into a more steady gait and loose leash. That is one area I can not help because I am still learning it. Puppy school doesn't start again until the fall, I am hoping to train her before then but if not she will learn there.

 

Anyway back to the topic at hand. crating during the day for an hour or so to tend to other chores definitely has merit but do not use it as a way to avoid situations with puppy. And if puppy is hyper do not use the crate, have your kids take her in the yard for active play to tire her out first.

 

Oh lastly, the mouthing on you, but not biting down is not due to being tired or cranky, it is just a puppy thing, they mouth everything just like human babies, it is brought out more at this age due to teething. Just keep a supply of suitable chew toys to redirect with. Onyx is just starting his training in this, but Delilah caught on fast, When she mouthed me I would say "ah-ah" and then remove my hand and give her a toy instead. Now at 4.5 months if she goes to mouth me, I just say ah-ah and she will give a quick lick instead and grab a toy (with the look on her face that says "what? I was just gonna kiss you") Anyway, like everything else with puppy the mouthing is a training moment. If you google bite inhibition you will find lots of information on how to teach it. FTR I have read that the more a pup mouths you the better. If a dog never tries to put it's mouth on you as a pup is never experiences the training necessary to develop bite inhibition. THen you have stories like the family dog that has never "bit" anyone before suddenly causing a kid to need 200 stitches because it was startled and had no bite inhibition.

[Michelle My Bell]

We have a gated area for our pup (6 months) now that he is housebroken. He rarely cries unless he needs to go out. We transitioned him by putting his crate inside when he was little. Now he doesn't even have a crate. It looks like this:

 

[skeeterbug]

We have a six month old lab. Our dog crate is in our kitchen, we crate him during our meals so he is not wandering about under the table looking for crumbs. Since he is in the same room with us he doesn't whine. I used to give him a treat and throw him in there while I prepared dinner since I couldn't follow him around during that time. He got used to his crate easily.

 

During our school day...our laundry room is through our school room, we put a baby gate at the door and he spends part of the day in there so that I don't have to worry about him roaming the house. His bed and food/water bowls are in there and that's also where he sleeps at night (his choice, we found he preferred his room to ours!). No problems because he is right there with us while we are working, he sleeps most of the day. Well, when he is not being interrupted by the kids who are constantly in there visiting him. The rest of the day he is outside. In the evenings (other than mealtime) he is free to wander about the house though we constantly check on him to make sure he isn't destroying something!