Nov
Crate Training Anya
I’m working on crate training Anya. Tonight I’m going to have to leave her while I’m at work from 4-12:30, so I have her in there now with the bedroom door closed and me in the living room. I’m trying to see how long she goes before she gives up and stops whining… so far it’s been about 15-20 minutes and she has slowed down but is still whining every once in a while. I need her to get better at this. She’s doing so well with every other aspect of living here, I just need her to stop whining…
Do you live in a house or an apartment? Either way, if she’s whining there isn’t much you can really do to stop the whining except to ignore her. Eventually she’ll learn that being in a crate isn’t so bad. My German Shorthaired Pointer is very vocal. When he was just several weeks old, he whined relentlessly in his crate. It took weeks of excruciating whining before he finally settled down. Now he eagerly goes into his crate without even being asked to do so.
Some things that might help Anya feel more comfortable in her crate is by covering the crate with a crate cover or a blanket (make sure it’s a blanket you don’t mind getting ruined, sometimes they’ll get a hold of the blanket, pull it into the crate, and chew on it).
You can also provide something for her to chew on. Bully sticks are great, but they’re also fattening so you don’t want to give your dog too many of them in a short period of time. They also don’t last very long. The best chew, in my opinion, is an antler. You can get them cheaper online than in the pet store, and your dog will hardly put a dent in it. They are the only truly long-lasting chew I know of.
Kongs stuffied with goodies are another great option, but they don’t last very long. It helps to provide a variety of things to do, so maybe try all of these options at once to help take Anya’s mind off of being in her crate while you’re away. Be patient with her. She’ll relax in time.
Nov
List of Dog Blogs on Tumblr
So I’ve moved my list of dog blogs on Tumblr from a post to a page. Check it out! If you know of any dog blogs that aren’t on the list, please let me know! I’m happy to add any dog blogs I come across. The only rule is that they must be separate from personal blogs - they should contain a majority of posts or pictures of the blogger’s own dog(s).
It’s very time consuming to keep up on the list, so if you find any broken links please let me know so that I can try to fix them. Whenever a blogger changes the URL of their dog blog, I need to know about it in order to keep that blog on the list. Otherwise the links will redirect people to the original URL which is no longer in use. Feel free to share the list on your own blog. It’s fun to find other dog blogs to follow! I’ve organized the list by breed so that people can meet other bloggers with the same kind of dog(s).
Nov
Helo is a Good Boy
I’ve been hanging out on Tumblr all morning. I haven’t eaten yet and it’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon! I’m thinking about taking Sam and Helo for a ride to pick up some fast food. They are being so good today. Sammy is laying under my feet in the living room, and Helo is laying by the window with both of the large antlers I got for them at the Fall Festival last month.
I haven’t really mentioned it, but Helo has been behaving so good lately. Even around my roommate! He still goes nuts when he sees my roommate, but he’s getting a lot better about not jumping on him. He also hasn’t had an accident in the house in awhile. He hasn’t really had the opportunity, though. I’ve been keeping him leashed indoors to keep him from having an accident out of sight. He seems to only want to do it down in my roommate’s room, where he can hide from me!
Helo drives me nuts with that. As a puppy, he never had accidents for the first couple of months. And then he had a couple of accidents in one month. After that, he was fine again. But in the last several months, he has gone a few times. And although it hasn’t been much, it’s still not acceptable. He knows better. So I started keeping him on a leash inside the house so that he wouldn’t have the chance to run downstairs and use the bathroom.
Lately, I have been giving him longer periods off the leash so that he can run around with Sammy. But I’ll probably continue the leash exercise for a few more months, increasing the amount of time he gets off the leash until he can be fully trusted again. I’ve also been working on his training, and bonding more with him and it has really improved his attitude. It’s slowly becoming more noticeable, especially his behavior towards my roommate.
In the Spring, we’ll go to Merrimac and before you know it, we might finally start doing rally!
Oct
Housetraining
So we are, for the first time, trying to housetrain a dog. All three of our dogs that we had before Biko came along were adult dogs and already housetrained. Needless to say, it has been a learning experience.
We are trying to do all the things the training books say to do - taking him out often, copious praise when he goes outside, etc, but there are still a lot of accidents. Every rug in our house has been “baptized” and most of our floors. One of our biggest struggles is to get him not to go in his crate. Everyone says, “Oh, they won’t go in their crates” - not true. Part of the problem, more or likely, is that his crate is too big for him. I know you are supposed to get one only big enough for them to turn around in, but we are trying to avoid buying two crates (the one we currently have is a loaner). I know you can get them that have a divider, but we don’t know how big he is going to be.
So we’ve been getting up at 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. to let him out at night, but he still usually doesn’t wake us up until he goes. Until last night - when he let us know BEFORE he went, and managed to go all night without going in his crate!
I’m sure we just need more patience - it has only been two weeks - but I will be glad when this part of puppyhood is over!
Sounds like you’re on the right track with the books! One suggestion that works for my puppy is to keep him on a leash when he’s indoors. If my puppy Helo is out of sight, he is likely to go to the bathroom on the floor somewhere. As long as he’s on a 4-6ft leash, he won’t have an accident. The only time he has gone in his crate is when he couldn’t hold it - upset tummy, in the crate too long without a bathroom break, etc.
If you’re taking him out frequently, he should be going outside. But if he’s running around and playing, he’ll need to go to the bathroom again even if he just went out. If the crate is too big and you don’t have a divider, put something large in it to block the other half of the crate. Do you know what kind of dog he is? Usually you can have a general idea of how big the dog is going to get if you know what his parents were like, but if it’s a rescue and the parents are unknown it can be hard to judge!
I’d try to make a guestimate off the information you already know about your puppy, and get a crate based on that. It never hurts to go a size bigger because eventually he will be allowed to lounge in his crate. I still crate my dogs even after they are housebroken. Their crates are larger than what is suggested for their size because I like for them to have room to stretch out. Midwest iCrates are what I have always used, and they all come with a divider. We used the divider for Helo after he had a couple of accidents in his crate, and it was very effective!
May
What items do you keep in your dog's crate?
All I keep is a crate mat and the original little blanket that the breeder made, that smelled like his family. On occasion, depending on how long we’ll be gone, I used to throw bones or a squeaky toy in it. But it always makes me nervous that if something happens, I wont be there for it.
I totally agree, especially with that last statement. Dogs can choke on toys or bones, and I’ve always been too afraid to leave anything with them if I’m not going to be home to know. I don’t even put blankets or beds in their crates. I used to keep crate mats in them, for a bit of comfort, but they end up getting chewed to pieces and even that can be a hazard!
I have a relative whose Toy Poodle once ate a blanket, and from what I heard, he had to have surgery to get the blanket removed. You have to imagine what it’s like to have your body trying to digest a blanket. Can’t be good for the intestines! You would think a dog would know not to eat a blanket, or to at least throw it up, but sometimes this is just out of our control.
May
What items do you keep in your dog’s crate?
I’ve decided to start asking my followers questions on various topics, for which we can elaborate on the different views and opinions of others. After all, I did say my blog was opinionated! So let’s get some other point of views! What items do you keep in your dog’s crate?
May
Tie-Down Indoors vs. Crating
I had read about tie-downs on a Humane Society website. Apparently it’s like the indoor version of a tie-out. Since I’ve stopped crating in the last 3-4 months, I decided to try this method of containment after Helo’s surgery. He’s supposed to have limited activity for up to fourteen days. So for two weeks I’m supposed to keep him from jumping, running, and playing. I was initially going to bring in one of the crates to use during Helo’s healing process, but since I’m home all of the time to monitor him, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to put him on “tie-down” just until he has healed from surgery.
So for the last week he has either been tethered to me, or tethered in the dining room (particularly at night, as I have been crashing on the living room sofa for the last week and a half due to my cold). Helo started off with flying colors. At night, when he would be confined to the dining room, he would lay down and sleep through the night. But you try keeping a six month old puppy from his normal activity, and he’s going to build up a lot of energy and become restless. Going on the second week, Helo has started misbehaving at night. Normally I’m a heavy sleeper, but I seem to have an ear open at night and have been waking up to his antics in time to rush over and correct the behavior.
First off, he has started jumping up on the dining room table. He has pulled down and shredded countless envelops (thankfully I managed to save the bills). I’m not even sure how he managed to reach them, as I had pushed everything to the opposite side of the table specifically to discourage table surfing. It’s less interesting when there’s nothing to get into, right?
So then he decides to pick a fight with the Swiffer wet jet. He tears the wrapper off of the bottle that holds the cleaning solution (fortunately he didn’t puncture the bottle), and he also pulled off of the pad from the bottom of the Swiffer. He has done this not once, but twice so far! What did that Swiffer ever do to him!?
I think a tie-down indoors is good for some circumstances. For example, when you get a new puppy, many books suggest keeping the puppy on a leash and often tying it to yourself so you can monitor his behavior inside the house (this is supposed to help prevent accidents and bad behavior). Although I’m against tie-outs (namely because people often tie their dogs outside and leave them there, unsupervised and isolated from the family), I decided to give this “tie-down” idea a try. I’m always open to trying new methods, as long as they are humane.
Many people would say tying your dog up is inhumane, but I think in this circumstance, it’s acceptable. In no way does it harm the dog, and he is under supervision the entire time (although night time is questionable when I put him in the dining room, since that’s when I’m trying to sleep). However, it’s not like I’ve tied him outside and abandoned him. That, in my opinion, is not appropriate and should never be allowed. Dogs don’t want to be left in the backyard on a chain or tie-out.
And yeah, I’m sure Helo doesn’t want to be tied up inside the house either, but it’s only until he recovers from surgery and can go back to normal behavior. If I don’t confine him somehow, he would be running around and playing with Sam and Motley (which they have done a few times since his surgery when he was having time off of the leash like during bathroom breaks and feeding time).
The problem is, he’s as six month old puppy who is used to regular activity - constant running, playing, rough housing, and going out frequently (in the yard, to the beach, and to the dog park). When you take that away for two weeks straight, of course he’s going to become restless! That’s usually the number one reason why puppies become destructive in the first place. They aren’t getting enough stimulation and exercise.
This experience has really shown me why crates are so important. I stopped using crates about 3-4 months ago since I’m always home to watch the dogs now. However, I would rather crate a dog than tie him up indoors. I think a tie-down could be used in good ways (such as teaching a dog to lay calmly inside the house, an example listed by the humane society), but ultimately I’ve decided crating is a lot more effective. Not to mention safer, if you get some idiot who doesn’t watch their dog. I’ve seen a lot of footage of dogs being chained inside houses, and just left there. Sometimes for days with little or no interaction with people.
Despite my recent practice with the tie-down method, I do not support that kind of bad ownership. Never leave your dogs tied up and unsupervised, indoors or out! Dogs are pack animals and want to be with the family. At least Helo has been able to interact with his human and canine family members during this new experience, and I’ve tried to make it as pleasant as possible by providing toys to play with and bones to chew on since he hasn’t been allowed to play with his canine sisters.
I think from now on, however, I will just go back to crating whenever I need to confine or limit their activity for medical reasons. Overall, I think it’s just a lot safer and doesn’t require constant attention like tie-downs.
May
Dog Crates are NOT Cruel
Many people seem to have something against dog crates. Sure, I agree that dogs shouldn’t spend their lives locked in cages. However, using a crate doesn’t mean the dog is being locked up inhumanely, or mistreated. As long as the dog isn’t locked in the crate all day, with no interaction, exercise, play, training, or time outside of the crate, it is perfectly okay to crate them. I don’t think it’s cruel at all to crate a dog whenever you leave the house, whether you’ve gone to run some quick errands or had to go to work.
Crating is for the dog’s safety, but it is definitely something that shouldn’t be taken advantage of. Some people put their dogs in crates and just leave them there. This is improper use of a dog crate! Even with well behaved dogs, crating can protect them. My Aussie, for example, is very well mannered. However, she destroyed my cell phone today. She literally picked up off of the coffee table and chewed it to pieces! Something she has never done in the past (she doesn’t even chew her own toys).
Some dogs have been known to get into the trash and eat things that could potentially be harmful to them. As a child, my parent’s had a Rat Terrier who would get on the coffee table when we weren’t home, and she would take Hershey’s kisses out of the candy jar. She would literally lay under the dining room table and unwrap the Hershey kisses. That dog ate so much chocolate, it was a wonder she never got sick!
As an adult now, my household is very dog-proof and I’m extremely strict with the canine rules around here. No jumping on the furniture and no table scraps. But when I’m not home, I know Sammy likes to lay on the couch, Motley likes to drink out of the toilet, and Helo likes to surf the counter tops. Dogs will be dogs. They will follow their noses! I just can’t imagine what my house is like whenever I leave all three unsupervised.
People can try to tell me that I’m a cruel pet owner because I crate my dogs (which I haven’t in a very long time since I work from home). But I’m going to start doing it again soon, especially when I get a new part-time job. I am a supporter of dog crates, if used appropriately, and I’m not afraid to admit it!
Feb
Started Urinating in the House
I haven’t posted in awhile! Sorry guys! My mind has been focused on other things. Recently Helo has started urinating in the house. We’ve had him for almost three months and during the last two months there has not been a single accident. I was proud of this. It’s not difficult to housebreak a puppy as long as you take him out frequently… Well nothing has changed with his potty routine. I take him out as often as possible, and even sooner when he plays or naps. Despite this, he has peed in the house three times in two days. Yesterday I figured he must have not fully emptied his bladder, so today I made sure he did. Sure enough, he went out and peed (he still squats like a girl). Then he came back up to the porch to be let inside. I didn’t let him in - instead I looked at him. A moment later, he ran back off of the porch and peed (this time, longer). Then I let him inside.
I always take him out right after he naps (even if it’s a short nap), and sometimes I’ll interrupt his playtime with the other dogs for a potty break. Then again immediately after play time. When he’s not playing or sleeping, I take him out at least every thirty minutes (which is a lot considering he should be able to hold it at least two hours). Despite all this, he walks over to the television and squats. Thank God he isn’t cocking his leg yet…
Anyway, if this keeps up I don’t know what I’ll do. I take him out more than enough every day based on his activity and how much he eats or drinks. I crate him when I’m not home, sleeping, or cannot supervise him. He has gotten a lot better in his crate and will walk into it willingly to nap. He has become increasingly vocal, but not for being confined to his crate - it’s just a pointer thing! The only time he barks in his crate is when I get home from running errands or when he has to go to the bathroom (usually in the morning when he’s been holding it for several hours).
What are some tips I may not be utilizing to prevent anymore peeing in the house? I’m already taking him out as frequently as possible, and sometimes I leash him so he stays where I can monitor him. Whenever he starts sniffing around, I take him out just to be on the safe side. He knows what “go potty” means, and I praise him a lot when he goes to the bathroom outside. When he peed in the house today and yesterday, I immediately grabbed him and put him outside so he could do his business while I tried to get the urine out of my carpet. I don’t want my carpet to start smelling. It’s times like this when I wish I had hardwood or laminate flooring.
What are some carpet cleaning solutions you guys have for dog urine? We have a Rug Doctor and I’ve been using Simple Solution carpet shampoo… I’ve heard amazing things about both Simple Solution and Nature’s Miracle, but never really paid any attention to the details since it’s not often I have to worry about dogs peeing on my floors. I’ve had Simple Solution sitting around in case Sam or Motley vomit on the floor. Sammy has a sensitive stomach and used to throw up a lot before I switched her diet, and Motley sometimes struggles with random submissive urination (we’ve managed to come up with techniques to prevent accidents and if we think she’s going to submissively urinate, we make sure she’s on the laminate flooring in the kitchen, dining room, or front door walkway.
Jan
Three Weeks Later…
We brought our pointer puppy home on January 4, 2012. Over the course of the last three weeks we managed to accomplish a lot.
- Introducing Helo to the crate was easy, but leaving him in it was the hard part. He whined all night, even despite our efforts to try different techniques to help him through the process. After two weeks, he finally decided to accept being left in his crate. From time to time he still whines a little, but usually because he’s trying to tell us that he’s hungry, thirsty, bored, or has to go potty.
- Potty training has been a huge success. He is now eleven weeks old and still hasn’t had an accident in the house. I believe this is partly because he’s under constant supervision when running around in the house with our other dogs, and whenever it’s time to settle down I put him on a leash so that he stays in sight. I started off with taking him outside every 20-30 minutes, and gradually increased his wait period and now take him out usually every 2 hours. If he’s been playing a lot, I take him out more frequently.
- He seems to be growing very attached to me and is eager to please. So far he has learned how to sit, come here, lay down, off, wait, stay, and is released with the “okay” command. I don’t spend as much time as I should be with training, but enough to teach him the basic commands and enforce them on a daily basis. He’s also working on his manners as far as jumping, pulling, and biting goes. The jumping is minor for now, but we’re nipping it in the butt immediately so that it doesn’t evolve into a horrible habit later on. He’s going to be a big boy and we don’t want him knocking people down! The play biting is also going pretty well. He is learning not to teeth on human appendages, slowly but surely! He is learning what objects are appropriate to chew on.
- We haven’t practiced very much loose leash walking. He spends quit a bit of time on a leash and whenever I do walk around with him, I correct his pulling by using the most common techniques. I think I’ll start teaching him the heel command. This would probably help tremendously with loose leash walking. If we can get him to learn how to walk beside me on command, we might not ever have to resort to training tools like the Gentle Leader or prong collar. I’m not opposed to using these tools because I use prong collars with my other dogs, but it’s an interesting goal to have. Think it’ll work?
- Helo has gotten his first set of DHPP. The people that have his mother said that each puppy in the litter had gotten their first set of shots, had their dewclaws removed, and their tails docked. The physical attributes are obvious but I never received any vet records regarding the shots, so just to be safe he got a set of DHPP on January 14. He’s due for his next set on February 4, and then we’ll be able to take him on walks. I’m eager to take him to the beach, and the bark park!
Overall Helo has been an amazing puppy. I feel so fortunate to have these incredible dogs in my life. Sammy was already well mannered when she came into my life. She understood a few basic commands, but learned new tricks very easily. She was housebroken and had always been trusted off leash, so her recall is really good. Motley, too, was well taken care of in her previous household.
When I adopted her at nine months old, I hardly had an issue with jumping or pulling, and her energy was not at all overwhelming like you would have imagined. She knew some basic commands like sit, but took to training like it was second nature. The only problem we had with Motley was the housebreaking. She was used to letting herself out via doggy door whenever she desired, but in my house she had to get used to being let out whenever I allowed it. She still has accidents from time to time. Submissive urination doesn’t exactly help, but overall my dogs have been the most amazing companions.
I’m so fortunate that my dogs get a long well with each other, and even other dogs. They love to go to the park (almost as much as I do), or anywhere they can run around with other dogs. Training seems to come so easily with my dogs, and they each seem willing and content to listen to me. They have just the right amount of affection and loyalty, and bring such an incredible amount of happiness to my life.
