Home alone and uncrated for the first time.
My husband and I were recently on a special 10 yr anniversary vacation to Cozumel, Mexico for 8 days and my mother was kind enough to watch both of our dogs while we were away (Philo/dachshund/5yrs & Ein/Corgi/9months). Normally she doesn't work right now, cause she's a teacher and school's out, but there were mandatory classes she had to take. Philo is perfectly happy to lay around all day and never gets into anything, but I told her that it was best to take Ein to doggy daycare (where I have a punch card) the first day of class and to crate her the 2nd day. Ein does really well with being crated especially since I've been crating her since she was crate trained at 10 weeks and is less than 20 lbs and has her large 36" crate to move around in. Yet for some reason my mother hated the idea of crating her all day, and decided to let her roam free with philo that 2nd day in a gated portion of her house that gave them access to the doggy door and her large backyard. To my surprise, Ein was a perfect little girl and didn't disrupt anything or get into anything she shouldn't have. Being only 9 months old and full of smarts and energy I would have guessed she'd get into something just to amuse herself. What a wonderful surprise!
So now that I know she's capable, I gave her a little test drive here at home. When my husband and I went to the gym this evening we decided to leave her uncrated while we were gone for just over an hour. I made sure to pick up around the area the dogs were gated in to, and I scattered her toys around so she'd find plenty of things to play with. When I got home everything was still in place, no accidents in the house, and even her toys were barely touched. She must have just slept the whole time, cause she did go to doggy day care today.
I'm certainly not as bold as my mom and won't be leaving her home alone all day yet. I know how smart and active she is, and dogs like that find interesting ways to amuse themselves, but I am more confident in her training and am willing to continue giving her little test runs like this evenings. I was sure it would be at least another 6 months or so before she would be ready to be left uncrated, but apparently I underestimated her.
Good job Ein. I'm so proud of my baby girl!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ellen Andersen on
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What a good girl! She's adorable, by the way.
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Permalink Reply by Tina, Bentley & Brodi's Page on
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Good job Ein, we also are leaving your Brodi girl out of her crate "we call it the TRUST test" so far so good, but never all day!!
Ein is an adorable Corgi girl!!
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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Glad things are working out so well for you and the dogs.
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Permalink Reply by Mal Schaal on
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Yay!
Love the pic
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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Happy Anniversary! Sounds like you are being cautious and letting Ein learn to have more freedom. Good job Ein!
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Permalink Reply by steve smith on
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What a good picture of the both of you.
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Permalink Reply by Zigward & Kimberly on
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Awhh she's so cuuuuuuuute haha.. I'm nervous about crate training haha.. I don't think it will be too bad though because I'm pretty sure that crate time will be food time. That way they get used to it and when my fiancé and I finally wind up with children, at least there is NO risk of them getting attacked over food, and the dogs will get to eat in peace.. Tell Ein that she's a great doggy for me-she's earned it!
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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on
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Do babyproof the house. Any hazard that might kill a toddler might kill a pet. Think, Venetian blinds, choking hazards, plastic bags (we nearly lost a dog who found a chip bag in a wastebasket while we were gone, and at least a couple people on MyCorgi HAVE lost a dog this way). Make sure all food garbage is out-of-reach. Think about what the cat might knock off the countertop. Watch before you trust.
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