To Leave Inside?
I was thinking that it might be time to give the corgis access to the inside world during the day when I am at my internship and school. They normally are outside in the balcony area with their outside toys, dog house, water, etc., but I have been getting complaints that they have been barking while I've been gone during the day. Which is funny, because they never bark when I'm home so I have not witnessed this behavior....
Anyway, I would like to ask for advice on what to do with having a dog (well, two dogs) stay on her (their) own indoors during the day. The balcony leads into my bedroom and I could theoretically close that door to restrict their access to the rest of the apartment. All of their toys are in their toybox in the bedroom anyway, so that wouldn't change location. Twinkie isn't a chewer, but Luna is potentially back in that stage (can they regress?). Please, any advice is helpful - I plan on starting tomorrow (Monday).
Thank you.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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I would say yes...let them stay in:) keep cords and other important stuff up or is Luna used to being crated? I think Sage is better and more comfortable in a crate...
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Permalink Reply by Krystle (Luna & Twinkie!) on
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Luna and Twinkie are regularly crated at night and for brief periods of time if I'm going to be leaving for only a few hours, but I've never left them in there for more than 3 hours. Tomorrow I will be gone for 5 hours, but Tuesdays and Wednesdays are longer days. I have left them in the kitchen on rainy days for around 7 hours - and they made no mess.... Would they be fine if crated instead during this time? Does Sage have anything in his crate to occupy him or is it just bedding?
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I crate Sage in a huge lab size crate with a blanket, a couple toys and a bit of water...she just seems more content...she has chewed a few thing when left out but I have better luck in my kitchen as there aren't cords/shoes or as many items on the floor for her to find.
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Permalink Reply by Chris West on
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We normally leave Frosty with access to the kitchen and living room while I am at work (leave 7:30am, home by 5:30pm). We don't have any trouble with going potty inside, but he does occassionally go through stages where he feels the need to be destructive. When he gets this way we crate him for a couple months. He doesn't seem to mind being in the crate or being left out. It has been my experience that he just sleeps all day while we are gone whether we leave him out or crate him. If you are concerned at all that there may be chewing, I would recommend crating. Especially if they are used to it at night, I'm sure they would just sleep all day. If you do decide to leave them out, what has worked best for me is making sure everything Frosty could destroy (especially shoes) are picked up and behind closed doors, I try to remember to leave on the radio or TV, and I always give him a long-time chew bone of some kind (usually a large braided bully stick) to keep him busy (even though he usually just stuffs it into the couch and sleeps on top of it all day lol).
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Permalink Reply by Potus on
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I don't know how safe it would be to have indoor and outdoor access without a doggy door- someone may be able to gain access into the house. However, Potus is always left inside when we're out. He initially was confined to one dog proofed room (in our case the kitchen) and was a chewer- the biggest damage he did was ripping the lino floor up. He is 3 now (just last week!) and has free reign in all the living areas of our house, the bedrooms are closed off because they're not dog proofed- Potus will still chew shoes if he gets the chance. Perhaps you can leave them entirely inside?
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We do have a doggy door, but Twinkie is still learning how to use it. She's still unsure how to. Luna was taught by a neighbor dog, because they had one and I just had to re-tap that knowledge when we installed ours. She uses it just fine. I leave the girls in the kitchen when it's rainy and they've been fine in there, but .... this is just a new area for me so I'm unsure how to proceed.
With Potus inside - does he hold his bathroom breaks until you get home or does he have access to a potty area?
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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I leave Franklin inside all day while at school/internship. He does fine. Yesterday he had to stay home alone for 10 hours (not ideal, but he lived lol). He has never chewed anything or gotten himself into trouble. He has access to the balcony through a dog door but NEVER uses it, and won't go potty unless on command (SUPER ANNOYING by the way). So he will hold it for 10 hours if I end up having a long day and can't find anybody to walk him.
As a neighbor of an incessantly barking dog, I have to say IT IS SOOOOOOOOOO ANNOYING! If it has gotten to the point where your neighbors have approached you, remember that probably means they do it A LOT. Many people (myself included) won't say anything until it just goes on forever. My neighbor's dog never barks when they are home and it is inside with them, but when they are gone, I can't even go outside without it going CRAZY and it barks at any and every sound. It gets VERY annoying. So I"m thinking it'd probably be a good idea to keep them inside before you get into trouble with management (if you rent) or start ruining relationships with your neighbors.
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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The kitchen has worked for you before, so I would stay with the kitchen. It is less confining than a crate and the to dogs can be together. I would leave some noise on low in the house, like TV on a PBS station, or radio. On weekends, or days when you don't have to be gone a long time, I would experiment with other situations, like the bedroom, or more freedom, starting with just one hour. Don't make a big deal about leaving or returning, let it become part of their normal routine. If you leave them with access to the balcony, they may still go out and bark.
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Permalink Reply by Laura Rochette on
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Dog-proof their environment. Have you thought of trying the ex pen? My Lucy is a chewer so I wanted to control the area of my apartment she had access to; when she got a little bigger (now 6 mos. about 15 lbs) I graduated her from crate to the ex pen which is where she spends her day. Because we are still working on housetraining, the longest gap of time I leave her right now is 6 hours, though mostly it is 4-5 hours. Fortunately, where I live and my daily schedule allow this. If my schedule is such that I cannot get home to take her out, which is the case on most Fridays, I bring her to doggy day care (which she loves and is pretty convenient to where I live).
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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I agree if you have received any complaints about barking then your dogs are bothering the neighbors. Time to bring them in, corgi proof or crate and give them Kongs with cheese smeared inside when you leave. I also leave a radio going to keep the noises from outside from inspiring them to bark.
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Thank you all for your great advice. I think I'm going to go with the kitchen approach and leave a radio on as suggested. I hope in the future to just crate them, but for now I don't want to restrict their movement too much. I do not want to annoy my neighbors and hope that this solution is one that will work.
I believe that Twinkie is the barker - and I suspect Luna joins in after she gets going. She still startles easily and I can only guess at what it is outside that is getting her started. I like the suggestion that the radio may distract them from any outside distractions.
Any more advice is more than welcome.
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You could still also leave the crate open in the kitchen...I have several that love to hang out in their crates with the doors open.
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