This really sounds like a stupid question... but what do you do with your corgi at home?? Our baby Bandit is almost 4 months old and he's now super playful and energetic. We feel bad that he's home alone in his crate all day, so we make every effort to play with him whenever we are home. If time permits, my boyfriend walks him for about 15 minutes during lunch, and we always walk him every night for about 30 minutes after we come home. We also play with him and train him for about 2 - 3 hours total. The thing is, he would whine whenever we put him in the crate because we don't want him wandering around unsupervised when we are eating or doing things around the apartment. I feel bad because it feels like we are not paying enough attention to him or playing enough with him.

He has so many toys such as plushies, squeakies, balls, the Busy Buddy interactive toys, rope toys, nylabone, hooves and bones to chew on. We have been rotating them so he doesnt get bored. We also have a cat that he likes to chase after. He learned to play fetch recently so we are doing that alot. We chase him and he FRAPS around the apartment. The only thing that he hasn't done yet is going to the dog park because he hasn't gotten all the shots yet.

So here are my questions - Is there anything else we can do/play with him? Is 2 - 3 hours of play time and training time enough? Any suggestions are welcome!! Thanks in advanced!

Views: 179

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

We used to leave Dee Dee in her crate all day while we were at work (for about 8 hrs) until she was about 11 months old. She didn't seem to mind, but we always had a routine. We tell her to crate up, and once she goes in, we give her a kong with milkbone in it. We tell her to wait, and as we leave, we release the wait command, and she goes at it! By the time she gets the cookie out & finish eating, we are long gone. After that, she seemed fine staying in the crate, and slept most of the time. She was happy to crate up since she usually got a some sort of treats when she went in. Eventually, we used a babygate to expand her areas, and after about 14 months, she was free to roam around.

Now Dee Dee is 8 1/2 yrs, and we know she sleeps most of the time while we are at work. When we come home early, we catch her on the bed snoozing... :) I guess she usually moves closer to the door when the time gets closer for us to come home.

Anyhow, you seem like you are doing great. Remember, it does take time for your dog to learn what's ok, and what's not. Like Bear's owner said, if you always play when you are home, your dog will expect to play all the time. Just like kids, they need time out. Don't worry. As long as you love them, they will always love you whether in crate or out. Crate should be the happy & comfortable place for your dog to go. No need to feel guilty! :) Good luck!
Wow I feel you on this. I too find myself feeling guilty leaving Ceiro in his crate all day. I do come home at least once a day and let him out during work, but still, between night time and work time I always find myself feeling guilty he is in there so long. But as you said he has plenty of toys and gets lots of attention. I also have friends over a few times a week and that gives him someone new to play with and even more attention!

I am very glad to read some of the posts here.I feel better about what I am doing. I do play with him but I also try to let him be his own guy and occupy himself some.
I'm home alot. So we do walks and play. Max goes in his crate if I'm cleaning. When my hubby comes home he and Max play catch with the ball and laser light tag. Max loves that it's really just an excuse to run back and forth and bark. Just before bed, we do brushing and snacks. Then it's tummy rubs and ear rubs. then Max tries to figure out how he can get us to let him sleep on the bed. So far we haven't let him but he still tries.
After we'd taught Gwynnie to fetch, do tricks, vacuum the house and update the computer, we finally had to get Al. We've always kept them crated when we weren't home, but after a recent local burglary, we experimented with leaving their crates open while we're gone (they don't bark at visitors/intruders when they're crated), and there have been no problems. Al was over 2 y.o. when we tried this, Gwynnie 5 1/2. This does assume a corgi-proofed house -- like, NO food waste in accessible garbage, always cut the bottoms off of potato-chip bags etc. You have to be extremely scrupulous about keeping food and empty food containers utterly inaccessible.
Ok I too live in an apartment. I don't crate Caesar instead I have a set up where he has the patio to play (with a puppy pad for his needs) and the crate stays inside with the sliding door blocking access to the house so he has a nice area... you might want to try that if your neighborhood is safe enough. Now Caesar's trainer gave me the idea to get a remote control toy (Caesar has a mouse because he's still too little to eat it) so he can herd it around. Works like a charm!!!! He will chase it, corner it, the whole shebang. He LOVES it!
When Gwynnie was a puppy, we encountered a boy with a radio-controlled car. The puppy had never seen such a thing, and the kid knew exactly how to use it: leave the car still until the puppy finally gets up the nerve to approach it... closer... closer... close enough to sniff... and then lurch the car suddenly for three inches, and watch the puppy jump five feet straight up! Oh they had fun.
And someday some geek with a dog or cat is going to invent and market robotic pet toys programmed to behave in unpredictable ways so that the animals won't get tired of them (probably have already). If the robots ever get advanced enough to give pets, belly rubs, treats, and make bad smells, they might take over....

RSS

Rescue Store

Stay Connected

 

FDA Recall

Canadian Food Inspection Agency Recall

We support...

Badge

Loading…

© 2024   Created by Sam Tsang.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report a boo boo  |  Terms of Service