Exercise Pen and more

Shiro's exercise pen is here!
It's Midwest, 30in high with a door, black coated. We put it in the corner where his cage is. This thing is huge! Good thing you can fold it as much as you want. We don't even use the door, just open one of the panels. I don't think he feels confined in there, but I don't really know what he's doing there by himself. Those 2 times I left him i there he stayed in his cage! Either he doesn't know he can play there with his toys or just bored. Also there's a pillow in the cage, must be really soft.
We're learning to walk beside me and not jump on people and dogs. He's a very very smart dog and it only takes him a couple days to pick up visual clues, but when he gets excited it's very hard to contain him.
It's hard to do when the person he jumps on doesn't mind. Now every time I walk him and somebody wants to say hello I have to speed-train them not to let him jump. Like "I'm trying to teach him greet politely, could you please step towards him if he jumps on you and not give him any affection until he sists down". Gets tiring, but that's the only way.
With dogs it's different. I have him sit down and watch me when a dog goes by and sometime it works. But if the other dog is excited or if he gets bored of the treats it doesn't work. No amount of blocking and trying to walk away helps. He just stands up on his hind legs and it's harder to keep him down. I'm going to switch to a higher value treats like hotdogs or chicken.
Part of this problem is my fault because we tried to socialize him wit everyone when he was a pup. We let him greet friendly dogs and people and it wasn't a big deal when was excited.
It's weird, but he's actually a lot better off leash. He always reacts to my commands and comes to me happily when I call his name. I only let him free in fenced areas though, don't want to take the chance.

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Comment by Beauty and the Beast on October 26, 2009 at 7:32am: Yes, Shiro's exactly the same as Jack! I finally got him to sit down for a second before entering the dog park, but walking is a nightmare! He doesn't get to meet a dog unless he's calm which is rare. It's a lot easier if we're jogging, he does't have much time to take a good look at the dog.

Comment by Beth on October 23, 2009 at 7:39pm: I love my ex pen! If you need to leave a dog confined for a few hours, they can still have some toys and water and a little room to stretch. I dog that is used to being confined to a pen can also be put there if it's ill, or post-surgery, or if you are having work done around the house.

We have the same issue with Jack and other dogs, and for the same reason. We socialized him by introducing him to just about every dog he met, and now he thinks he will still get to meet every dog. I finally have him to the point that if the other dog ignores him, he'll pay attention to me. But if the other dog clearly wants to play too, forget it! Walking past a friendly dog was the single hardest thing we had to work on for CGC, and it was really hit or miss whether we'd pass on that one task. The upside, though, is that Jack is pretty bomb-proof with other dogs, even rude or not-so-friendly ones.

Comment by christy fry on October 23, 2009 at 3:37pm: I have a grey plastic play pen that I just love for the corgi's they can be out front with me while yardwork is getting done and it cleans easliy and now currently is allowing Teagen a little more space also while we're gone =)

Comment by Jane Christensen on October 23, 2009 at 9:04am: I love my exercise pen! I wouldn't give it up for anything as I use it for pups when I have them and right now it is spread across my large entry to my living room...saves on vacuuming!