Crate/Kennel question...
The last few nights it seems that Isabella is getting better with the idea of bedtime. Last night she didn't make a peep when I put her to bed and she slept about 6.5 hours straight. Yay! At that time, my husband heard her playing and pouncing about...no whining or barking. I got up and was pleased to see that she hadn't had any accidents. I took her out, she pottied but then would NOT go back to sleep. She whined off and on for an hour and then it was time to get up...Still, it feels like we are making some progress.
My question is this...am I defeating the whole crate training if I don't close the door? Her crate is in a half-bath, small area. She stays in there during the day when we are at work and gets let out to play at lunchtime. I want her to be able to move around during the day. The first few nights were miserable with the whining, crying and barking. This was during the time that we were at home all day with her. She had access to her crate in the living room but never got in it during the day - she was put in at night. Now that she is in the half bath with her crate door open during the day, I've just continued that practice at bedtime. By leaving the crate door open like I do during the day she has been much better. Could be coincidnece that she's just getting used to being in there, but should I ease back in to closing the crate door at night? She will sometimes go in the crate and curl up at bedtime or when I leave for work, but I don't really know how long she stays in there...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Karen Dadisman on
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I don't think it hurts to have them trained to stay in the crate without fussing with the dog closed. If you travel or just visit friends or relatives, they might have to stay in their crates with the door closed at night. Also if they end up at an overnight stay at a vet, they might do better if they are used to being in a crate with the door shut. It's just good that they feel comfortable in their crates and know you will let them out. Rosie sleeps in her's lots of the time with the door open. She is three and a half. We don't shut her in it at night anymore. Rocky, almost three years old, never slept in his except when we put him there and shut the door. He doesn't fuss with the door shut but just doesn't go in unless he is told to go. I finally put his away. We take both crates when we go to GA for a couple of months and they both sleep in them at night and when we aren't in the house we rent there. We just don't want them doing any damage to a rented place or getting into something we didn't know was there. We don't leave them in motel rooms alone so that's not a problem.
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Permalink Reply by Molly and Isabella on
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Thanks, Karen. I'm hoping when she is older we won't need to close her in anymore. I figured getting her used to the crate door being closed now could come in handy down the road...
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Permalink Reply by Julia on
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Are you absolutely, positively sure there is nothing she could ingest or damage in this room? Could a bottle possibly fall onto the floor? Is the floor tile or linoleum? I just commented on Theresa's blog about Lilli eating the laundry room floor. That was the same situation: the crate was in the laundry room, I started leaving her crate door open. She peeled off the top clear layer of the floor. If she is still a pup, still not totally completely potty trained, not totally completely out of puppy behaviors, or if there are ANY consumables (to a dog) in the bathroom, I'd close that door for now.
If she's OK in the daytime, though, nightime should be OK. She may, however whine just cuz she knows you're there in the next room trying to sleep without her.
Now that Lilli's grown up, I only close the crate door in the car. She's a good girl now :)
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It is the absolute safest place in the house! It is a half bath off the laundry room that has a door that closes off from the laundry. There is nothing in there other than a toilet, sink and towel! Oh, and some hand soap on the sink. No way she can get that unless she sprouts wings! There is nothing she can get into or nothing that can fall. Totally tiled. The first few nights I did put the toilet paper up, just in case, but have left it since and she hasn't bothered with it at all
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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HI MJB! To answer your question, YES and NO.
YES - if you are not at home to supervise Isabella when the crate door is OPEN. That will discourage her from holding and pushes her to eliminate far away from her sleeping area.
NO - If you ARE at home to supervise Isabella when the crate door is OPEN. This will reinforce the crate as a happy shelter and she will not associate it with separation.
The best thing to do is adjust the crate so that she only have space to turn around inside, close the door when you cannot supervise her. By 9 months her kidney and bladder will be fully developed and only then she will be able to hold 8 hours physically. Due to the teenage hormone fluctuation, most dogs are not fully trained (reliable with NO accident) until the age of 1-2. Check out the answers here and read the FAQ.
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Thanks, Sam! When we are home the crate is out in the open, door open, and she is free to come and go. When we are not home the crate is in a small, safe area. I think you are saying it would be better to close her in the crate when we are at work, even though she is in a safe place and can have the freedom to move around a bit? The fact that I'm doing that is allowing her to eliminate (away from the crate) before I can take her out. We leave for work at 7:30 and someone always goes home at noon for about an hour. Then, someone is home by 5...So, survey says leave her in the crate with the door closed while we are gone, right? I can say that she has peed on the floor outside of her crate before lunchtime, but not usually after...as that's a bit shorter stretch.
A little update...Last night she stayed awake better after work and had tons of fun playing before bedtime. I took her to her crate at 10pm, put some treats in and closed the door. She whimpered for maybe 2-3 minutes, and that's it! What progress! Even though the house was quiet, I didn't sleep well because I kept expecting to hear her! 5am rolls around and still, nothing! I got up to take her outside. Success! Her crate was clean. I was so happy that I could take her out BEFORE she asked for it! This will be my routine now. I was surprised she went for 7 hours and felt guilty for making her wait that long!
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Permalink Reply by Wally, Jessica, and Olive on
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It won't take her long to get used to it, corgis are pretty fantastic! We crate the same way with Olive, though at 10mths she has full reign of the crate. Her crate is next to our bed though, so we all had to learn how to not disturb and respect the other, iow we wouldn't just lay there and chat where she could hear us, and she won't wimper now until we roll out of bed. We did the whole partial crate that Sam suggested and it kept her from voiding while we were away inside her crate. She now stays there when we're gone, although we're trying to house break her a few hours at a time. We're up to 3hrs so far in the house by herself with no issues! I'd wait till her bladder was fully developed though, because we made the mistake of leaving her by herself for too long when she was young... poor thing tore up the linoleum out of frustration and fear! Good luck, Isabella is a cutie!
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