I think I might have made a crating mstake

Kittylove5 · Post by **Kittylove5** » Tue May 26, 2009 8:34 pm

The breeder that had Jasmine told me she should be perfectly fine in a Crate because that's where she was raised to help create her den and safehouse. When I brought her home she had no problem walking in and out or even sleeping in her crate but now when I place her toy or treats in her crate she hesitates, she doesn't want in anymore. I want her to feel like she can go in and out as much as she pleases but I think she's afriad of being locked in.

She stays in her crate for 4 hours, my brother checks on her and takes her potty during those hours and she has seperation Anxiety issues as well when in a crate she cries for 15+ minutes then is silent for a few minutes, this is hard on me because I want to sleep at night and I cannot if she's screaming, whimpering and fussing. She makes a big mess in her crate when I leave her bowls down, kibble spilled everywhere and water all over her blanket from her freaking out and knocking everything around this is while I'm at work. I don't keep her bowl in her crate while sleeping but she still whines so I given up and brought out her large puppy bed and laid it next to my bed so she can sleep next to me and keep quiet but then I have to worry about messes when I wake up.

Sorry if my post seems a bit scattered but this is one of my main problems that I want to tackle while she's halfway through her housebreaking..

Fundog · Post by **Fundog** » Tue May 26, 2009 9:12 pm

Okay, try this: don't leave her food in with her during the day either. Instead, ask your brother if he can give her one of her meals when he comes in to check on her and take her potty. Also, try getting one of those drip bottles designed for rabbit and hamster cages, so she can just lick the tip to get a drink, and it won't spill all over. This is handy too, because it makes it a lot easier to give her a drink on walks and trips-- via a sports bottle.

horsefreak88 · Post by **horsefreak88** » Wed May 27, 2009 6:59 am

You can also get bowls that attach to the crate so your pup can't spill them. I keep one for Annie's water and one for when I need to feed her in her crate.

How long have you had your pup? The first couple of nights we had Annie I got no sleep whatsoever. I finally discovered that if I sat or laid down next to her crate when I put her in for the night until she fell asleep (didn't take long) did the trick. It started out in desperation of not having gotten any sleep in two nights. I quickly realized by just being there (not saying anything) she would quickly settle down and then I could crawl into bed myself. It only took a couple of nights of doing this before she would settle down all on her own.

Cracker · Post by **Cracker** » Wed May 27, 2009 7:39 am

I agree as well with not leaving her food bowls in the crate. Split into three meals, she gets twenty minutes to eat and then the bowl is removed. She will learn quickly to eat her fill.

I would also make sure (at least in the beginning) that the crate be in the bedroom next to the bed if possible. The problem is probably not just the crate but that the crate means ISOLATION. This is a puppy that just a little while ago had her mum and her littermates for company. Suddenly, she is in a strange place, in a new crate and left totally alone. This also makes it easy for you to learn when she needs to go out in the early morning.

Fifteen minutes of crying is not that bad. This is a puppy, an infant and she needs to know she is safe. This phase does not last long and within a couple of weeks you can move the crate out of the room if you like.

If you are concerned about SA, make the coming out of the crate calm and quiet, no coming home and "where's the puppy! There she is !! "squeeze, kiss, play etc. Arrivals and departures need to be calm and unexciting. She should be calm before you open the crate door, take her immediately outside for pees and only get excited when she does her business and her treat is coming.

Kittylove5 · Post by **Kittylove5** » Wed May 27, 2009 12:48 pm

She's been with us for about two weeks now I beleive.

I cannot break her food up into three meals a day because she only eats like three kibble and then she runs and plays, comes back five minutes and eats a few more kibble, then goes back again and eats another three kibble.

Now this is another problem, when she does eat her food, she always picks one up and runs to another spot to eat where if she was in the cat bowl, she'd be a vaccum and completely try to demolish his food before I can pick her up.

Her "house" as the breeder would rather call it is near my bed far enough where she can see me laying down , she even fusses at me because she wants in the bed even if she's laying in hers looking up at me. I turn my head and ignore her fussing.

I also saw the hamster water bottle and thought of giving it a try but a lot of reviews said that they leak a lot. I'll see about the bowls that attatch to the crate/house

Baylee's Mom · Post by **Baylee's Mom** » Fri May 29, 2009 6:58 pm

My pup cried the first week, and my husband laid next to the crate each night just for moral support. He wouldn't let her out, but he would put his fingers in and let her know he was there. It was a very hard and sleepless week, but within a week she was sleeping through the night. She goes in her crate about 9pm and sleeps until 5:30am.

For food, I was told not to leave her food out for more than 20 minutes to get them on a schedule. I also flavored up her puppy chow with a little bit of apple and protein but its all mainly puppy chow (and a little water to moisten it just a little). She didn't eat very well the first week and now she gets very excited when her food comes. I was told that first week to just give her time to adjust and she did

Baylee's Mom · Post by **Baylee's Mom** » Fri May 29, 2009 7:00 pm

Btw, my pup also loves the cat food. I really just gave up for the most part but I remove the cat dish too after the cat is done.

Cracker · Post by **Cracker** » Fri May 29, 2009 8:37 pm

My cat food is up high so Cracker cannot eat it. Cat food is VERY tasty to dogs as it is much higher in meat content than dog food, being "true" carnivores cats need much more meat (and taurine)in their diet than dogs do. I finally ended up putting the cat food on top of the fish tank..lol.

Maybe your pup doesn't like her food much? I still would feed thrice daily and pick it up after fifteen minutes. She won't starve herself, it usually only takes a couple of days for them to get the hint that the food will be "leaving" if it's not eaten.

ckranz · Post by **ckranz** » Sat May 30, 2009 12:47 am

Kittylove5 wrote:She's been with us for about two weeks now I beleive.

I cannot break her food up into three meals a day because she only eats like three kibble and then she runs and plays, comes back five minutes and eats a few more kibble, then goes back again and eats another three kibble.

Now this is another problem, when she does eat her food, she always picks one up and runs to another spot to eat where if she was in the cat bowl, she'd be a vaccum and completely try to demolish his food before I can pick her up.

Her "house" as the breeder would rather call it is near my bed far enough where she can see me laying down , she even fusses at me because she wants in the bed even if she's laying in hers looking up at me. I turn my head and ignore her fussing.

I also saw the hamster water bottle and thought of giving it a try but a lot of reviews said that they leak a lot. I'll see about the bowls that attatch to the crate/house

Sounds like you have a rather young puppy. Exactly how old is she? What breed is she?

I would not leave food in her crate all day. Likewise at night, if she is quite young, middle of the night potty break will be needed to keep your place clean. With Apollo He would sleep no more than 4 hours and need to go out to pee.

Young pups also miss their mothers heartbeat and other such things. You can do 1 of 2 things which can help with that:
Wrap and old ticking clock in a blanket in her crate, or buy a CD of heartbeat based music for infants. My dogs like Canine Lullabies. This really does help them to relax quite a bit.

Breed matters on feeding as the smallest breeds cannot "skip" meals to the degree larger breed dogs can. Food quality also matters. It may be the food you are giving does not appear appetizing to your dog. Try mixing in some cottage cheese or sprinkle some parmesian cheese to help it smell more appealing. With canned food you can always warm it up in a sauce pan.

Another fun way to feed her would be through the use of Kongs. Pack a portion of her daily meal into 2 Kongs. Give one in the AM, One at lunch, and then bowl feed in the evening. When Khan strain a cruciate ligament and had 6 weeks of crate rest at 11 months old, I learned the art of stuffing the 8 hour kong. You would thing that after a few days he would have been a wound up ball of energy with cabin fever. He was well behaved and slept well each night...I was the one longing to take him out running

maximoo · Post by **maximoo** » Sat May 30, 2009 5:35 am

8 ht KONG? Tell us more!!!

ckranz · Post by **ckranz** » Sat May 30, 2009 8:25 am

The 8 hour kong:

Dice up one of the Natural balance sausage rolles to smal cubes.... an egg slicer is most useful for this.

Not only putting the cubes in the kong but push them so they deform a bit and kill the kong about 3/4 full. Press and pack to the point where the food inside is more a kin to a large mass and not individual cubes. The break apart healthy biscuits to pieces slightly larger than the large hole in your kong and stuff 3-4 of the biscuit pieces in the kong.

The biscuits will force you dog to exercise their jaw and tongues to soften the biscuit and deform the hole by chewing to extract them. and also act like a cork to prevent too much of the Natural Balance from coming out at once.

If prepared ahead of time you could also freeze them which will also add a few additional hours or so.

maximoo · Post by **maximoo** » Sat May 30, 2009 9:12 am

Sounds good! I'll try it. Is this the only way or are there variations of the ingredients that make Kong last long? Would a hot dog work instead of Nat Bal sausage? I do have Blue buffalo bisuits which he loves.Those will work i'm sure. I put different things in Max's Kong & freeze but he gets thru it in 10-15 mts.

Kittylove5 · Post by **Kittylove5** » Sat May 30, 2009 12:24 pm

Jasmine is a 9 and a half week old Pomeranian puppy, she's been away from her mother for almost a little over two weeks.

She likes her KONG but she only likes it if I'm around, she wont take it if I leave, I seen a toy at Petsmart that does heartbeat sounds I guess I should give it a try, I wanted to know if DAP would help as well?

ckranz · Post by **ckranz** » Sat May 30, 2009 6:35 pm

maximoo wrote:Sounds good! I'll try it. Is this the only way or are there variations of the ingredients that make Kong last long? Would a hot dog work instead of Nat Bal sausage? I do have Blue buffalo bisuits which he loves.Those will work i'm sure. I put different things in Max's Kong & freeze but he gets thru it in 10-15 mts.

What you want is something you can really hard pack into the kong. I've not used hot dogs before. As long as the busicuit can be in pieces slightly larger than the hole you should be fine

spydre · Post by **spydre** » Sat May 30, 2009 7:11 pm

ckranz wrote:
maximoo wrote:Sounds good! I'll try it. Is this the only way or are there variations of the ingredients that make Kong last long? Would a hot dog work instead of Nat Bal sausage? I do have Blue buffalo bisuits which he loves.Those will work i'm sure. I put different things in Max's Kong & freeze but he gets thru it in 10-15 mts.
What you want is something you can really hard pack into the kong. I've not used hot dogs before. As long as the busicuit can be in pieces slightly larger than the hole you should be fine

hehe, my dog hasn't figured out how to get his regular treats out of his Kong (cut up smaller than the opening). Peanut butter, or something that he has to lick to get out, he's great at, but he gets seriously flummoxed when something like the treats are in there. He doesn't quite get the concept that you have to pick up the little end to make them spill out....sometimes I wonder what goes on in his head...

As far as your dog eating a little and running off - that's normal for dogs - especially when she takes the bite with her. But you have to get her used to a set schedule. It makes it so much easier. She will learn, very quickly, that if she doesn't eat the food while it's there, then she goes hungry until the next meal, and so she will eat it. We've been doing that with Dodger, and I've only had to take his bowl up with food still in it once.