[Unitedrn]

Hi,
As most of you know we have had our Belle for only a few days. She is well crate-trained and goes to bed at 9pm and gets up with the kids around 6am. I have a question. My husband will be getting home from work tonight around 2am, I know that Belle will be alarmed and probably bark at him when he comes in. Does he let her out of her crate and pet her for a few minutes and then put her back to bed, or does he talk to her through the crate and then tell her to go back to bed. She will definitely be startled, but what is the correct thing to do? If he takes her out of the crate does he take her outside to go to the bathroom? Would this set up a bad habit? Thanks!

Kim

 

[K9Summer]

Hi Kim! I'm glad to hear that everything seems to be going well! My boyfriend usually comes home from work that late, so this is normal in our house! The dogs expect him! Before they were housebroken, he did take them outside because we were worried that they would have an accident. Now they just go right back to sleep. They sleep in bed with us, and not in their crates, but I would say that is he wants to take her out of the cage, he should probably take her outside. She will probably settle down if he just comes in, doesn't let her out of the cage, and completely ignores her- don't even look at her. If it were me, I would tell him to come in quietly and completely ignore her. She should settle down quickly and go back to bed. Then again, that's probably easier said than done! Good luck... give Belle kisses for me!

Bridget, Summer, and Duke

 

[Unitedrn]

Bridget,

Thanks for the advice! The bad thing is that Joe gets home at 2am and I leave for work at 5:30am. This doesn't happen regularly just an odd couple of days for us!! I figured I would take her out when I left for work. I guess we'll see how it goes! Thanks again,

Cant' wait to meet those cuties of yours!

Kim

 

[wannadoodle]

I think Bridget gave you great advice. Don't mess up the willingness to sleep all night.

 

[lauren46]

If that worked okay then you can keep doing that but i would suggest takling to belle through the cage and let her see him so she knows its not an intruder

 

[Jac]

Hi Kim,
This is really a matter of personal choice and so we all do things differently...my husband gets up at all hours of the night and when he is home, the dogs get up with him...he lets them out to potty and then back in to bed. (He is a sucker for their attention, so I am sure he talks to them and pets them.) But when he is gone (sometimes stays in the city where he works to avoid the commute) the dogs sleep all through the night, and if I do get up, they look at me and go back to sleep because they know that I am almost sleepwalking...I am a sound sleeper and don't think to take them out or pet them! :lol:
Our puppies were easy to crate train (for their new families) because we kept them in an x-pen with a crate inside and they got used to the crate and I gave my DH strict orders not to talk to them when he got up! So, I think that he ignored them and they were used to spending the night without getting up and they (for the most part) slept well at their new homes.
So, I don't know which is the best answer...but if Bella is older and has bladder control, I'd say not to worry about potty time...but if she is still training (and having accidents) I'd say take her out, no socializing and then right back to bed. Otherwise, I'd say a soft "hello Bella" so that she knows it's him (although she probably will know by scent) she will be reassured and go back to sleep.
It also helps if you tell her "night night" or something to indicate time for bed...that way she knows to go back to sleep.

 

[Unitedrn]

Thanks everyone! I took everyones thougths and decided to tell Joe to just come in as quietly as possible, say hi and pet her through the cage and tell her 'time for bed' and walk away! It worked like a charm. She woke up when the garage opened and I could hear her tail wagging. Joe did what we had talked about and she went right back to sleep! Phew!! I was so worried her barking would wake the kids up! Cudos to Belle!! Yeah!! Thanks again everyone!!

 

[lauren46]

Glad everything went well. Say hi to Belle for me!

 

[Jac]

I am so glad you found a good solution...Belle is a very smart and confident dog, congratulations on finding such a wonderful companion (I mean, companions...hubby and Belle! :wink: )

 

[Angie]

Hi we get our pup in three weeks time, in the past with our other dogs we never used a crate, but from the advice on these forums it sounds a good idea, for the new and only .
I am a sucker and would the pup cry to come out of the crate, how long does it take for them to ajust?

 

[DunkinDoodle]

Angie,

We crate trained our puppy from the day we got him. Our breeder started to introduce all her pups when they were still with her. She started with a few mins in the crate and worked her way up to an hour. So when he came to use he was good with it. I wouldn't even say there was an adjustment for him. Being that he was so little it just became part of him. It's almost like he never knew any different. In fact, he liked to have the crate b/c he was nervous the first few days we had him and it was his safe haven. He is going on 6 months and loves his crate. He sleeps in it, stays in it when we go to work, and will even go in to nap while we are home. Your puppy will feel safe and comfortable in it.