[MilosMom]

Do you give your dogs free reign on the house or do you put them in crates, basement etc? Just curious.

We have a huge basement that both dogs stay in while we are out, but I'm thinking this may have to do with the stress Milo's been under the last few weeks? (see my post on feet biting).

What do you do?

 

[Maureen]

hi, I'm jumping in here before I read your post about Milo's stress because there are some basic principles with dogs that might help you or someone else reading this.

Dogs are generally claustrophobic, and don't like being contained unless it smells like the pack/family they live with.

Dogs know when they are alone and don't have the boundaries that people enforce. And they get bored when they're alone, too.

(*just ask me about the partially-eaten stick of butter I found this a.m. when I came back from a quick errand, while my son was supposed to be paying attention*)

Also, dogs think of crates or kennels like a wolf thinks of a den, so it's not "punishment" to contain them for short periods of time, or at night, so we do not generally try to rush the dogs into being loose while they are alone.

So I would suggest a crate big enough for Milo, with some blankets or old towels that smell like the family, and he might prefer that to being bored or loose in the basement.

I don't think you are necessarily thinking this way but it's common so I'll say it anyway:
It is a projection of human motives onto our animals to think of them as "punishing" us by getting into trouble when left alone, but it is not out of reasonability to conclude that the stress of being alone or basic boredom without boundaries would lead to unpleasant behaviors.

 

[seazr]

I think Maureen is totally right, but Dakota has free run of the house. We have not had any problems. He has a favorite corner of the couch and he snuggles up and sleeps. I think it depends on the dog. They also might be more prone to trouble when there's two of them! My last dog would crawl under the coffee table and sleep--that was his "den"!
Diane (and Dakota)

 

[movistar]

just got back from the eye doctor. here is where they were:

one in a crate (6 months old)
two in the room where the crate is (office/dog room I suppose) with door closed
one in the spare bedroom loose (4 pounds and just got a haircut so he likes it in there cause its warm!) with 10 puppies in a pen
one in the main house area

 

[Maureen]

I agree with you Diane! It does depend on the dog. My girlfriend's Doodle has a totally different temperment than my butter-eater, too. She has had to realize when she is too busy in coming/going that she has to realize it bothers her Doodle and consider him, or he has nervous behaviors. Not destructive, she just notices things.

 

[Jac]

Great advice so far!
We have a unique situation because, first, we have 5 adult dogs, second, we often have puppies, third, we do not have kennels. Here is what we do:

Our "dog house" is in the garage. We have a large, double garage, attached to the hallway of our home. We put a doggie door in the hallway door so that they can go in or out of the house at will. When we are gone, however, sometimes we lock the doggie door, sometimes we just block the hallway. (If the weather is cold, I leave the doggie door unlocked and block the hallway off so they can only be in the hall, not in any room. They can still go to the garage if they want.

We also have a doggie door to the completely fenced back yard, but since our dogs bark, we don't let them run the full yard when we are gone. We block off the yard so that they only have about a 15'X15' area. The fence is solid wood so they can't see beyond it (which helps because if they don't see things, often they won't bark.)

Since they are all together and since these areas are used by them even when we are home, they are comfortable there.

BUT if we will be gone for more than 4-5 hours, I lock the doggie door to the outside and I have a dog sitter come in and check on them about every 3 hours...to make sure all is well, to let them out to potty, to play ball with them and to make sure they have water.

When we have puppies we usually stay home with them or have the dog sitter come and stay with them. (Oh, and the puppies are kept in a large area by using an x-pen, we keep them in the spare bedroom until they are about 3 weeks old, then move them to the dining room.)

It works for us!

 

[lovemydoodle]

Leno always got the whole house to himself. He was a good boy though. He wasnt a chewer and most of the time when we walked in the door he'd be sleeping. His owner before us over crated him I think. And we decided to let him have the freedom of the house.

 

[Maureen]

hey Brooke!

have you heard how Leno is doing in his new home?

 

[gene]

jonah is kenneled while i'm at work. i take care of my 90yo mother, so he's a little too much for her at 7mos today. since i moved it into the living room, he's been fine because he can keep his eye on her. if she leaves the room or goes to take a nap, she just says "i'll be right back" and he goes to sleep. saves all that puppy energy for me when i get home!

 

[lisarundell]

Lani, 10 months and Toby, 7 months, are crated when we are not in the house to watch them. Toby is naughty, he loves shoes, paper, towels, basically anything he can get his mouth on! Counter surfing is his favorite! What he grabbs Lani steals and plays keep away! Keeps life interesting!

 

[lovemydoodle]

Hi Maureen.....

Leno is doing great!!! I've gotten about 5 emails from them and he seems to be fitting in nicely with everyone. Its great. I did a topic in the stories section about it. Its called "UPDATE"..

Thanks for asking!

 

[doodlebug]

Hello everyone. New puppy mommy here. I have 13 week old Ruby (from one of Dixiedi's recent F1B litters - chocolate). She has been a terrific puppy. I have some questions about crating during the day. I'm a stay-at-home mom who works part-time. I have to leave Ruby about once a week for 3-4 hours (max). However, I've decided it's best she spend some time crated alone every day so she is used to it. She has done wonderfully sleeping in her crate at night. Now goes all night without waking until about 6 a.m. Crating in the day is not always as easy. During the last month she's had three different times when she's had accidents in the crate. First accident was first time I left her. But I kept crating and she improved. The other two times have always been weekend days when all 4 of us leave. The weekend changes Ruby's routine and, I think, might make her more anxious in the crate. Or maybe she hates seeing the 4 of us leave without her. Since crating in the day is sometimes a problem, I've been thinking about leaving her in the garage. She likes sleeping on the garage floor, or if my van door is open she will jump into the van and sleep on the floor of the van. We have a 3-car garage and the 3rd stall has an area with a carpet remnant where she curls up. After my daughter leaves for school she always curls up in the garage and takes a morning nap.

My question...I'm wondering about leaving her in the garage when I have to leave for 3-4 hours. Or should I stick with the crate? We are still working on housetraining. We can go 4-5 days without an accident and then have 2 in the same day. Although, I believe the accidents happen because we aren't paying close enough attention. Ruby goes to the same place to potty every time (formal living room). I don't know if she would go in the garage. She regularly naps in the garage, wakes up and comes in the house (I leave the door open) and I take her to the backyard to potty. She's never awakened and gone potty in the garage. So, what do you think? When I have to leave, crate or garage?

I'm going to try to figure out posting photos and will post in 'Stories' soon.
-Becci

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[Guest]

Hi Becci,
Congrats on Ruby!
I don't have an answer on the crate versus garage question, but I do know that you should definitely gate off your formal living room or you will continue to have an issue with Ruby going there.
I can't wait to see pictures!

 

[doodlebug]

Linda, thanks for the advice. It would require a very long gate. The door opening is probably 10' wide. I've read you all using gates and think it's very smart. However, my house is very open. Both the living room and dining room have 10' openings. I have been using Nature's Miracle on all accident spots. I think I need to keep Ruby tethered to me until she is more dependable with housetraining. Once she is housetrained, do you think I will continue to have trouble with the living room location? Will I forever need to gate it off? :?

 

[Guest]

Boyd is almost 6 months old and we "gave" him the kitchen about a month ago while we are away from the house. He has adapted nicely and the only thing we come home to are his toys strewn all over the place! When we are home we expand his area to the foyer and den.

Doodlebug: I too had to gate off the formal living room b/c Boyd would casually saunter in there and pee! I have been putting him on a leash and walking him around the "forbidden zones" to acclimate him but it will be a very long time before we let him beyond the kitchen/den area. Too much stuff he can get into!

 

[Guest]

Lam,
That is exactly what we have done with Bella (7months). It is working so far!
Becci,
No, it won't be forever! Just long enough so she forgets she used to go in there :lol: WalMart has a good selection of gates online:
http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng ... te&ic=24_0

I think using the garage as we are using our kitchen is fine, especially if she likes it. But, will it be warm enough in the winter? And make sure there is no antifreeze nearby!

 

[doodlebug]

Thanks for the walmart link.

Yeah, I don't know about the temps in the garage. Ruby likes it cool, but it will be getting too cold to leave here in there without heat. Glad to know the gates won't be forever. I guess I have to stick with crating. I'm afraid if I don't do it regularly then she'll freak out when I have to use the crate during the day.

What do you think about his? At night, Ruby is in the crate in my bedroom. During the day, she's in a crate in my office (opens to the main living area with double doors, so she can see all the way to the kitchen). Since she does so well in the crate at night, should I try leaving her in that crate (upstairs in master bedroom) during the day?

 

[Guest]

I think she would HATE being away from you in the upstairs crate during the day :lol: She does so well in it at night because she is sleepy AND you are right next to her :lol:
Maybe you could just gate off the kitchen for her or just gate off the office for her? I bought her a comfy bed and she definitely prefers that to her crate, but she will snuggle up in the crate if I need to put her in it.

 

[doodlebug]

You are so right. She would probably hate being in the crate in my room if I weren't right there with her. She never chooses to go into the crate. When she's tired, she heads upstairs and goes to the bathroom floor where I've relinquished one of my bath robes for her to lay on. :roll: When it's my bedtime I take her out to potty and then to the crate. She never complains...probably to darn tired.

I'm going to keep working on crating in my office. I can't gate her in there b/c it's carpeted. The kitchen is open to an eat-in area & hearth room - no way to gate without many feet of gate.

 

[Jamie]

Our Bella begun with a crate until she was old enough to be trusted (about a year old)

She loved her crate as we made it a fun place to be while she grew a little.

She's now a year and a half, she has two beds, one in the hall and one in the sitting room.

Soon as we go upstairs to bed though we hear her leap out of her bed and on to the sofa

We quite often find she's snuck upstairs and onto our bed :shock: