# Our New Little Guy (Oscar) and the Crate



## Ant Nay (Mar 21, 2005)

We have our new little guy at home finally and I wanted to ask the pros on this site for some suggestions on crate training.
Ok, this is what we are trying to do, Oscar likes his crate, he was in a crate from day one (with his brothers and sisters) now that he is home with us, we are bringing his crate into the bedroom at night and he is sleeping in there (he is waking up a few times a night and we take him to his pad in a designated area downstairs to relieve himself). 
We both work so we want to leave him in a gated area with his crate and his wee wee pad and some toys of course and any food and his water while we are at work during the day. He seems to cry and howl (first time we are hearing that) a lot. We do not want to crate him all day and then when we come home have him go potty. Our goal is to leave him in his small area (our bathroom) with a gate in place keep him in there and have his crate in there (open) and his wee wee pad for when he needs to go....we also would like to do this when we run to the store and so on. I need some suggestions on if we should just let him cry and howl and he will get use to it, or should we be doing something else..
We would like him to have an area to roam in when he is home during the day. Right now he is in his crate with the door closed napping, but he can see us doing things around the house and he is fine. In the bathroom area he would not be able to see us unless we walk by....I appreciate any feedback

Thanks
A & N


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## msmagnolia (Sep 8, 2004)

Hello, Congrats on your new little addition. I'm not a pro, but have used crate training successfully.

I think you are right not to confine him to the crate for long periods of time while you are gone all day. The small area with the crate in it would probably be much better. He will fuss at first, but as long as he is in a safe place he'll learn to settle down. If you were going to be gone for a few hours at a time then the crate would be fine. 

Confining a dog to a smaller area, even when you are home, will probably aid in housetraining, but I've had better luck when the dog can see us. Since your bathroom is not in the center of activity, could you consider a playpen? Maybe you could gate the kitchen? There are several threads that relate to playpens. Several of us use one from the Ferret Store. It is portable and has a waterproof canvas bottom. It is large enough for a small crate and some toys. I don't work outside of the the home, but my girls stay in the play pen when I leave the house. They are old enough not to have to be in there when I am home, but it sure is convenient when someone comes to the door. When they were smaller and I was not able to pay close attention it was wonderful. As long as they could see us they didn't complain. They sleep in crates at night, by our bed. Their crate doors are left open during the day and they love napping in them.

Here's the link to the Ferret Store play pen:
http://www.ferretstore.com/mr-00261.html
This will show you the photo, but is only for the mat. You'll have to follow the links at the bottom to purchase the set, or just the play pen.


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## Sylphide and Shrek's Mom (Dec 4, 2004)

Ant Nay, 

We don't crate train at all. Both Sylphide and Shrek came to us crate trained, and we gave them the option of using a crate or not. Both of them chose the: _not!_ 

They have the full run of our puppyproofed house, and sleep with us. We have several rooms and three stories, and the dogs thoroughly enjoy using as much of it as possible. They have their favorite rooms and spots (we actually have 3 dogs, 2 malts plus a large Chihuahua mix).

In both cases, we have never dealt with a whine, howl, or cry. They are very happy. We can leave them home alone without problems (although, with 3 of us at home and varying schedules, they are rarely left alone for more than a few hours at a time).

I suggest, if you want to confine him but not crate him, to get a baby or puppy gate and give him a nice comfortable amount of space when you are gone.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Teaching him to be alone is a great thing. One of the easiest things to do is stuff a kong with canned dog food or another yummy treat (you can even freeze it) and give that special treat only when you are leaving. When exactly is he howling? When you leave him home alone?


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## Ant Nay (Mar 21, 2005)

> _Originally posted by JMM_@May 14 2005, 03:49 PM
> *Teaching him to be alone is a great thing. One of the easiest things to do is stuff a kong with canned dog food or another yummy treat (you can even freeze it) and give that special treat only when you are leaving. When exactly is he howling? When you leave him home alone?
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=62341*


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He mainly howls and cries when he is confined (gated area or Crate) and he does not see us, if we are in another part of the house we can hear him cry.

We just went out to the store and had him go on the wee wee pad before we left and we were gone 2.5 hours and when we got back he had pooed...he might have tried to make it go outside the crate but some was outside the crate and the rest all over him and his blanket and his sleeping mat, so we had to wash him ( he is young and we did not want to get him wet, but we had NO choice it was ALL over him) and everything in his crate down....so the next time we go out we are going to try to just put him in the larger bathroom gated with his crate open and his wee wee pad and food and water and hopefully he will leave the crate to go onto the pad...wish us luck, thanks to all for the feedback...KEEP IT COMIN' we can use the advice


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## Ant Nay (Mar 21, 2005)

> _Originally posted by JMM_@May 14 2005, 03:49 PM
> *Teaching him to be alone is a great thing. One of the easiest things to do is stuff a kong with canned dog food or another yummy treat (you can even freeze it) and give that special treat only when you are leaving. When exactly is he howling? When you leave him home alone?
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=62341*


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What is a Kong and how does it work? .....Thanks Again


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

That's fairly typical behavior for a puppy. I keep an x-pen in the kitchen for puppies so they can be right in the thick of things even when they're confined. That works well for us. 

A kong is a rubber bee-hive shaped toy that you can stuff with food and the dog has to work to get it out.


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## Ant Nay (Mar 21, 2005)

> _Originally posted by JMM_@May 14 2005, 07:44 PM
> *That's fairly typical behavior for a puppy. I keep an x-pen in the kitchen for puppies so they can be right in the thick of things even when they're confined. That works well for us.
> 
> A kong is a rubber bee-hive shaped toy that you can stuff with food and the dog has to work to get it out.
> <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=62363*


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I think we might have left him in his creat too long he has not been home with us very long (only his second day) we are going to go with the open creat and the gate in front of the bathroom and he can spend his day in there while we are at work...we try to have him around us when we are home so he can see what is going on, we have been trying to put him in the creat for a while and to run and play. Thanks for the info on the Kong...any idea where I might get one? is this something sold at any pet store..that might be a great thing for him to play with while we are away during the day...again many thanks for the input


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## Angus (Mar 9, 2005)

JMM has some excellent suggestions. 

Our set-up is this: we have a main floor laundry room/half bath. We bought a baby gate to put up (hated the idea of closing the door on him). Angus is litter trained, so he has his litter box, a comforter and pillow (he loves to sleep on pillows), his crate, his toys and bones, water and food. We also have a clock radio so that he has some tunes during the day.









When we leave, he gets a kong with cheez whiz, peanut butter or other treats (this is the only time we stuff his kong). At first when we would put him into his room (now that the laundry room is now called Angus's room) he would cry like yours does. Now he doesn't - he's more used to being alone. One tip, have your shoes on, etc. and be ready to leave immediately when you give him the kong...if I give it too early things don't go nearly as smoothly.

Good luck!


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## Angus (Mar 9, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Ant Nay+May 14 2005, 09:23 PM-->
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I think we might have left him in his creat too long he has not been home with us very long (only his second day) we are going to go with the open creat and the gate in front of the bathroom and he can spend his day in there while we are at work...we try to have him around us when we are home so he can see what is going on, we have been trying to put him in the creat for a while and to run and play. Thanks for the info on the Kong...any idea where I might get one? is this something sold at any pet store..that might be a great thing for him to play with while we are away during the day...again many thanks for the input
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You can get a kong at any pet store...Walmart probably also carries them in their pet section. We have two different kinds...Angus loves them!


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## Ant Nay (Mar 21, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Angus+May 15 2005, 08:00 AM-->
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You can get a kong at any pet store...Walmart probably also carries them in their pet section. We have two different kinds...Angus loves them!








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Thanks so much we are goingout today to look for the Kong and we are trying the "kitchen" area as his "room" he is in there now and he is asleep in his crate while we try to do things around the house....I appreciate your help and I am sure you will see us back on with more questions going forward...again many thanks 
A&N


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