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Subject: When to cut the apron strings?

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Diamond

Southwestern Ontario

MH
Posts:349

02/24/2008 10:56 AM
Hey everyone, I am kinda wondering about the whole crate thing. And when and how I should go about leaving him home alone for short periods of time. I've never done this before so I don't really know what to expect. I have hesistated to leave him in to just cry and get all worked up because I don't want to create negitive association with. However I dont' go rushing to get him out when he starts whining either, he has to settle and be quiet before he gets out. I don't want to rush things either if he is still to young to be left. He is almost 12wks, and can go all night from about 10.30 to 8.30. I am not talking about leaving him all day but it'd be nice to be able to leave him for a few hours either during the evening or during the day. Like I say I am not sure how to go about this, ha ha it's all new puppy stuff What did you all do with your puppies when they were this age? It's hard to know what I should be expecting from him and what he just won't be able to do. I am just trying to focus on manners (no jumping biting etc) sit-stays (not long but for food and before going outside etc.) and short downs, go to bed, walking on a loose leash...stuff like that. Well I am sure I will think of other stuff but advice from the other puppy owners her would be great. Puppies are great but thank goodness puppyhood doesn't last forever I try to keep him occupied as much as possible so I am not always saying No uh uh Hey drop it etc etc etc

RyanGSP

MH
Posts:446

02/24/2008 12:26 PM
Are you asking about leaving a 3 month old alone in the house? Maybe you should stop and think, look around your house. Then imagine a couple pee stains, ripped books, chewed remots, chewed table legs, clothes everywhere, chewed shoes......you want me to go on? Leave him in the crate. He is safer there than loose in your house at this age.

Diamond

Southwestern Ontario

MH
Posts:349

02/24/2008 4:37 PM
Oh gosh no way I am talking about in the crate....laughs I would be insane to leave him with the run of the house!!! Sorry if my post is a little hard to understand...all my posts lately have been pretty rushed cause I need to run to get the puppy outside or correct him or get something out of his mouth ha ha you get the idea

bravepoint User is Offline

North Gower, ON Canada

MH
Posts:894

02/24/2008 4:41 PM
Diamond, The rule of thumb as far as how many hours a puppy can be left in crate is 1 hour for every month they are old + 1 hour. Remi should be OK for 4 hours at 12 weeks. I would certainly start leaving him during the day or evening in the crate when you go out for short periods so he get used to it. Maybe leave him with a Kong with peanut butter inside to keep him busy for a short while. Gail

Gail, Moka, Avery, Terra & Rayne Bravepoint GSPs

Diamond

Southwestern Ontario

MH
Posts:349

02/26/2008 4:18 PM
how should I go about starting to leave him in his crate....like I said I don't want to create a negative association with it, is it best just to put them in and let them cry until they finally settle down? Like right now I put him in his crate and he is crying his voice out...I am out of sight but still in the room. Is ignoring the best bet or telling him no? Ah ha he is finally quiet ....is this just something they have to work out? I like to try to put him in his crate if he has (or starting to) fallen asleep else where (ha ha like the blue's clue's chair) during the day. At night he goes in no problem....maybe cause he knows I am going to sleep too and he's not missing anything I don't know. During the day I always have it out for him with the door open but he rarely ever goes in on his own.

bravepoint User is Offline

North Gower, ON Canada

MH
Posts:894

02/26/2008 6:07 PM
If you leave him in his crate at night and he's fine with it, I think he's being left in the crate with no problems. Why do you want to shut him in if you're home? I would do that with a puppy who isn't fully house trained when I'm busy in the house and can't watch him. If you put him in there with nothing to do and then hang around, he'll make lots of noise to try to get you to let him out. Did you try a Kong with peanut butter inside?

Gail, Moka, Avery, Terra & Rayne Bravepoint GSPs

Somer

Houston, TX

MH
Posts:280

02/27/2008 5:33 PM
I'm sort of in the same boat as you. I have a 12 week old with about 4-6 weeks of crate rest left (started out with 6-8 weeks) and the whining is hard to deal with since I am home most of the time. I usually ignore the whining depending on how long she has been in the crate. If I just stuck her in then I just let her cry it out but if she's been in there awhile it usually means she has to go. For her, I always feed her inside the crate (OK, I cheat a little and let her outside the crate to stretch her legs and terrorize everyone else..) with or without the door opened and always stick something yummy in the crate when I stick her back in. Either food (canned/kibble mix), frozen kong (kibble mixed with either pumpkin, cheese, PB, or yogurt), rawhide, etc. Always something good waiting inside for her.

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