dog crate x large image
Isaac
So, I'm getting a puppy fairly soon - and have one main question.
I'm fifteen - and until some time when I was thirteen (mid year) when I moved in with my dad, I had dogs all my life.
I've had two dogs - a Cocker Spaniel crossed with a Lhasa Apso - which was always old in my life. She was generally a calm, kind dog - but occasionally would bite - and my first dog bite was actually from her - on my face.
My second dog was a Jack Russell/Parsons Russell. She was a lot better than my first - as I was old enough to help train her. My mum was pretty bad at training dogs, despite having had dogs for over half of her life. However, after I moved out, my mum ended up having to give her to her recluse ex boyfriend - just so she wouldn't be around people as her behaviour worsened after I left.
Anyway, I'm planning on getting another Jack - though I would like a Jack crossed with a Staffy, or a similar Jack cross. I've been reading a lot on dog behaviour, training and psychology. I've got to work for three months at any job I like, before my dad will let me get a dog - which I'm fine with.
I'm pretty confident about everything - and save for the dog itself, I've found everything I will need for the dog - and should be able to afford it from some of the money I earn from my job (my dad's willing to pay most of the money for the puppy, up to a point.) So, I've come to look for a crate. Obviously, I need a small crate for while the dog is a puppy - so I can properly house train it. However, as I'm at school for six hours (and throw in another hour for coming home) I was considering using a larger crate for part of the day when I'm away - my dad is willing to take her out a bit, but I think that if she learns to like the crate, there shouldn't be much of a problem.
However, I was just wondering if anyone who actually knows what their talking about has any ideas or tips to put toward this. Obviously, Dogs in the wild would have dens - and that's why its fairly easy, when done properly, to have a dog love its crate as its own personal space. But most people do give their dogs free roam of the house after a while - and I was wondering if perhaps having the crate long term for the dog (until I move out - as I have a job with my older brother in his web design company - which I can do from home - lined up when I'm sixteen) would be a good or a bad idea.
Thanks in advance - anything else, ask it in an answer - and check back soon.
In regards to the crate sizes, while its a puppy I would likely use a standard size travel crate - the kind you can carry around with you and that puppies would be in when being brought to the house commonly. Obviously, the dog is going to be a Jack - so it should be fairly small. The second crate I would get would be one that would go underneath my desk - which is roughly 40 wide x 24 deep x 27 inches high. I feel like that would be a fairly large crate for a Jack Russell - and wouldn't be used until the dog was house trained.
@Ronaldo
Sorry, but your answer was absolutely hilarious to read. Many dog behaviourists believe that having a crate for a dog is incredibly important. Obviously, in house training, it is a massive factor. Dog's sleep when in a crate, usually - they commonly sleep when their owner is away - or when their owner is sleeping. Sleeping in a cosy area that you associate as your own personal space is actually very comforting. Frankly, if you have had experience where having a crate is cruel, you've been doing it wrong. My last dog was introduced to a crate later in life - and took to it incredibly happily. She liked to sit in it, with the door open, when she wasn't on a walk or playing - and I never had to force her into it. That was a Jack cross Parsons - who was larger and more hyperactive than your average Terrier.
In regards to the dogs exercise, which I think I should have mentioned before due to the nature of the question, I'm planning on taking him/her on my jogs.
I jog for 30-45 minutes in the morning before school and then jog or walk for a while after school. I don't go out very often as my friends generally come over my house. This means that other than when I'm at school, I'll be with the dog - who will be out of the crate when I'm at home. In the next year or so, I'll be doing part time college - which obviously is a lot less time consuming that school - and working from home - so its not going to be long term. Its simply the fact that if a dog can benefit from having a crate later on also, as my previous dog seemed to, then I want to know how to conduct that properly.
Answer
You can do a couple of things. 1. Get a crate that adjusts to the growth of your puppy. 2. Get a soft crate that can fold. Click on the link below it has a review of crates and shows crates that adjust to a dog as they grow and soft crates that would be great for a travel crate. Best wishes.
You can do a couple of things. 1. Get a crate that adjusts to the growth of your puppy. 2. Get a soft crate that can fold. Click on the link below it has a review of crates and shows crates that adjust to a dog as they grow and soft crates that would be great for a travel crate. Best wishes.
What is the best way to train a dog not to go potty in the house?
Q. Well we have had our dog for about a month and a half and sometimes she likes to go potty on the floor and we don't know why. She doesn't even go to the door if she has to go. Please HELP me if you can!!!
Answer
You need to watch her for signals, like sniffing around or whining, and House-train her as if she were a puppy. It is not uncommon for a dog to "foget" her house-training in a new house, but if she was previously trained, the re-training will take very quickly.
House Training
Don't use ammonia to clean up any messes, because it smells like urine to the dog. Use vinegar or the special pet stain cleaners, instead.
1. Watch her very carefully when you are home and take her outside after she drinks, eats, or sniffs around. Keep her outside for 5 minutes, then come back in.... but keep careful watch. Always take her to the exact same spot outside for her toilet, and clean up solid waste every few days.
2. When you can't watch her, put her in a crate. It is only cruel, if you keep her in the crate all the time. You want to try to let her out about every four hours, but she is old enough that she can handle 8 hours, if you are diligent in walking her before and after meals, and before and after leaving for work/school.
3. If you don't use a crate, then confine her in a room, like the bathroom or kitchen that you can cover with newspaper.
4. Put food, water, toys, and bedding in one corner. When you come back after a few hours, take her outside for a walk. Then clean up soiled newspaper, clean the floor underneath with vinegar, and save a small piece for the smell. Place some clean newspaper in another corner of the room, away from her food, and place the smelly piece of newspaper in the corner. Keep newspaper on the rest of the floor.
5. The next day she should have tried to go to the bathroom close to the smelly corner. Repeat the process from above, clean the floor, use new paper, place a new smelly piece of paper in the corner opposite her food.
You are trying to teach her where her toilet is by placing a large blinking sign that says bathroom. Since your dog can't read, you are using a small piece of paper for the same purpose. Your dog has a good sense of smell, so the smelly paper doesn't have to be very large or disgusting. Just a few inches.
6. Keep doing this for a few days, until your dog goes to the bathroom consistently in the same 5' x 5' area. If you are patient and loving, then she may learn to go in an area less than 2' x 2' in less than 4 days, but don't push it.
7. If things are on track after 5 or 6 days, then remove all of the paper, except a 5' x 5' area in the corner, with a small smelly piece of paper.
8. Advanced: If she is a small dog, then you might slowly reduce the area to about 1' x 1', then you can train her to use a kitty litter box inside... but that may be pushing things.
9. When she is consistent, then remove all the paper, and move the smelly piece of paper to the outside to show her where her bathroom is. She may have a few accidents, so try to understand what happened and why she had the accident.
But this method should work for most puppies and dogs.
10. Things to remember:
A. You can remove the paper when you are home and watching her. You only need the paper during the training period of about two weeks, and only when no one is home to watch her, while she is confined in the kitchen/bathroom.
B. Always clean up the floor under any mess or mistake with lots of vinegar to remove the smell.
C. Remember that the smell to a dog is like a large, red, blinking sign to people.
D. Always get rid of soiled newspaper, except for a tiny piece with smell. Replace the soiled newspaper with clean newspaper for the first few days.
Also, walk her, pet her, and talk to her softly... so that she will learn that she has a loving home.
You need to watch her for signals, like sniffing around or whining, and House-train her as if she were a puppy. It is not uncommon for a dog to "foget" her house-training in a new house, but if she was previously trained, the re-training will take very quickly.
House Training
Don't use ammonia to clean up any messes, because it smells like urine to the dog. Use vinegar or the special pet stain cleaners, instead.
1. Watch her very carefully when you are home and take her outside after she drinks, eats, or sniffs around. Keep her outside for 5 minutes, then come back in.... but keep careful watch. Always take her to the exact same spot outside for her toilet, and clean up solid waste every few days.
2. When you can't watch her, put her in a crate. It is only cruel, if you keep her in the crate all the time. You want to try to let her out about every four hours, but she is old enough that she can handle 8 hours, if you are diligent in walking her before and after meals, and before and after leaving for work/school.
3. If you don't use a crate, then confine her in a room, like the bathroom or kitchen that you can cover with newspaper.
4. Put food, water, toys, and bedding in one corner. When you come back after a few hours, take her outside for a walk. Then clean up soiled newspaper, clean the floor underneath with vinegar, and save a small piece for the smell. Place some clean newspaper in another corner of the room, away from her food, and place the smelly piece of newspaper in the corner. Keep newspaper on the rest of the floor.
5. The next day she should have tried to go to the bathroom close to the smelly corner. Repeat the process from above, clean the floor, use new paper, place a new smelly piece of paper in the corner opposite her food.
You are trying to teach her where her toilet is by placing a large blinking sign that says bathroom. Since your dog can't read, you are using a small piece of paper for the same purpose. Your dog has a good sense of smell, so the smelly paper doesn't have to be very large or disgusting. Just a few inches.
6. Keep doing this for a few days, until your dog goes to the bathroom consistently in the same 5' x 5' area. If you are patient and loving, then she may learn to go in an area less than 2' x 2' in less than 4 days, but don't push it.
7. If things are on track after 5 or 6 days, then remove all of the paper, except a 5' x 5' area in the corner, with a small smelly piece of paper.
8. Advanced: If she is a small dog, then you might slowly reduce the area to about 1' x 1', then you can train her to use a kitty litter box inside... but that may be pushing things.
9. When she is consistent, then remove all the paper, and move the smelly piece of paper to the outside to show her where her bathroom is. She may have a few accidents, so try to understand what happened and why she had the accident.
But this method should work for most puppies and dogs.
10. Things to remember:
A. You can remove the paper when you are home and watching her. You only need the paper during the training period of about two weeks, and only when no one is home to watch her, while she is confined in the kitchen/bathroom.
B. Always clean up the floor under any mess or mistake with lots of vinegar to remove the smell.
C. Remember that the smell to a dog is like a large, red, blinking sign to people.
D. Always get rid of soiled newspaper, except for a tiny piece with smell. Replace the soiled newspaper with clean newspaper for the first few days.
Also, walk her, pet her, and talk to her softly... so that she will learn that she has a loving home.
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