Need very soft bedding for dog crates?

SamIam82

My 4 dogs are spoiled. They sleep on those thick "dog pillows" inside their crates at night. The problem is, after a few weeks, not only do the covers need washing, but also the pillows. After 3-4 washings, the pillows fall apart. I was thinking about buying some second hand comforters and using those. They have to be easier to wash! What are your ideas? Do you have any experience with this problem? One has arthritis in his joints, so he definately needs more cushion than the rest. I have 2 cockers in medium sized crates and 2 basset hounds in large crates. They sleep around the house throughout the day, but we put them in the crates at night.

Answer
Its always nice for dogs to have big cushions to sleep on but blankets will work just as well! My mom owns a dog kennel and she supplies blankets for the dogs to sleep on if their owners dont bring anything for them. The comforters will work just as well and will be a lot easier to watch and it will take a long time for them to wear out!!

crate training puppy?

Q. i have never crated trained before and my last dog it was paper trained and took forever with lots of accidents
so please try to explain it as well as you can step by step.

also try to answer these questions.

How many time during night do i take him out ?
when will i know my dog is ready to not go to potty as much as when he 1st came ?

i know its a lot to ask but we are picking him up on the 22nd of december .
crate trainded *
yes i know our new dog is not a rescue dog but when he and our other girl get older we will start to foster
the pup will be 8weeks when we get him
can we put the pup in our tv room at day time and at night in my bedroom still in his crate

Answer
OK, here are the basics of crate training:

1. Purchase a crate. It should be just big enough for your puppy to comfortably stand, lie down, and turn around in, no bigger. If you want, you can purchase a crate that will be big enough for your dog when he is a full grown adult, but you will need to use a barrier to make the crate smaller while he's a puppy.

2. Make the crate a positive place for your puppy. Feed him his meals in the crate. Put a nice soft bed or blanket in there for him to sleep on. Put toys in the crate. Give him treats and praise when he goes in the crate.

3. Put your puppy in the crate at night, when you leave the house, or anytime that you can't watch him. The idea is that he will think of the crate as his own little den and won't want to relieve himself in there and soil his den.

4. Take your puppy outside frequently. He should be given the opportunity to relieve himself first thing in the morning right before going to bed, after eating, after drinking, after playing, before you put him into his crate, and as soon as you let him out of his crate. Watch him carefully for signs that he needs to go, such as turning in circles and sniffing the ground. If he does eliminate outside, give him lots of praise and a treat.

Things to avoid:

DON'T give in and "rescue" your puppy if he starts crying in the crate. If you decide to let him out or let him sleep with you "just this once" so that you can get some peace and quiet, he'll quickly learn that he can get you to let him out of the crate if he just cries long and loud enough. The one exception is if you think he needs to go outside. If you think that's why he's crying, get him out of the crate, take him directly outside, and then put him back in the crate as soon as you get in. If you're crating him for a short time during the day and he's crying, try to wait for him to stop crying, even for a second, and then let him out, so he won't associate crying with being let out of the crate. The first few nights may be tough, but he'll eventually learn to settle down and sleep in the crate.

DON'T use the crate as punishment. If you send the dog to his crate when he's chewed something he isn't supposed to or had an accident or something like that, he'll learn to associate the crate with you being angry and come to the conclusion that the crate is not a good place to be. If you want, you can set up a separate enclosure for "doggie time outs" with no toys and nothing fun where you can put him when he misbehaves.

DON'T yell or try to punish the dog when he has an accident. Dogs have a very short window of time for associating a behavior with a consequence. If you come home and find that the dog has peed on the floor and grab him by the collar, drag him over to the wet spot, rub his nose in it and start yelling, he won't understand why you're so upset. Just clean up the mess and take out your frustrations elsewhere. If you catch him in the act of having an accident, try to distract him by clapping your hands or saying "No!" firmly. Then take him outside.

DON'T leave your puppy in the crate for too long. Depending on their age, puppies can only "hold it" for a certain amount of time. You don't want him to mess in his crate simply because he has no other choice. If you have to be gone longer than you think he can hold it, put him in an enclosure with his crate and cover the rest of the floor with papers. If he's used the papers when you come back, just clean up the mess. Don't praise him for this; he only gets rewarded for going outside.

How many times you'll have to take him out during the night and when you can decrease the number of bathroom breaks he gets will depend on his age and how fast he seems to be getting the hang of crate training.

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Would this crate be too big?

Julie

I have an 8-year-old chihuahua, and sometimes I need to leave him alone for an entire day while I'm in school. When I leave, I put him in his crate. His current crate is a plastic crate 19" high, 26" long, and 16" wide.

I'm thinking of getting him a new wire crate that matches my living room better. The new crate comes in two sizes: Medium (19" L X 30" W X 21" H) or Small (18" L X 24" W X 19" H). Because I'm away for long periods of time, I want him to be able to move around a bit if he wants to.
I really can't hire someone to come and take him out every four hours. I live alone and there aren't any other options. If I'm going to be gone longer than ten hours, I hire someone to take him out on a walk and feed him. He is very good at holding everything until I get back, but I'm wondering if it would be better to get him a larger crate and add a potty pad in case he needs to go before then.
All of the doggie daycare centers near me are $20/day, and they aren't open early enough for me to drop him off on my way out. I have a great pet sitter but I can't afford to hire her all the time. He knows that either potty pads or outside are an appropriate place to go to the bathroom, I have used them before without sacrificing housebreaking. I don't have a dog safe room, but I am thinking a slightly larger crate would serve the same purpose. Of course, he always gets a walk immediately before I leave and when I get home. He's never had an accident in the crate, I just want to make sure he's as comfortable as possible while I'm gone.

Answer
The crate should be big enough for the dog to stand up, turn completely around in and lay down in. No bigger than that. Make sure that the dog is well exercise and taken outside to eliminate before going in the crate and after letting it out. The longer period of time the dog will be in the crate, the more it should be exercised before going in and after coming out. Someone will need to come home half way(about four hours after) through the time he will be crated to take him outside so he can eliminate.

Edit: Adding a potty pad will backtrack any house-training you have done. As I said, exercise him before you place him in the crate and after you take him out. The longer he is in the crate, the more exercise he needs before going in. I don't see any reason to buy a bigger crate. If you exercise him a lot before placing him in the crate, he will most likely sleep the whole time.

If you want him to be able to move around more while you're gone- You can either hire a pet sitter or find a reputable doggy day care center near you and leave him there while you are away(It's usually $6-$8 a day) and I'd suggest doing research on each one. That way he gets exercise and is not alone for an extremely long period of time. The other suggestion I'd have is placing him in a 'dog safe' room. It'd have to be extremely clean and only have safe unsupervised toys available though.

Edit2: I honestly understand where you're coming from. Dog safe rooms are hard to actually get/make that is why it was my last suggestion, ha. He'll be perfectly comfortable in the correct size of crate. Potty pads usually do encourage a dog to eliminate inside instead of outside and can just be really confusing for the dog, it seems like you have a smart dog though. Again Honestly, I'd suggest just sticking with the correct size crate for your dog(where he can stand up, turn around and lay down in). Maybe you can make the walk before you leave/after you get home a little longer so he will be more tired/sleep the entire time. This is just my opinion though, it's up to you in the end. The crate is suppose to be the dog's den and the reason it should be a certain size is because dens are suppose to be small or certain size around the dog to provide more security and comfort for the dog. If you get a bigger crate it might make him feel overwhelmed.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do

DOG LOVERS *CRATE TRAiNGiNG HELP*?

MiSS K

P.S. my boyfriend comes home around noon time to let me them out..... his lunch is 30min or more...
I have two mini dachshunds that have torn our kitchen apart. Either from pee or tearing holes in the walls. We have decided to get an Large Crate ( they are only 11lbs each ) and crate them for the day.


Water or food inside?

My girl tends to pee on blankets.. blanket or no blanket?

Toys? Bones???


First time having dogs, help me out dog lovers!

Answer
Your dogs probably have separation anxiety. Since they also pee inside it is probably best to get two crates, one for each dog. The crates should only be big enough for the dog to stand up, turn around, and lie down. Any bigger than that and they will use half of it to sleep in and the other half to pee in. If you already have a large crate that you are using then you can try putting both of them in there but you may just have big messes to clean up at the end of the day.

The key is to get your dogs comfortable in the crate. Start by making their crate positive when you are at home. The dogs should sleep only in their crates and if they are older dogs than you may want to also feed them supper in their crates to make it really positive.

Never let your dog out of the crate when it is barking, digging, or making a fuss. Wait until they are settled to let them out of the crate so they learn that they aren't going to get out every time they bark or whine. If they bark or whine a lot and won't be distracted by food and toys then use a squirt bottle with water and give them a squirt when they bark to discourage the behaviour, then ignore them.

When you leave your dogs in the crate, as long as your house isn't too hot, leaving them without water is fine. I don't put water in my dog's crate because I don't want him to dig in it and spill it everywhere. Your dogs sound like they can be destructive so I would leave them without water (since your boyfriend is at home at lunch anyways to offer them water if they need it). I also wouldn't leave food inside as that can easily be spilled as well. Feed them before you leave and when you get back and they will be fine.

If you have two separate crates I would give the one who doesn't pee on blankets a blanket and I'd put a towel with the girl who does pee on blankets so that she is given the opportunity to have a comfy bed but if she pees on it you can clean it up easily. If she pees on it, then the next day don't give her anything in her crate for a little while until she stops peeing in the crate. If the dogs are in one crate together then I would do the same thing with the first day leaving a blanket and if she pees then go with no blankets or beds because you will be doing too much laundry that it isn't worth it.

I don't usually leave toys for my dog because he eats them and I don't want him to choke or get sick while I'm not home. If your dogs do not eat toys then you can leave them toys if you feel they will use them. If you need something to make the crate positive I would try an appropriately sized Kong, stuffed with peanut butter. This will help distract them when you leave. That is the only thing I ever leave in my dogs crate (besides his bed). I'd be wary of bones as dogs can choke on them and if they choke when you aren't home it can be very dangerous and fatal.

Good luck!

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What should I expect when I switch to a bigger dog crate?

dog crates big lots image

rocket8007

I just switched crates to a bigger one today, and I'm wondering how this will effect my dog, as in lots of whining, barking, peeing in the crate, etc. I need some advice on anything about switching to bigger crates.

Answer
A larger crate will probably be better for them, since it has more room. Just make sure they have something nice and soft to lay down on, especially if they are older (since you never specified an age).

A good rule of thumb for a crate is that the dog must be able to stand up fully in the crate and be able to turn around.

How would you go about crate training a new puppy with an older dog around?

T.

I have a 1 year old Mini Schnauzer who has free run of my room when I'm gone (so she can use the bathroom and eat/drink when she needs to if I'm gone more than a couple of hours). I am thinking about bringing a new puppy into our lives sometime in the future. I want to crate train the new puppy so that it will be easier to potty train and also so that the new puppy and my Schnauzer don't have unsupervised time together (she would be a lot bigger than the new puppy so I don't want the puppy getting hurt. But plan to leave them together in the future when the puppy is big enough). My question is, should I put both of them in separate crates when the new puppy comes? Or will only putting the new puppy in a crate and letting the older dog have free run of my room be okay? My concern is that the puppy will whine constantly if my older dog is sniffing around the crate and I don't want the puppy to be scared or get worked up because a bigger dog is around and trying to play with it.
However, I don't like to keep my dog in a crate for extended periods of time because she seems to have a relatively small bladder and uses the bathroom pretty often so I want her to be able to use the bathroom freely. Sorry if this isn't making much sense, I'm just not sure the best way to crate train a new puppy with an older dog around.

Answer
If you do get the puppy try putting your puppy with the mini Schnauzer and see how they react together. If it is a good reaction then you can leave them alone for awhile and just check up on them every few minutes just too see how there going. And if its a bad reaction, instead of putting the puppy in a cage try putting it in a small room like a laundry or bathroom with a litter tray,food,water ,toys to keep it happy. Also when i got my second dog it would bark through the night, it got along with the older dog so we decided to put the older dog with the puppy in the room and it worked the puppy was hardly barking and after a while the puppy started to learnt to be toilet trained off the other dog and we just told the puppy not to pee inside and the rest just caught on from the older dog

But i wouldn't crate train i would just put the puppy in a room where the older dog couldn't see it. (also the smaller room is easier to clean up before its potty trained)

And this is just from my experiences dont rely completly on me because your situation could be completely different to mine.
Hope i helped.

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