crate training a puppy?

Austin S

I got a puppy about a week ago and he does fine in the crate he will go in and lay down and sleep for and hour or two but every night i wake around 3 a.m. to up to him crying and barking to go out so i take him out then he goes back in the crate and at about 4:30 i wake up again to the crying and barking. From talking to friends that have had or have puppies they say there puppies can make it the whole night without crying or barking. Is there anything i can do so i can get a full nights rest or should i not plan on sleeping for the next couple months?

Answer
Occasionally throughout the day, drop small pieces of kibble or dog biscuits in the crate. While investigating his new crate, the pup will discover edible treasures, thereby reinforcing his positive associations with the crate. You may also feed him in the crate to create the same effect. If the dog hesitates, it often works to feed him in front of the crate, then right inside the doorway and then, finally, in the back of the crate.


In the beginning, praise and pet your pup when he enters. Do not try to push, pull or force the puppy into the crate. At this early stage of introduction only inducive methods are suggested. Overnight exception: You may need to place your pup in his crate and shut the door upon retiring. (In most cases, the crate should be placed next to your bed overnight. If this is not possible, the crate can be placed in the kitchen, bathroom or living room.)


You may also play this enjoyable and educational game with your pup or dog: without alerting your puppy, drop a small dog biscuit into the crate. Then call your puppy and say to him, "Where's the biscuit? It's in your room." Using only a friendly, encouraging voice, direct your pup toward his crate. When the puppy discovers the treat, give enthusiastic praise. The biscuit will automatically serve as a primary reward. Your pup should be free to leave its crate at all times during this game. Later on, your puppy's toy or ball can be substituted for the treat.


It is advisable first to crate your pup for short periods of time while you are home with him. In fact, crate training is best accomplished while you are in the room with your dog. Getting him used to your absence from the room in which he is crated is a good first step. This prevents an association being made with the crate and your leaving him/her alone.

Dog crate training question?

Q. Hi, I've got two older dogs I rescued from the pound - both are unruly and untrained. A couple people now have told me to try crate training - is this a good route to go? Both these dogs spent the last month in a small cage in the pound after being abandoned by their previous owner. They're needy and extremely appreciative of being here now but I'm afraid to start sticking them in crates after what they've been through. I know it's a slow process but should I even try and if I do, what is the time frame before two dogs like these would actually be crate trained. Thanks for any input.

Answer
No,it is NOT a "slow process"!
Put in crate...shut door....DEMAND silence.
Carets KEEP DOGS SAFE....keep house & contents clean & whole....while dogs are not under direct supervision!
Crates are DENS...bedrooms...NOT FING JAILS!
dogs are NOT human.

Powered by Yahoo! Answers

Providing water for dog in crate during summer?

mbike999

Due to some changes in our schedule we are required to crate our dog for about 3 days out of the week. We've arranged to have someone come let the dog out, walk him, and let him do his business at about noon. With it being so hot out I worry that he won't get enough water after the exercise until we get home around 6.

He's a avid chewer so I worry he will chew on the tube type water bottles, and almost certain he would make a mess out of a bowl installed in there. I also worry that he'll over drink and mess if allowed free reign to the water for that period of time.

Does anyone else out there have this problem or a solution for it?

Answer
As long as his crate is indoors and out of the direct sun, he'll be fine without water in his crate. Keeping a dog hydrated has nothing to do with "Access", it's about QUANTITY.

Instruct your pet-sitter to fill his bowl and let him drink all he wants until he walks away from the bowl. If he drinks it all, it should be refilled and offered again until he walks away.

Then he can safely make it until you get home without getting dehydrated.

How do you get yellow lab dogs to stop chewing things up?

Chonsie

My yellow lab chews up everything.

Answer
In my experience, this is a phase that must be suffered through. I highly suggest crate training and crating when the dog is not supervised. Liberal use of chew toys should help.

Labs are genetically predisposed to chewing. The same instincts that make Labradors great retrievers also make them want to expend their energy chewing. Chewing is a normal and healthy behavior that should be encouraged and directed in appropriate ways. Not only do chew toys allow labs to use their natural instincts, but chewing helps to exercise their jaws, get rid of excess energy, and can help clean their teeth.

Most dogs love rawhides. Since labs are generally âpower-chewersâ I recommend getting either compressed rawhide or retriever rolls for maximum chewing time. The knotted rawhides and most rawhide shapes just donât last as long at our house.

However, rawhides just donât do well with some dogs and can cause diarrhea, gas, or vomiting. I don't know why, although it could have something to do with the chemicals they use to process the hide â some countries may use formaldehyde or arsenic in the curing process. The recommendation is to only use rawhide that says "made in the USA" because we have stricter processing standards here than they do in other parts of the world. If your dog does well with rawhide thatâs great and there really is no reason to stop giving you dog a supervised rawhide treat. Please make sure to watch your dog when he is chewing on his rawhide as larger pieces can pose a choking hazard if swallowed.

Nylabones may offer a safer option. There are three levels of bone hardness â gumabone is the softest, then regular nylabone, and Galileo bones which are the hardest. A regular nylabone or Galileo would be the best bet for most Labradors. Nylabone also makes edible bones. Depending on how powerful a chewer your dog is, these bones may last quite awhile or only a few minutes. In our house weâve found carrots to last just as long and be much less expensive. (Photo: former L.E.A.R.N. foster dog, Beamish, shows off his Galileo bone (left) and a sterilized beef bone (right).)

Kong toys look like a red or black beehive and can be found at just about any pet store. You can put any type of treats into a Kong - http://www.kongcompany.com/how2use.html has a variety of recipes that you can try, or you can make up your own. To make a Kong last a little longer you can try freezing it. Also, the tighter you pack a Kong, the harder it is to get the food out. I find using both soft and mushy items in a large black Kong works well. We use over ripe banana, left over bread, rice or noodles, and mushy cooked carrots all seem to take a little longer, especially if there is frozen peanut butter or cream cheese over the top and all of the ingredients are packed in tightly.

You can also stuff treats into a sterilized bone. I get mine from Dr. Foster and Smith and none of them have splintered yet, although after 2 years they are getting ragged and need to be thrown out. Not only do the dogs have to work to get the goodies out of the middle (which is a little harder than a Kong because the bones are longer), but some dogs just like to chew on the plain bone. A marrow bone could be another option along these same lines. Get a large, raw soup bone from your butcher or grocery store. Be careful where your dog chews on one of these because they are quite messy and greasy. These are very rich and can make your dogâs stomach a little upset, so give them under supervision and with moderation. These are not to be eaten in one sitting!

You could also try giving your dog meals in a Buster Cube or Molecuball. Both make the dog figure out how to get food out of a hole in the toy. My dogs have been known to spend 30-45 minutes rolling the toys with their noses and batting at it with their paws. My preference is for the Molecuball because it's a little quieter and sturdier, but it's easier to make the treats come out. The Buster Ball is more challenging but pretty loud. I've found that if I put some broken bits of dog biscuit in a Molecuball, then the food doesn't come out as easily. (Photo: Beamish shows off his treat-hunting prowess with a large Moleculeball.)

If you really want to torture, er, challenge, your dog, you can knot the food toys in an old rag before giving it to your dog. Then the dog has to figure out how to get the rag open before getting to the toy and then the food. Make sure to keep an eye on your dog, though, to make sure that she doesn't eat the rag.

Outdoors in warm weather, or in any stain-proof area, you can try giving your dog popsicles. Use any size container and fill it with water thatâs been flavored with low-sodium beef or chicken broth. Most dogs really enjoy chewing on ice and I redirected many inappropriate puppy chew fests by giving my dog a chunk of ice to chew on. In puppies the popsicle not only tastes good and gives the dog something to do, but it can also help to numb the sore gums in a teething pup

Powered by Yahoo! Answers

How much do I need to restrict my dog's activity in his heartworm treatment?

dog crates direct image

gutergirl3

My dog has been diagnosed with heartworm and started the first steps of his treatment yesterday. His case appears to be very mild. He just turned 1, and I gave him Heartgard from when I got him at 11 weeks last August through January (we don't have mosquitos in the winter) so he must have contracted it as a puppy before I rescued him. He has been tested 4 times with two different tests for the adult worms, so he definitely has some. But his lungs and heart appear normal and they did not find any microfilariae in his blood. Yesterday he had a dose of heartgard along with antihistamine and steroid and spent the day at the vet. It is my understanding that this protocol is to kill any microfilariae. My vet told me that he must remain calm and not get his heart rate up now. I understand why this is necessary after the dog gets the immiticide, but why/does he really need to be kept calm now? Can dead microfillariae cause an embollism or is it just the dead adult worms? I don't want to keep my rambunctious little guy from playing if I don't really have to...
The vet's words were "don't throw the ball a hundred times in a row" Not very helpful in actually understanding what he can and can't do. Also, I understand that they have to take the cautious side on these things for liability reasons. What I am looking for is what people who have had experience treating heartworm have done in this first step before the immiticide is given. Because I have heard from some that didn't calm their dogs at all and others that confined them completely.

Also, no need for snarky responses. It just makes you sound pretentious.

Answer
I don't have direct experience treating heartworm, but we were very close to adopting a dog with heartworm a couple of years ago, but decided on a different dog from the same shelter. However, while we were deciding between the two dogs, the shelter manager wanted to give us as honest a view of the dog with heartworm as possible and not be surprised if we chose her. He did say that she would need to be kept as calm as possible throughout treatment. He told us no playing, limit guests if it got her excited, keep barking to a minimum, no strenuous walks, etc. In the end, we decided on the other dog because, although the shelter would treat the heartworm, it was almost three hours away from home and we couldn't keep making the drive back and forth.

I also had a friend who fostered a heartworm dog and they kept the dog crated most of the time to keep her calm. That dog had many other problems than just heartworm though.

Do airlines provide traveling crates for large dogs?

Avocado

I sold her crate because it's made of bars and I'm afraid of things falling on her. She needs to travel in one of those big plastic crates.

Answer
when i traveled via airplane the airline directed me to a website to buy the crate ... they had crates for the littlest to biggest dog ... but if you are asking if the airline will lend you a crate, no, you buy your own crate ... if you are looking for a cheaper crate and don't need brand new, check out craigslist or even post an ad for the crate size you are looking for ... so often people buy the crates and then they sit in the garage and people are often happy to sell them ...

Powered by Yahoo! Answers

How do I keep my dog from urinating on my carpet?

dog crates direct image

LFCJakeGir

My dog goes to the bathroom in the same spots on the carpet. She does this even after she has been let outside.
I've tried Nature's Miracle and other products from Petsmart. I guess I could try the OxiClean stuff and see how that works. I don't want to replace the carpet if I don't have to.

Answer
Okay there are many reasons why a dog might urinate on the carpet. If your dog is a puppy you have to remember that it takes almost four months for them to take full control of their bladder. Also, there is something called submissive urination. This is something a puppy or even an older dog does as a sign that it is submitting to you. Like when you approach it the dog becomes very excited and urinates. Below is an excerpt from a website about submissive urination.

Submissive urination is not an un-solvable problem, especially with a four month old puppy. Let's see if I can help. First it would be very helpful to know exactly what you've tried and hasn't worked. Training takes time to work, and if you were trying a bunch of different things, rather than sticking to one technique for a month or more, she may be confused. Especially since she is very sensitive.

Here would be what I would suggest, which is I learned from the Denver Dumb Friends League. Both you and your husband and anyone else (if possible) who interacts with the dog should follow these guidelines. I would also suggest enrolling her in a training

1. Take your dog to the vet to rule out medical reasons for the behavior.

2. Keep greetings low-key. For now, don't pick her up.

3. Encourage and reward confident postures from her. She can't be urinating non-stop in your presence, so as often as you can, if she is with you or your husband and not urinating, praise her. (Positive reinforcement, which I am sure you are familiar with from your readings).

4. Give her an alternative to behaving submissively. For example, if she knows a few commands, have him "sit" or "shake" as you approach, and reward her for obeying.

5. Avoid approaching him with postures that she reads as dominant, for example: Avoid direct eye contact (this means looking at her back or tail instead, not in the eyes. You can do this standing up, you don't have to get down to her level).

6. If you do want to pet her or get down on her level, do so by bending at the knees rather than leaning over from the waist and ask others to approach her in the same way.

7. Pet her under the chin rather than on top of the head. Hands coming from above, especially if she was abused, can be viewed as threatening and scary.

8. Try to approach her from the side, rather than from the front, and/or present the side of your body to him, rather than your full front. You may feel funny sliding around at first, but this is only a temporary method while you are training her to get used to you, not get so excited/scared in your presence that she urinates.

9. Don't punish or scold her - this will only make the problem worse. You can continuing to housebreak her without scolding.

HOUSEBREAKING
Put her on a regular schedule of feeding (twice or three times a day for a puppy) and going out to go to the bathroom, or walking her on a leash to her papers if you are paper training her. Lots of praise if she does it in the right spot. If it has been a while and she has not gone, I would suggest calling her into a safe room (like a kitchen with a child's gate) or into a crate where she can be until you can take her out under supervision, until you take her to her bathroom spot again. Only in the hour after she has just gone should she have full run of the house. If she does have an accident, you will have to just ignore it for now, but if you are consistent and supervising her, the chances of her having one are very small.

This information is basically for puppies but there is also info on the site about house breaking older dogs.

How much does it cost to ship a dog from Florida to Michigan?

Moment of

I want to adopt a dog (or puppy), but it's being sold in Florida at a rescue center. It's been fostered and it's a great breed, but I live in Michigan and I want to get it so bad! It's a fantastic dog, already house trained and that. How much would it cost to ship it here? PLEASE answer and please be around the exact cost!! Thanks!!

Answer
From Florida to Michigan would be around $180-$200. Contact Northwest Airlines. I have used them for shipping before and like them the best. They do actually ship COD at times. I sent an 8 week old Shepherd pup from Indiana to Mobile, Alabama a while back in an intermediate crate and it was less than $170. I used United once to ship to Colorado. It worked out alright as well. Most airlines will want to ship a dog on a direct flight. Call around to different airlines that come into your airport. Make sure that they get a health certificate on the dog before they ship.

Powered by Yahoo! Answers