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Old January 3rd, 2005, 11:44 AM
lucyvanpelt lucyvanpelt is offline
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more new puppy questions

hi everyone,
i have a few more questions about my new puppy, duffy. he's been with us since new years eve and is 11 weeks old. so far, he's been wonderful. he's quiet and friendly, loves to play and cuddle. he even sleeps through the night in his crate, right beside my bed. his housebreaking is an experience but he's doing ok. we are shocked at how long he can hold it (not that we make him, he is taken out every two hours or so but only goes a few times a day). we are a little worried that he's not drinking enough water.

our other concern is leaving him alone during the day. there are a few hours a day when no one is home, like when i am going to school and my mom is coming home from work and such. i tried today to leave him in his crate while i made my breakfast and i have never heard a dog cry so much. you would have thought he was being abused! it was heartbreaking. he stayed there for less than 10 minutes until i came back and let him out. i don't know what we'll do when we have to leave him for an hour. any advice? how can we leave him in his crate during the day without feeling like villains?

thanks so much!
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Old January 3rd, 2005, 11:50 AM
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Schwinn Schwinn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lucyvanpelt

our other concern is leaving him alone during the day. there are a few hours a day when no one is home, like when i am going to school and my mom is coming home from work and such. i tried today to leave him in his crate while i made my breakfast and i have never heard a dog cry so much. you would have thought he was being abused! it was heartbreaking. he stayed there for less than 10 minutes until i came back and let him out. i don't know what we'll do when we have to leave him for an hour. any advice? how can we leave him in his crate during the day without feeling like villains?

thanks so much!
You can't, trust me. Oh, you aren't being a villain, but for the new puppy owner, you'll feel like it, trust me! Daisy was the first dog we crate trained, and I felt guilty until I realized that when I couldn't find her, she was going into her crate to curl up and have a nap, or just hang out. To them, that's thier home.

As for the crying, I don't know how much advice I can give you. I've had a few dogs, but as I said, Daisy was our first to be crate trained. I remember waking up to her crying horribly. I went into her room, opened the crate, and sat with her for a couple minutes petting her, and when she seemed calm, put her back in the crate and she was fine for the rest of the night. I don't know if this was the right thing to do, but it worked for us. Maybe we were just lucky??
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Old January 3rd, 2005, 12:51 PM
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Carina Carina is offline
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Shame on you, you are being a villian.
Just kidding!!
Here's a good article on crate training:
http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/crate-train.pdf

Since he's OK with his crate at night, he may just be associating daytime crating with people leaving....perhaps making sure he has a really enticing, safe chew toy, or an extra special treat for going in, will help create a better association for him.
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Old January 3rd, 2005, 03:44 PM
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tenderfoot tenderfoot is offline
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You need to try to make the crate a good place to be for Duffy. The best toys, & food happen in the crate. Naps should be in the crate too - the best part about little puppies is they sleep hard and even if he falls asleep out of the crate you can slip him in, and dont' close the door, but let him wake up in there and realize it is a comfy place to sleep. Gradually get to closing the door, but just be sure not to let him out if he is in the middle of complaining. Put him in the crate frequently throughout the day when you are home and ignore the cries as best as you can - do not even look at him. If his cries get terrible - try to correct him with a firm tone and some sort of 'startle' and then quickly walk away. He needs to learn that crying does not get him attention or get him out of the crate. Eventually he will settle down and rest.
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Old January 3rd, 2005, 06:48 PM
OwndbyaSibe OwndbyaSibe is offline
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been there....

done that......ripped my heart out to hear my baby cry. Now, 7 months later, he willingly goes in his 'house' to sleep. Even though it killed me, obviously it wasn't as hard on him as he likes it now. My point is, hang in there!
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