Stuff 'n things

[wordinista]

Dear Everyone On My F-List:

I have been a very bad Bunneh.  I've been reading LJ (though not as obsessively these days), but I've hardly been replying to anyone.  I just want to let y'all know that it's mostly related to being sick, but also trying to keep an eye on Darwin AND keep on top of my normal daily responsibilities.  (This week I'm going to try and teach him that he does not have to have his nose directly up my butt 24/7, and the world will NOT end if I leave the room without him.)

I just realized that I haven't been commenting much, if at all, and it's been totally unintentional.  I've also been doing precisely jack for writing. 

I'm ALSO seriously reconsidering crate training Darwin overnight.  I need to get some sleep, and more than two hours at a time.  (Gotta say, I have newfound respect for new parents.)  He's not sleeping through the night, and he SHOULD be -- but I'm letting him out every 2 or 3 hours.  (He's slowly getting better -- one night he slept five hours straight.)  The first night we tried keeping him in his crate, he started howling and wouldn't stop.  I just hope I haven't created a bad habit in him.  *sigh*  I'm just so tired.  It's already one in the afternoon, and I don't know where the day has gone -- not because I've been super busy and productive, but because after takinghim out, feeding him, and playing with him (which ran from 6:30-8:00), we both collapsed for a nap that lasted THREE HOURS.  I hate napping.  Despise it.  It sucks up my day.

Any dog-owners on my f-list who can give some housebreaking advice here?  (Having him sleep on the bed and then rushing him outside whenever he woke up was Tora-kun's tactic, and it seems to be working not well at all -- aside from the fact that there've been no potty accidents in bed, knock wood.  Everyone I know has been recommending keeping the dog in its crate overnight until its fully housebroken, and I got such static from Tora-kun on that, it almost wasn't worth doing.  And then there was the endless howling, which sealed the deal.)

I just want a full night's sleep -- six to eight hours, consecutively.

Comments

[tatertott.livejournal.com]

wendy howled and whined and cried the first night (and a few afterwards) when we crate trained her. What I ended up doing was sleeping on the floor, right in front of her crate, with my fingers through the door to get her to sleep. It will be hard, there's no doubt about that, but eventually the dog doesn't view the crate as a punishment, but *his* space. If wendy's ever sick, unhappy, or whatever, she goes right into her den and sleeps. Other key thing: get a crate just large enough for them to stand up and turn around in - this will curb the habit of them messing in their den because dogs do not go where they sleep. Only trick is to make sure they go out when they need to.

With house training - omg Boston terriers are the *worst*. You have to get a routine set in place: same times everyday, same leash, same door, same yard. Eventually it will kick in that "oh, gosh, I have to pee! I will go stand by the back door so they will know I have to go out." But the key is repetition. The only times we have problems with Wendy now is when we go someplace new or move to a new residence (which hasn't been a while...). But again, Bostons are the worst breed I've ever had to housetrain.

As for making sure they know that in the house is a big no-no, we always made sure Wendy was put in front of the spot where she did her mess and with a deep, you-have-to-be-mad-and-fuming tone say "What did you do?!" Wendy knows my tone of voice (thank you drill sergeant dad), but Chris is a wimp when it comes to yelling. After that, clean up the mess, take pooch outside and then praise them till your blue when they do their business outside. They'll get the sense that indoors=bad; outside=good.

Other than that, playing *a lot* with the pooch will wear them out and make them sleep quicker and longer, like kids. :)

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Y'know, last night (around 2 am), he started up with the crying and howling, and I very nearly went out to the living room and slept on the floor. I didn't, but I considered it.

I've got to say that Darwin DOES know that outside IS for potty, and he really hasn't been THAT hard to potty-train. The only problem was that he wasn't sleeping through the night. I'm not sure if he just didn't realize that bed = sleeptime, or what. But we're just now getting to the point where he goes and stands by/sniffs/paws at the front door to tell us he has to go out. Which, you know, two weeks after bringing him home isn't that bad, in my book. :)

It's just this crate-training that's gonna be a beeyotch. (I've been trying to keep him in there periodically during the day. A little while in the crate, rewards when he settles down, and then playtime when he's let out. Hopefully that'll help too!)