Crate-Training: Day Four

[wordinista]

Yeah, I know -- y'all are TIRED of hearing about this. ;)  Mostly I'm recording it so I'll have something to go back and look at if we ever crate-train another dog, and I want to remind myself what a pain in the ass experience it's been.

At any rate, after a few mornings of cleaning up puppy piddle and washing his bedding, I wrote Linda (breeder) and asked for some advice.  She recommended I take out the bedding.  Which makes sense, I guess.  The bedding would soak it up, and allow him to kind of... ignore the accident.  (Laundry here has been CRAZY.)  So, last night we took the bedding out.  He went into the crate a little more easily, though I still have to bribe him with treats (three of them -- one to get him to go into the crate, one after he's sat down, and one after I close and secure the door).  And he settles down fairly quickly, too, which is nice.  I did hear him howling to be let out this morning, at about 6:45 or so, and as I went out to the crate, I was really afraid of what I would find.  (Because if he'd had an accident in the crate with nothing to soak it up, there would be a puppy in dire need of a bath at 6:45 in the morning.)

Imagine my surprise when I saw NO PUPPY PUDDLES.  It worked. 

That said, books and articles are wildly UNhelpful when it comes to crate training.  Just about every one that I read said that you should put bedding in the crate and make it as comfortable as possible, so the dog would come to see it as his "space."  *sigh*  Not helpful for my particular situation.  Ah well, thank goodness Linda encouraged me to email her with any problems or questions. 

Thursday he starts "puppy kindergarten," which should be an experience.  I... don't really know how good the Petsmart classes are supposed to be, but there's a whopping lack of dog obedience schools in my area.  (I did find one, that did AKC "Good Citizen Training" with classes for puppies starting at $500.00, which... DAMN.  That's a LOT of money.  I mean, I don't doubt that they do a fantastic job, but... damn.)

Anyway, he's down for the count at the moment.  I can almost always count on him to fall down for a nap after "morning play time," which means I get peace from about 8:30-11:00 or so, and I have accounting homework to finish.  (And can I just say that I'd rather take statistics again, instead of this bullshit accounting course?  The teacher's a prat, the book is USELESS, and after 7 weeks, I feel as if I've gotten NOTHING out of the class.  Grar.)

Comments

[darkfrog24.livejournal.com]

Niamh, you are describing my feelings about three semesters of graduate school except that only about half of my teachers were useless and there was much less puppy pee.

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Graduate school for English was WAY better than this. These business classes are so useless. I've got Finance next, which my mother insists I'll enjoy, but I do not have high hopes. I haven't really "enjoyed" any of it, which makes me wonder WHY I'm DOING it.

Oh, yeah. Increase my marketability. *rolls eyes*

[katmorning.livejournal.com]

Just wait until you hit Finance, dear. Just wait until you hit Finance. The problem with accounting textbooks is that they're, well, written by accountants. And, unfortunately, the teachers tend to be accountants as well. Accountants seem to be genetically disposed to speaking in code and forget that the rest of us don't speak thier language. But ... yeah, just wait until you start studying finance.

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Joy of joys. I start finance next. *weeps*

[emrlddragon.livejournal.com]

I took Daisy to Petsmart for training, and it worked great. The only problem is that everyone in the house has to commit to the same rules or it just makes trouble. Like at my house, I took her to classes, came home, taught everyone what we had learned. They all promptly ignored me. Brother thought his way was better (dog doesn't listen to him, ever), Mom just can't get the grasp of the rules (dog jumps on her), and dad's ideas are... how shall I say... archaic (told him if he ever does anything of the sort to my dog, I'd have him arrested).

just stick to the rules and you should have no trouble.

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Well, I picked a time that both George and I could go to the classes (because D-bear doesn't listen to PapaDog as well as he should), so we'll both be there, and we'll both be able to stick to the rules.

Which reminds me -- they said I need a treat bag. I think I need to find one of those. (Will a plastic baggie do? Or do I need to find one of those snazzy canvas/nylon treat bags?)

[emrlddragon.livejournal.com]

I just put a buncj of treats in a baggy and kept a few in my hand as needed.

[hypocricy.livejournal.com]

I dunno how much it is or if they offer it in your area, but I know a breeder that swears be the operant training system. It's conditioning, basically... but that's what training IS.

They use a clicker as a single to listen. They use hand motions in addition to vocal commands so you don't necessarily have to shout commands. They use positive reinforcement, but not through the end.

All the doggies in her care just absolutely loved it and they were all so wonderfully trained. She bred great danes and said she wouldn't trust any other system to train a dog big enough to eat her head.

One sound of that clicker or wave of her hand and all the dogs had her attention! It was amazing!

Best of luck with the training, I bet he'll turn out to be the smartest in class. After all, he studies French in his off time.

-Keely

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Yep! One of my books, "The Power of Positive Dog Training" totally praises using a clicker. My problem has been FINDING a clicker to use. The book says you can also snap your fingers, but my fingers are red and raw from trying that. I've got to pop into Petsmart today while I'm out (to pick up a few things he'll need for his puppy classes), and I think I'll see if they have clickers there. I looked once, but I didn't look very hard.

Hee -- I sent Linda (breeder) the "French" picture. She LOVED it. (It's one of my all-time favorite Darwin pics.)