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Crate-Training: Day Four
Feb. 21st, 2006 08:54 amYeah, 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.)
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.)
