As you probably know, we have 2 dogs: Maya, the “puppy”, and Cordelia, the “senior” (well, 4 years old). When we first got Maya, we tried the same routine as Cordie, by letting her go about the house freely while we were at work. This was not too successful. Among other things, she ate a USB memory stick, remote control, the power adapter for our Powerbook, and she managed to CONSUME analuminum beer can. After that, we made the hard decision to crate train her. That was 8 or more months ago.
Maya HATES the crate. She never goes into it willingly, and she does this Gawdawful moaning / whining / crying thing while peeing herself that makes you feel like the worst dog owner alive.
Before you say anything, we tried many solutions to the crate. We never used it as punishment, we put her chew toys, water, and a couple of treats in everyday, etc, etc. The only thing we could not do was put anything into the crate that wasn’t made of titanium. Blankets, pillows, bedding, t-shirts etc would simply be shredded and destroyed. (And be a choking hazard…)
Well, anyway, about 3 weeks ago, Greg & I went out for some errands one evening, doing the usual of treats and crate, except for one thing: We didn’t lock the crate.
Hours later, we came home and opened the door to some resistance- it was Maya. Miracle of Miracles, she didn’t do anything to the house. Progress, we hoped. So, over the last few weeks, when we have gone out only for a couple of hours at a time, we make sure she has her chew toys and we leave her free to roam. Other than a “Norm Cholak realtor” notepad, which I was tempted to tear up too, she has been as good as gold.
On Monday, we decided to test her again and left her the entire day while we were at work. Nothing.
Today is now day 3, and we are getting very optimistic that we can put away her crate unless necessary. Fingers crossed.
Oh, yeah- she doesn’t pee & whine nearly as much when we get home.
Stay hopeful for us!
“Maya HATES the crate. She never goes into it willingly, and she does this Gawdawful moaning / whining / crying thing while peeing herself that makes you feel like the worst dog owner alive.”
Yer ready fer kids.. you’ve paid yer dues. Don’t forget the liberal amounts of poo.. oh wait.. you’ve already been there done that. Carry on!
Remember, crates are also great fer kids too!