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Introducing Ivy... and a crate question


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Hello!

 

A couple weeks ago, I posted that I was going to pick up my puppy and that I was hoping for any advice to alleviate my nerves. I really appreciate the responses I got - they were all so encouraging and helpful. So, now I have had Ivy home for almost 2 weeks and in general, things are going really well. She and my cat are slowly getting to know each other, potty training is coming along, and she's such a quick learner with basic obedience so far.

 

I do have one question about crate training - Ivy goes in her crate readily, doesn't mind when the door is closed, and can even stay there for up to an hour if she has a filled kong and she hears people moving around the house. She also sleeps in the crate at night, and eats her meals in the crate. However - today was the first day I left her alone in her crate as I had a couple appointments. When I got home after my first appointment (gone for ~1.5 hours) she was crying in her crate, but otherwise seemed fine. When I left for my second appointment (after having her outside and playing with her until she was tired) she was happy to go into her crate and seemed fine with her kong, but when I got home (~2 hours later), I was quite surprised to see her out of her crate when I opened the front door! I was extremely lucky that I think she just slept once she was out as I couldn't find anything that had been chewed on, and she hadn't had any accidents. Obviously I will be making her crate more secure in the future.

 

My question is: knowing that I have to go back to work next week, what can I do now to help Ivy be more comfortable in her crate when left alone? She really is okay most of the time in the crate if she knows someone is around, so I think she just didn't like being left by herself. The most she will ever have to be in the crate is ~3 hours, and I would like to help her be comfortable and not stressed out during the time she will be in the crate. I did some forum searches, but most of the info I found was about dogs that didn't like to go in the crate at all. Any advice or ideas would be most appreciated.

 

And also, some pictures! For those that didn't see my initial post, Ivy's mother is a known BC, but dad is unknown. I would welcome any guesses re: dad's breed - maybe lab?

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What a beautiful and dignified puppy! Juno always liked her crate but she never had a sleeping pad or toys of any kind in there for at least 4 months. She was and still is a chewer. I always worried that she would eat and choke on something. Even now at 15 months I cannot give her toys unsupervised. She will eat the 'Kongs for chewers' so fast it is amazing. If she had the chance she would be like that Border Collie in Britain that was vandalizing peoples's car tires on her walks.

 

Anyway I made a crate for Juno out of two Ikea cabinets we had and then put an iron gate on the front. She has a big cushion in there now and she really likes it in there. In the morning she won't even come out until I get down and pet her for a while. I am a complete novice to Border Collies so I can't really give much advice on how to make her more comfortable but my guess is that she will get into the routine you establish and be fine.

 

cheers

Bill

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Regarding the fact that she was crying when you returned: I had a client who was deeply concerned that her dog was freaked out by being crated because whenever she came home the dog was yelping to get out. Investigation showed that the dog had no objection to going into her crate, and was comfortable in there. It became clear that the dog really had no problem with being crated - --she just started up the yelping and hollering when she heard her person coming home, out of excitement. So don't assume there's a problem just because of that.

 

A soft crate pad (assuming she won't eat it), a filled Kong, maybe a cow hoof or other chewy thing, water in a bowl she cannot tip over, will all help her pass the time and be comfortable. The length of time you are talking about should be no problem. It sounds to me as though really your dog has no issue with the crate, and I would say don't worry about it. :-)

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Like D'Elle said above, your pup could be just whining when you get home. Or it could be that your pup is having a bit of separation anxiety. What ever the reason, there is no harm in working through this by building more value for the crate and more confidence with you being gone. If you really want to know what is going on, you can always set up a video camera while you are gone.

 

I absolutely love crate games by Susan Garrett, someone posted a link recently on another post about crate issues. Crate games helps with all sorts of things, confidence, relationship building, impulse control, etc in addition to building tons of value for their crate.

 

In addition to crate games, you might want to set up some "practice" times that you put your puppy in the crate and leave the house for a few minutes, come back in and reward massively and then release and do it again a bit later. Vary the length of time you are out of the house from just a second or two to 5, 10, or 15 mins and then back to just a few seconds. Your pup will start to see this as a game and will start to trust you are coming back.

 

It won't take long before your pup is comfortable. Also, A soft crate pad might not be neccesarry or even a good idea if your pup might chew it/shred it.

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Is there any way you could set up a camera, leave for about a half hour, and then come back and see what is happening?

 

Bandit screams bloody murder the minute I pull in the driveway. He always has. I've had people ask me what is wrong with him because it sounds like something horrible is happening to him when he screams like that! But he's perfectly fine. He's quiet all day long (in the summer, I would pull up to the house on the road with the windows open and I would hear nothing until the second the tires hit the gravel on our driveway!) He just screams his head off from the time I pull in until I open the crate door - you would think he had been in distress all day long, but really he's fine. He just wants out the second he hears that I'm there. He also doesn't scream like that when the dogsitters come to let him out. I am apparently the only being on earth worthy of such drama. I don't know - maybe he does it for my husband, too. I am obviously not there when he gets home and I'm not there.

 

If you could set up a camera for a short time, you would be able to see if there is anxiety/distress while you are actually away, or if this is just excitement over you getting back.

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Thank you for all the advice! I will definitely look into the Crate Games - this is a video, right? Also, good points that she may just start crying when she hears me, but is fine during the time she's alone. I will plan to set up a camera tomorrow to see what she does while I go out for a short while, and decide how to proceed after that.

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Just to report back...I set up the camera and turned on music as was also suggested while I was outside for about an hour this afternoon. She slept the whole time and didn't even finish her kong before going to sleep! So I think I was over reacting, and the barking I heard was probably just related to me coming home. It was funny to watch clips of the video though - a montage of Ivy's sleeping positions! :)

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The day she got out, the crate might not have latched properly. One day I stuck Bandit in the crate in the back of the car, and went back into the training building. When I came out, he was sitting happily in the passenger seat. I forgot to check that the second door of the crate was closed!! Of course, he noticed!!

 

I'm spoiled by my other two. I have crated them at Agility trials, gone off to walk the course or use the bathroom and came back to find the door completely unzipped (I forgot to zip it shut), and neither of them, on any occasions when I have done that, have budged. I am going to have to be SO much more careful with Bandit, who will find a half inch to squeeze through if there is one!!

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