problem with Willow now when leaving her.

[maddy74]

Hiya,

Ive had probs in the past when leaving/crating Willow. This was all resolved although I started another thread a few weeks ago as I only leave her for 2 to two and half hours and i'm finding its quite restrictive. I was looking to extend the time and was unsure whether I should not crate or get a bigger crate.

However when my dad came in to sort Willow today after 2 hours the neighbour called him over to say she had barked constantly today for the 2 hours as soon as I had left the house. She said saturday when we had gone shopping was pretty much the same. This has really upset me as she was doing so well. The neighbour said she sounded really distressed today.  

Ive been toying with the idea of giving her free reign of a room and the lounge is the coolest at the min and where she spends most of her time. OH put a stair gate on the door and we left her for 15 mins tonight to see, and videod her. She did cry but not too bad and she paced a bit and she then put her front paws on the table which she wouldnt normally do. Going to increase gradually. Am I doing the right thing, she is 6 months old? think the crate is too warm for her she likes to move about in the evening and will often put her head on the hearth, this way she can, dont want to come home to wee, poop and a destroyed front room. What should we do?

Thanks in advance.
Maddy x

[madelon162]

Hi Maddy

My little cocker Sadie is 7 month old, and I have to leave her for 2 to 3 hours a day when I go to work, Sadie is not crated, she has the back room, and there is a baby gate to the lounge room, so she cant go there. I leave the radio on, and made a routine when I leave. I put her outside to do her buisiness before I leave, then she gets a treat, or I leave her with a rawhide bone. She takes that to her bed. When my husband gets home she is normally still busy with her bone. She also has lots of toys which she drags around everywhere. Just give it a try, She can only make a mess, just restrict her area, but I would not crate her. Good luck

[lynnruby]

Hi Maddy,

Sorry to hear that you are having probs leaving/crating Willow. Ruby is not too keen on being shut in her crate so we have given her free reign of the kitchen when we have to go out. I was a bit worried at first, thinking we'd come home to a destroyed kitchen but she has been really good. Usually when we get home she is fast asleep in her crate (door open) and having spoken to the neighbours, she hasn't barked at all. She hasn't weed or pooed either. She is not usually left for more than an hour or so as my adult son looks after her when I'm at work but 2 weeks ago he had to go to a funeral and she was left for 4 hours. she was absolutely fine. Maybe you should "take the plunge" and let her have free reign BUT make sure you put away anything that can harm her or you don't want destroyed!!

[karen488]

We stopped crating a while ago. Amazed that there has been no destruction or anything! Could try for short periods and build up? She'll be fine 

[Manchester_Spaniel]

Hi there

Fred was never one for a crate so he has had free run of the kitchen which suits him. He has never destroyed anything yet and he is over a year old! If there was food in reach that would be snaffled but that was my fault!

So as long as you can dog proof a space I would say go for it, I am glad I did as not every dog is a fan of crates. When I'm leaving to go somewhere Fred recognises the signs and trots into the kitchen and into his bed awaiting his treat, so clearly comfortable with our routine!

Good luck

[1sttimecockermum]

My little cocker Sadie is 7 month old, and I have to leave her for 2 to 3 hours a day when I go to work, Sadie is not crated, she has the back room, and there is a baby gate to the lounge room, so she cant go there. I leave the radio on, and made a routine when I leave. I put her outside to do her buisiness before I leave, then she gets a treat, or I leave her with a rawhide bone. She takes that to her bed. When my husband gets home she is normally still busy with her bone. She also has lots of toys which she drags around everywhere. Just give it a try, She can only make a mess, just restrict her area, but I would not crate her. Good luck

Sorry to poke my nose in but I have heard of dogs choking on rawhide when left unattended - I always take them away when I leave my dogs - only mean this in a helpful way     

[Sheepscheeks]

I wouldn't leave any toys for her - potential choking hazard. If I were you I would build up gradually - have a set routine (eg give a stuffed kong or treat ball), leave radio on and just go. Build up the time you leave her for by 5 mins at a time but do it several times a day and keep at it even though it a pain - it will be worth it in the end. We never shut Freddie in his crate when we are out. Until a couple of months ago he had just the kitchen with his open crate for snoozing plus radio on. Now he has kitchen hall and living room so he can look out of the front window - we are in a cul-de-sac but there are a few comings and goings for him to have a nosey at! (Freddie is 20 months now) Good luck.

[JazzyJasmine]

Jasmine doesnt like her crate door shut, so we leave her crate door open so she has the run of the kitchen (no access to other areas of house) with the radio on and her toys and sometimes her Kong to amuse herself with, at first the neighbours said they had heard her scratching at the back door and crying, but the more she has gotten used to being left the less she cried and now no one hears a peep from her.  She hasnt been left for any longer than a couple of hours though, so I dont know what she d be like if she was left any longer.  I think it just takes them time to get used to it.

[maddy74]

Thanks for the replies. She was doing so well, think it might be the hot weather, she was fine today in her crate. We always leave her with two stuffed kongs. Also last week she wasnt crated very much and it might have been a shock to her system. need to build her time alone in the lounge uncrated its prob going to be a while until I would consider leaving her for any length of time out of the crate. We are restricted to where we can leave her uncrated as our kitchen is the size of a postage stamp. Anyone left their dog unattended and come back to furniture chewed etc. She is good when we are here but heaven knows what she could do left alone  

[Laura]

My two are both crated together in a 42 inch crate.  I'm not ready to trust my pups yet out alone in rented accomodation    (both 11 months old).  When we go out for longer than 2 hours we attach puppy pen panels to the dog crate.   The panels can be pushed into different shapes or removed to make the area smaller. We strap the crate door open to prevent it from accidentally closing.  We used the same set up at bedtime this week, for the warm nights, so Ziggy and Blossom could lie on the cold kitchen floor if they wanted to.  It's takes up far too much space to have set up permanently. Ours is a bit of a hassle to put up and down (takes about 5 mins) but has been a great solution for us.

[madelon162]

to firsttimecockermum

Thanks for that, have taken the rawhide bone away, and replaced it with some kibble in a plastic bottle.