Anne asks:
“I am adopting a 6 year old springer spaniel and one of her pups. I am going to crate train the puppy, but should I put the older dog in the crate with the puppy when I am training?”
The short answer is that it really depends on the age of the pup and whether or not it has been weaned.
You can keep more than one dog in the same crate, but if they are the same sex, it can lead to squabbles and fights. If the puppy is over twelve weeks, I would consider letting it have a crate of it’s own
Tamara needs a little help settling her rescue Labrador mix into her routine:
“We recently(2 mos ago)adopted a 12 month old Lab mix from a neglect situation where he was crated 23 hours a day. Our dogs are routinely fed at 6:30 AM and again in the evening. This new dog begs to go out several times a night because he knows eventually after 1 of those trips out it will be breakfast time. We are getting up about 6 times a night to either let him out or give him attention. He sleeps with our daughters at night and we close their bedroom doors so that he can’t have free run of the house. How do we get him to sleep during the night and patiently wait until morning for breakfast? He was very thin when we took him and is gradually putting on weight. I am also concerned because I have never seen a dog eat as fast as this one. Thank you”
Time, patience and perseverance are the only real things needed here, Tamara.
It can take up to 12 months for a rescue dog to settle into new routines. The main thing you need to do is to not give in to his cries to be let out more than once through the night. One thing that may help is to have him sleep in a crate at night in your children’s room. Because he was used to being crated so long, it might give him the added security to help him settle overnight.
Once he realizes that he is always going to get fed at a certain time, he should be less frantic. making sure he gets plenty of exercise and mental stimulation will also help calm him down a little.
Craig is having trouble with his English Cocker Spaniel puppy:
“We Have a 51/2 month old english cocker. She does well in here crate at night and during the day. But a lot of times when we go away even for a couple of hours she makes a big mess in her cage. Any suggestions”
You may find the help you need in these earlier posts: Dachshund Soiling Crate, Toilet Training Cocker Spaniel and Labrador Peeing in Crate
It seems from what you have said that she is OK when you are at home but not when she is home alone. You could try making a recording of you and your family going about their daily business and leave it playing quietly when you are not there, or leave the radio on. Another factor is that there should be no fuss when leaving or returning, as this will increase any anxiety your dog is feeling.
Hester asked the following via email:
“My 12 week old chocolate lab pees in the crate constantly. His crate is small and he’s got room to turnaround and lay down but he doesn’t seem to mind laying in his urine. I don’t want him to think that it’s o.k. to pee in the crate and I’m at my wits end with cleaning him and the crate up all the time. He can’t even make it in the crate for 2 hours”
Here are my suggestions… more…
