Crating Question

[DustysMom]

Maggie is still having housebreaking issues. She is generally fine during the day (she is offered out frequently). As an example, yesterday, we were home all day. Fed the dogs at 3:30. Everybody pottied after dinner. We left the house at 4:40 and got home about 8:45. Maggie had peed and pooped in our bedroom. She no longer has access to the room where she had her "accidents". The is the first time she has used the bedroom.

 

To the question... Can I leave her loose in the house during the day and only crate her in the evenings (when she tends to go in the house) or should it be always crate or don't crate? We had tried the crating for awhile in the evenings when we were out. She hated it, wouldn't eat any treats or anything we put in there and got wise to the situation very quickly. It got more and more difficult trying to convince 65 lbs of muscle to get in the crate.

 

I've had many dogs in my life and Miss Maggie Moo is the first one I can't seem to get housebroken! (I don't want her to ruin the chance for another grey with DH )

[Guest NJgrey]

Any chance it's medical? Outside of that, any way you can use a baby gate to confine her to an area where she's less likely to go?

[dante2zoe]

I had problems with my whippet when the sun would go down and the house would get dark. He was fine in the daylight, but he would have accidents at dusk/dark. We now leave lights on when we anticipate getting home after dark and while he isn't "cured," it seemed to help. He has SA issues and at home alone (no people) in the dark was too much for him. Just a thought!

[Guest scfilby]

We used to crate when ever we were out. Not because of potty issues, we just felt safer having Mickey and the beagle separated unsupervised. Once Cy came along, and he did not like being crated, we quit crating any of them..

 

My answer is, if your grey tolerates the crate, you can crate her any time. They arn't going to care if it's only in the evenings etc.. IMO either your grey tolerates the crate or not. By tolerate, I mean not chewing and scratching or fighting to get out the whole time you are gone.

 

We had to lead mickey into the crate, but once she was in she was fine.. Cy paws, whines and is basically in distress, so no crating for him (although the open crate in our room is his second favorite place to sleep)..

[arandomchic]

Any way you can record what's happening? We found it incredibly helpful in understanding our grey's separation anxiety.

 

We used the Quick Cam on my laptop (set to motion detection) to record our alone training. We found out pretty quickly that Molly finishes her Kong in about 20 minutes, and starts whining/crying by 25 minutes in. She settles for a bit, then starts crying/whining again. So right now we know she can handle about 30 minutes alone before she gets really wigged out. It was really good to see what she was doing and how she was reacting, etc, and helped us know when we can add more time or when we have to back off a bit.

[DustysMom]

Don't think it has anything to do with SA. She would like to go out with us but she's fine when we leave (she has another GH with her). So far, there is absolutely nothing she's afraid of: fireworks, thunder, lightening, loud noises, vacuum...... She just seems to have to go during the time when we may be out in the evening - even if she's just gone immediately before our departure. (As I posted in another thread, she pees 8 times a day and poops 6 times a day. I don't know if she needs to do this but just does because she has the opportunity to do so.) We always have lights on around the house and frequently the TV.

 

We've been through urinalysis and poop checks multiple times.

 

Oh - and I would guess that maybe the crate causes her some stress because she pants/drools in there but no sign of that when she's not crated.

Edited April 19, 2010 by DustysMom

[jenn8]

Yes, you can leave her out during the day while crating her at night. Start on the weekend when you can keep a close eye for a couple of days and prevent any accidents from happening.

 

Jenn

[Guest tinams8]

If you are pretty sure crate training will cause more problems than it will solve, maybe you could confine her to a much smaller space, like an X Pen or bathroom?

 

Six times a day seems like a lot! do you feel like there could be something physical or medical going on despite not finding anything yet? If so, I would trust your gut and look into it further.

[sobesmom]

Can you take her for a good long walk before you leave, then block her in the kitchen? I'm not crazy about bathrooms because they're smaller, and aren't a place a dog "normally" hangs out in. That could cause stress.

 

A walk will help tire her, and give her multiple pee opportunities to make SURE she empties, and doesn't just give a goodwill squirt. (not sure if you're walking or yard-outs).

 

If you decide to crate then yes, I think it's fine to crate only during "issue" times.

 

8 pees and 6 poops seems like a lot to me. How old is this grey?