Crate Question

[Tracy A]

Hello,

I'm getting a standard f1b goldendoodle that comes home friday and I'm not sure what to do about a crate. I want to crate train, so I know I should probably get a wire crate big enough for him to use when full grown (estimate of 60-65 lbs) with a divider for now, but I also need a way to take him with me in the car (I'm taking him to work with me).  Can anyone give me some advice on what size car carrier to get him while he's potty training?  Also, what size crate do you have for a full grown standard doodle? 42 inch, 48?

Thanks!  This is our first dog, and I'm nervous! :)

Tracy

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I have mentioned that Snuggle Puppy in previous posts. I swear that Snuggle puppy made the transition to our home so much easier for our puppies. My older dog carried it around for months and now goes in our new puppy's crate and takes his out each morning. I bought one for my daughter's French Bulldog too.

[Julie & Cooper]

Deb - Love the Lucy in her crate video. She is absolutely adorable. I too am bringing home my first labradoodle (also a chocolate) on April 18th. I have had other dogs, but not a new puppy in years. I have been listening in on all these crate discussions. I too am very nervous about the potty training. As soon as I post this message I am going to order a crate that I found via another group's post and get it here before my baby arrives. I have a smaller plastic carrier-type crate to use by our bed at night and he will be in the larger wire crate during the day when I must be gone.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I love that name and thought about using it too. I would have spelled it Mousse too. Love it!!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Tracy, You will do a great job and the best advice I can give you is do what works best for you and your new puppy. I stressed myself out so badly reading a ton of books. Fudge never loved her crate. Many dogs do, but Fudge did not. I crated her at night, until she was about 6 months old and then I just opened the door one night and waited to see what would happen. She just prefers the cold, hardwood floors. No bed, nothing. I also liked to cuddle with her at night and then would take her out for her last potty break around 10 or 11 and put her in her crate with a treat for the night. In the beginning, I did get up a lot and take her out during the night. If she slept most of the night, I would just bring her into bed with us in the morning. Some people think you should always put them back in the crate, but this worked for us.

Our new puppy, I probably did a big no no and allowed him to sleep with us the first night. He slept all night and did great. The next night, I anticipated him crying and he was perfect. I had the crate right next to the bed and just would put my hand in to reassure him. Now, I start him off in the crate and if he gets up in the middle of the night, I take him out and do not re-crate him. He likes to sleep near our older dog or under our bed and has had no accidents at night. My goal is to be crate free in one year.

Good luck and I hope you go with Mousse. I like the food names too...we have had a Hershey, Honey, Fudge, and the newest is named after a Midwest Ginger ale...Vernors and we call him Vern. If he had been chocolate, he could have been a Mousse.

[Tracy A]

Laurie, Thank you for the advice! Mousse (we stuck with that) came home friday, and has been doing great. The first night, he didn't cry when I put him in the crate at 11 pm, and didn't get up till 6 am to go outside and pee. No accidents in the crate. He's been doing well with the house training, but that may be because I take him out what feels like every 15 min! :) I guess I would rather take him out a lot than clean up a mess on my floor.

He hates the crate during the day, and like your's he prefers the cold tile floors. He has a bed that he likes to sit on and chew his toys, but he's never slept on it. The crate I have for now, is plastic, maybe I should take out the towel?

The biggest challenge is getting my 6 yr old son to show him who's boss. He loves the dog, but he's timid when it comes to Mousse chewing his fingers, and biting his clothes. I'm just afraid its going to create some bad habits. Any advice?

Thanks again!

[Leslie J]

Mousse is adorable! I have 5 year old twins, and it does take the little ones a while to show the puppy who is boss! When Cocoa gets too "mouthy" or jumps on the boys I tether her to a sofa or table so that they can move away from her is she's not playing nice. I also try to tell them not to crawl on the floor with her because then she treats them like another puppy... but they seem to roll around the floor with her anyway.

At 8 months much of the mouthy behavior is over, but the jumping is more prevalent. Now if she nips at them (she has a very soft mouth and never hurts anyone anymore) they tell her "NO BITE COCOA" or if she jumps "OFF, COCOA". I also give them treats so they can help train her to "sit" and "down".

Give your son some time... I'm sure he'll become a little dog trainer in no time!

[Leslie J]

Oh one other thing- when Cocoa was little we all held onto a chew toy when we pet her, and whenever she chewed us or our clothes we would put the chew toy in her mouth and say "chew this, Cocoa".

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

When we brought Fudge home last year, our nieces and nephew came to stay two weeks after we got her. She was in the serious puppy nipping stage and my husband told them to try saying in a very authoritative voice "stop biting". He had them practice and after they showed us how they were going to say it..he said "expect to get bit."

Maybe he can let out a high pitched howl or yelp when the puppy bites and hopefully it will startle Mousse enough to stop. Sometimes, I had to put Fudge in her crate for a time out when she started to get out of control. When it was me she was nipping, I would ignore her and turn my back on her and say no. She did seem to be worse with my daughter ( who is 24), and she seemed to know she could get away with it.

With my young nieces and nephews, I tried to tell them not to run by her and stay calm (sure), but mainly I just supervised their interaction and corrected her as needed. It is a stage and it does pass. Also, another idea is get some bully sticks for chewing on and distracting with...and when Fudge would bite, I would say "no bite" and hand her a toy she could chew on. If she kept doing it, I would put her in the crate for a time out until she calmed down.

Mousse sounds like a normal puppy and is doing great at night. That is a big step.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Leslie's chew toy idea is great too!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

You have received great advice - I have a mini so i can't help with crate size! But I had to pipe in and say congrats on your puppy and welcome! I love chocolate doodles!!!! Mousse sounds pretty perfect...

[Minga & Malu & Costa]

Do you have any training books? One of the recommended methods for bite inhibition is to yelp like a puppy would if he got bit too hard. So you or your son would do this immediately when the puppy makes a nip on your skin, clothes, shoes, etc on your body. At first you do it when he bites hard, then gradually any tooth contact to skin you would yelp. After the yelp (very short, high pitched, JUST like a puppy), have a toy handy or anything that IS ok for the puppy to have in his mouth. You may have to yelp for your son.

Recommended reading "How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves" by Sophia Yin.
If you don't have any training books, I highly recommend that you get this book!!! It will go a long way to making you and your dog happy.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Your Mousse is very cute! I remember in the not too distant past (like 2 months ago!) how Lucy's biting was a real issue for us. We yelped like a puppy, put her in time outs, gave her alternative chew toys while tellng her 'no bite', nothing seemed to help really. I remember how frustrating it became. And then one day it seemed to disappear overnight. Thankfully, puppies grow out it it eventually. Now, at over 5 months old, Lucy is losing her baby teeth and she's been chewing her bully sticks like crazy... but not us!

As someone mentioned earlier, the jumping up has now become the bigger issue. We stumbled upon a trainer at Pet Smart yesterday and she said clicker training to prevent jumping up is effective. She even gave a demo with Lucy on how its done. You simply click (with the clicker hidden either behind you or in your pocket) when their butt hits the ground and treat. You want to do this in situations where they've previously been out of control with jumping, like when greeting people or when you just arrive home. So you ignore them when they jump, don't even look at them, but when their butt goes down, and they have all 4-on-the-floor, you click and treat. No words. Its simple cause and effect. Eventually you phase out the clicker and treats.