Training to be free roaming

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

A Brief History

Cooper is 1 yr 4 months. When we go to work she is left in her X-pen which is attached to her crate. She is more than happy with this - she goes in voluntarily. She always has a few toys and chews in there, and gets fed in there too. Before and after every meal, for about an hour in total she goes in there to calm down and let her tummy rest (Im paranoid about bloat).

The Issue

We are moving house in 3 weeks, to a smaller place where there will not be space for Coopers X-Pen. So she needs to learn to be free roaming.

Whats Happening

 For the last week we have not been closing the X-Pen gate at night and Cooper is being great at being free roaming. We close the doors to the bathrooms, lounge and computer room, so she just has access to her area, the kitchen and our bedroom. I wake to find her fast asleep on the floor beside the bed.

The Challenge

Cooper is so used to going into her X-pen to be fed, and then to lay down and rest. However, trying to get her to rest NOT in the X-pen is a challenge. She is a very energetic, bouncy doodle, and having been alone sleeping all day/night she does not want to rest even for 5 minutes. She is good with "going to her mat" and "waiting" but has to be told to "wait" every 20 seconds or so. She has never caught on to "stay". I guess we didnt put enough effort into it when she was little. She has always been very easy to train, but with "stay" she is terrible (she would never sit still for even a minute).

What To Do?

Im not sure whats the best way to teach her to rest. Practice "stay" at random times, increasing the length of time? Tether her when she needs to rest?

What methods have you used and what did/did not work?

In the new house, she will have access to the kitchen and lounge/computer area, but the bedrooms and bathroom will be closed off. We also have 2 cats - I dont want to have to shut them in a room when we are gone, but I need to know Cooper wont go crazy with the freedom and terrorize them (she is usually very respectful to them).

[Adina P]

I think working on a solid stay is important regardless of the rest situation.  Now are you trying to get her to rest because YOU need a rest or just after eating or some other reason?  Until you've trained her to 'stay', I think tethering and crating are excellent options.  Does the crate fit in your house?  

[Adina P]

Rerad and got my answer.  Must have read too fast 1st time through.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

Yes her crate will fit into the new house - we are getting rid of one couch to be sure there is space for it.
It is just for her to rest for half an hour before and after eating. She is very good at entertaining herself when we need a rest.

[BG and Gavin]

I would work on the stay as well, slowly increasing the duration. Have you considered using a baby gate to confine her to a room, like the bathroom, for her rest period.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

ok, so tethering her didnt work. she didnt struggle, or cry, she just lay down quietly on her "place" next to me.... 5 minutes passed and i looked at her she had almost chewed her way through her leash (thankfully its her old one) so she is currently in her crate. Again, she not crying, but she cetainly isnt impressed!

Will work on her stay

[Adina P]

If she's not 'resting' and free...what does she do exactly? Is she running or just walking around keeping busy? What about a bone to keep her occupied for a bit?

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Will her crate fit in the kitchen and then close the kitchen with a door, gate, etc. That way she will quickly get that the kitchen is her x-pen.

Cooper has learned that crate,x-pen is quiet, no play. The easiest way is mimic that area in her new surroundings. A kitchen or a bathroom is a good no play area because of its hard surface floor and lack of interesting things ( toilet paper, etc can be put up if necessary for awhile).

My dogs stay well, but I also have a sign for no-play. Any consistent hand sign and word will work, mine is "no play" and palm out, fingers up, moving hand side to side, similar to bye -bye. I started this by asking them to down near me, followed by "no play" voice and sign and transitioned slowly to just no play. My one dog would play fetch until you go insane, so this was my solution to help him learn that we do not always and everywhere play fetch.

[sophie]

my doodle loves to chase cats

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

For cats I trained my doodle to "down" when the cat was around. For example the dogs are on the bed but the cat jumps up for affection also. I put them in a down -stay. It took a LONG time to perfect this but it works well for all the animals

[Adina P]

I have to admit I was relieved to read the content of your post because by the title my first thought was "NO way...she wants to be able to let her dog wander the neighborhood? Good luck with that!" LOL

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

I thought the same thing Adina! I didn't even read the discussion until now because I knew that my doods would never get that kind of training down!

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

unfortunately the kitchen is small and theres no door so she cant be confined in there.

She always has bones/bully sticks to chew on, and she is pretty good at not chewing stuff she shouldnt. When she isnt resting she is playing with a ball, bouncing up and down with a toy, walking around, when shes tired she will lay down and sleep.

All in all, I think she will do well being trusted alone, free roaming. Its just the resting after dinner that needs work. We practiced a short "stay" today and she did well, she wasnt impressed, but she stayed