Stew's 3rd day home alone....

[Jess & Stewart]

Stew has now been home alone in his crate for 3 days while I'm at work. Actually, Sunday & Monday, I wasn't at work but I acted like I was & left at 7:50 am, came home at 11:45, then left again from 1-4:45 pm.

Yesterday, I did laundry in my basement for an hour, then ran errands until I came home for lunch. He screamed in the crate for the entire hour & I believe he made the other dog in the apt building start barking, because certain barks were definitely not his. I'm on the third floor, in the rear of the building and could still hear him down 4 levels in the basement! I came home for lunch, no pee/poop in the crate, but he had chewed at the plate on the front, there were scratch/bite marks on the paper, he messed the blanket over the crate up, pulled some of it into the crate & his toys (nylabone) was stuck in the back part of the crate. If you look closely at the picture you can see them. I took him out, fed him in the first 10 minutes of my lunch break, then he curled up on the floor & fell asleep! He woke up as I was making myself lunch about 15 minutes later, so I took him for a long walk, then played inside until I had to leave again.

When I came home, he still had the blanket over the crate, but the other stuff was pushed to one side and he was barking, whining & panting. I let him out & he ran full speed to his water bowl & drank almost a cup of water! No pee/poop again in the crate!

Today was the same, more scratches on the front of the crate, the blanket over top was messed up & had a bunch of bite marks in it! His face was wet also. Again. he ran right to his water bowl for water, although I did leave him with some ice cubes in addition to all his other stuff.

I have the crate in my bedroom, blanket covering it, snuggle puppy, a pillowcase of mine & a nylabone in there with him. I also gave him bits of apple to chew on (he'd eaten them the day before). I left the radio on & a nightlight so it wasn't total darkness. What else can I do?

I attached a fun snow picture also! He LOVES the snow!

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Enzo loves Nylabones.....only bone I trust her with when we are not around.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Are you thinking of a Rawhide bones? It's impossible for Nylabones to break onto chunks.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It depends on the Nylabone, there are lots of different kinds.

[F, Calla & Luca]

There are many articles on the web about intestinal blockage from pieces of Nylabones.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

My husband hit one with his riding lawn mower/ tractor. Busted the blade...bone was knicked. I guess there are different kinds...ours are rock hard.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yes, that's why you have to get the right kind. :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'd get rid of the blanket, there's no need for it. Is it possible for you to put the crate near a window where he can see what's going on in the world, or at least open the curtains and let some light into the room? ? Many dogs do not like to be confined in a dark, closed up area where they feel isolated. 

[Jess & Stewart]

I have one of the flexi chew nylabone in there with him, not sure how much or if he chews it though.

I got rid of the blanket this morning when I left. I had my window open last night as it was hot in my apt, so I left it open with the shade up. I also left my light next to my bed on, as it brought more light into the room. I'm going home for lunch in about 5 minutes, so we'll see how he was today.

I left him 2 small ice cubes & some yogurt with treats in a KONG, I'm hoping he went back to it after I left.

Does the food in the KONG make it so the dog will need to go in the crate? I was nervous leaving food in there as I thought it would encourage him to go.

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

Love his snowy face.  Hang in there! you seem to be on the right path. 

[Jess & Stewart]

I went home for lunch & didn't hear any barking until I opened my apartment door! Yesterday as soon as I walked through the front door 3 floors down, I heard screaming. He had eaten most of the KONG, but some of it was stuck in the bottom. The ice cubes were gone also. No pee/poop in the crate either!

On F's suggestion, I increased the crate size, he has about half the crate now, so he can walk straight in & be fully in the crate. It looks like a lot of room, but I keep forgetting that he's mostly fur! He's only 9 lbs!

I'm hopeful that he'll get used to our schedule. I don't need him to love his crate, as I'd prefer him to be out with me & laying on the floor or his dog bed, but I want him to tolerate it when I need to do something at home or go out.

[Alex/Mindy/Georgia/Coral]

We had the same issue with Georgia. She would push everything to one side and her feet would be damp when we let her out, meaning that she was stressed. This is what I did to resolve her issues in the crate.

 

On the weekend I put her in the crate and kept the door open, but made her stay. A Cesar Millan "tssh" noise was enough to do it, and after she was semi-relaxed I attempted to give her a treat. Cesar says that if they don't accept a really good treat that usually means they are at a high level of stress/anxiety. She didn't accept the treat so I let her hang out for a bit longer, with me sitting close to it the entire time, door still open. After about 15 minutes I tried the food again, which she took. I continued this for about an hour, and after that time I would close the door for just a moment and then open it again and give a treat. I did this for about an hour as well. Then I closed the door and just sat there for about 15 minutes close to the crate, and then give a treat. Again I did this for about another hour. Then I would walk away for a couple of minutes, and if she whined I would verbally correct with a "tssh" sound as soon as she made the noise. I did this for a couple of days for shorter amount of times and increased the amount of closed door and me being away. After a week I could leave for two hours and she was fine. Just don't get frustrated and correct when if they begin to whine.

 

I hope this helps.

[Debbie & Gibbs]

Is doggie day care a possibility for a couple of days a week?  I had to take my little Westie female to doggie day care for a couple of months and after that she didn't mind her time at home.  I think she rather enjoyed it because she was dog tired from all of her play activities.