Dogs: To crate or not to crate?
12
November
11/12/2009:
Hoboken411 reader Aimee is having some problems with a couple rather destructive dogs / puppies she owns – and is seeking advice on whether crating the animals during the day does more harm than good.
What suggestions can you offer her?
Dog Crate Conundrum
“I am writing to share a conundrum because I thought other readers might be able to offer some advice. Though this seems like an unanswerable situation to me, maybe others can shed some light on it (even non-dog-owners), whether there is insight to share, or because (like slowing down to see a fender-bender or fight on the street) there is a human nature-level curiosity in marveling about someone else’s situation of the moment.
My “disaster” is a pair of purely evil, though lovable, one-year-old high-energy labrador retrievers that share my life with me. Though, actually… they only share me when they feel like it, and my life has hardly been the same since I adopted them. Initially I believed my 1200 sf. space would be big enough for them to comfortably roam around during the daytime while I was at work. I always imagined that I would crate train them only for the first six months or so, until I could trust them to be alone and not have “accidents” inside. Unfortunately, after many more months of patience, brief 20-minute trial periods, and repetitive discipline–I’m honestly not sure if I can ever have the peace of mind to give them run of the house anytime soon. My boyfriend disagrees: he thinks that I can leave them alone with +/- two dozens toys, and actually come home to a somewhat-peaceable situation. As for me, I’m scared as hell just running down the block for a cup of coffee because I’m never sure what destruction is in store for me upon my return. Also, it’s almost impossible to know if they’ve swallowed something dangerous (which happens about once a month and requires immediate [expensive!] medical attention).
Does confining them make it worse?
In a nutshell, my dogs are highly destructive. Don’t get me wrong–I love them! But… they chew corners of moldings and staircases; actually even eat walls sometimes; like to chew apart sofa cushions, rugs, clothing; and will literally put any free object in their mouths just for the sheer pleasure of destroying it. When they are not targeting something in the apartment, they are wrestling which tends to knock things over. Because of this, I live in a totally non-cluttered space that looks more like a hotel lobby than any other regular place in Hoboken. [Actually, this e-mail is even taking longer to write than anticipated because one is trying to eat my desk chair and the other is trying to open the toilet for a drink!] I know they are smart dogs and need to be pre-occupied and exercised, but I take them out for at least two hours of walks/runs/park romps a day, and their walker takes them mid-day for another hour-long romp.
I’m sure my dilemma is clear, but to put it in a nutshell: when do I take a chance and leave them outside their crates?
If the time is not now (which I would argue it certainly is not), when is the appropriate time to let them be free to hang out when I’m gone? Perhaps, as my boyfriend suggests, time out of confinement is the answer to this problem. Will a house strewn with dog toys and some roaming space calm them down and solve all my problems?
And… for those of you with no “dog advice” to offer–are you re-modeling and in need of some cheap demolition work?”
November 13th 2009 - 11:00:35 |
Hi Aimee…My husband and I lived in Hoboken for almost 2 years with a Border Collie/Beagle Mix, so he was VERY smart and liked to be active…and at times we were at our wits end with his hyper behavior.
We crated him during the day without a dog walker (which I felt terrible about) and though we occassionally had accidents, for the most part it was OK. We went for a good walk in the morning and then straight to the dog run after work and he was ready for bed! We never left him out of the crate during the day because we’d come home to minor destruction in the past. While he wasn’t as bad as ripping up pillows and chewing apart furniture, he would shred papers all over the apartment and then “mark” them when he was done. Additionally, he’s a counter surfer (a problem we’re STILL trying to fix) so we couldn’t leave anything on the counters that he could get.
We started taking him to doggy daycare at Hoboken Unleashed for one day in the middle of the week and he was exhausted for days and happy to be in the crate.
We tried the 1×1 training with Joanna from Sit & Stay. She was more behavioral than anything and while it helped with his separation anxiety a little bit, her methods were hard to live by day to day…unless you work from home and can dedicate between 3-4 hours a day just to dog training.
We have since moved into the suburbs with a large back yard and he’s now got the run of the house (minus the living room) and we have a dog walker come twice a week. We shut the bedroom doors upstairs, give him a bone and a couple toys and he’s good for the day. We also purchased an Automated Kong dispenser. You fill this machine with four kong toys, set it for 8 hours and over the course of the day dispenses kong toys with treats in them – he’s very occupied by this! It was about $100 but well worth it.
He turned 2 at the end of May and we think he’s beginning to calm down, but it may just be the transition to the house and not being confined to his crate all day.
Wishing you lots of luck!!
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November 16th 2009 - 02:24:04 |
Aimee,
My friend adopted a lab puppy and the dog ate everything in sight – chairs, desk, even like u said, walls and the siding of the house. Got sick a lot too!! I agree with most people here: exercise and crating are important. Labs r difficult for the first 3 years but then become wonderful calm dogs for the most part. Good luck!!
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December 7th 2009 - 14:45:34 |
When I was browsing for my wife and I to get our own dog, I read a lot online about breeds. I grew up with a chocolate lab, and he was a great dog, but he was highly energetic and in his younger years, did some damage around the house. He was never alone for more than 4-5 hours either. When I was reading about the breed on akc (i think), there was a line that stuck out:
“needs to be constantly challenged or will find itself in trouble”.
The thing is, a lot of people think they are tiring out a lab, but they are not even close. We used to take our lab for 45 minute runs at least twice a day, plus he could run around the yard quite a bit. But we didn’t challenge him enough mentally. We had the kong toys filled with treats or peanut butter. We also had the food ball (has 1 hole in it and they have to push it around to get their food out). We didn’t use these enough at a young age to keep him busy.
We also weren’t consistent about giving him 20-30 minutes of play time before we left to go to school/work/out. You have to walk them in the morning (preferably run), and play with them. Maybe go to the dog park and really let them run.
There’s a place in Edgewater that has a dog pool also, though it’s expensive. But it might be a good idea to go every now and then.
I think you should not feel guilty about using the crate. The dog we adopted is not a lab, but here’s what we did:
Got him as a 12 week old.
Every time we left the apartment for any amount of time – crate (with a nylabone and/or kong toy).
After he was 5 months old, we gave him the hallway with a gate, and still left the crate in there with the door open and left him with a nylabone and/or kong toy.
At about 7/8 months, we started giving him the apartment, in a clean state (nothing he could grab) with the bedroom doors closed. Still left his crate in the hall. Whenever we leave, we give him his kong with the filling (we should probably get a bigger kong now to keep him busy longer).
He’s 12.5 months old now, and he gets the bedroom too now.
He was never destructive except if we were home and didn’t pay attention to him for long periods of time. We learned our lesson, and we put stuff away and keep a neat apartment, but that’s letting him win. I know a lab would be a disaster for me because I don’t have the time currently, but you’re going to need to add training to the daily routine (even if it’s just 20-30 minutes of sit, stay, come, etc.)
Any time we saw our guy chew the carpet or the corner of a piece of furniture, we said no, pulled him away from that, and replaced it with a nylabone. He figured out what he could and couldn’t chew.
Also, the bitter apple may not work for your dog, but there are 5-6 different types or spray. One of them will work, I would keep trying. It’s an added deterrent. There are many other methods different trainers will tell you (water bottle squirts, etc).
Bottom line is, you have to consistently discipline. It’s frustrating, and you can’t communicate with frustration. Be stern, and be consistent.
And for now, use the crate for a few months.
Labradors in this town is a crazy idea. It’s nearly impossible to give them enough exercise in this town and to challenge them enough. But if you dedicate a lot of time to it, which you should have known when you got them, they are the GREATEST breed in the world for affection and loyalty.
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