1 1/2 year old still crying in crate

[Mom of Jäger]

I have a male boxer that is 1 1/2 years old. Our morning schedule consists of waking up, letting them outside (I also have a 7 month old dane), feeding them in their crates while I take a shower (they will chew things up if I'm not watching them or soil in the house while I'm in the shower), then after my shower, I let them outside again, then they roam until I leave for work, when they are crated again. My problem is that my boxer will whine and cry SO LOUD while I am in the shower and he is in his crate. He will also paw/dig at the door of the crate to try and get out. He is getting ignored, as I am in the shower, so he is not getting any attention while crying, but I do have two roommates that are still sleeping at this time. I THINK he does okay after I leave for work. I'm not sure if it's because he sees me leave out the front door, but I really need to get him to stop crying while in the crate when I'm in the shower. Any suggestions? He has been crated since about the age of 3 1/2 months so it's not a new thing for him. Thanks!

 

[hogan's mom]

It sounds to me like they are let out of the crate after a night of sleep only to be put right back in? Imagine how you would feel about that. I've never fed my dogs in the crate, so that is something new to me.

Have you tried bringing them into the bathroom while you shower so you can at least keep an eye on them? I also don't understand the possibility that they soil at that age. They should be totally housetrained by 11-12 weeks old, let alone 7 mos. and 1 1/2 years...

You could also try taking them for a long walk together when you get them up instead of just letting them out. That would take a lot of sacrafice on your part (I would dread that myself), but may be just what they need to get their energy spent and everyone else in the house a peaceful morning.

Good luck!

 

[kayboxer]

Have you tried bringing them into the bathroom while you shower so you can at least keep an eye on them? I also don't understand the possibility that they soil at that age. They should be totally housetrained by 11-12 weeks old, let alone 7 mos. and 1 1/2 years...

You could also try taking them for a long walk together when you get them up instead of just letting them out. That would take a lot of sacrafice on your part (I would dread that myself), but may be just what they need to get their energy spent and everyone else in the house a peaceful morning.

I agree with possibly taking them into the bathroom. Maybe you could feed them in there. They should be potty trained by 1 1/2 years, but it can take longer than 11-12 weeks. It can take months for a pup to be fully potty trained. I also agree with a walk before crating them before work, but I know if the weather is bad, as it has been where I live for weeks, it is hard to do. Maybe a good play session if you can't walk them.

 

[Mom of Jäger]

Thanks for the replies...

They do not sleep in their crates at night. They have their own beds and sometimes end up on mine.

They are fed in their crate for a couple reasons: 1) Zane (dane) eats his food in a matter of seconds and will go over to Jager's and finish his too, so I crate them to keep them separate. 2) If you research crate training at all, most places recommend feeding in the crate to associate the crate with good things.

As far as housetraining, dogs don't even begin to understand the concept of being housetrained until 6-7 months of age. So anyone thinking their dog is trained before that is just managing their puppy's needs very well and just not giving them the chance to go inside. The puppy really has no idea what's going on. The only time mine will go inside is within a matter of minutes after they eat if they are not crated or outside.

As for keeping them in the bathroom with me, my bathroom is TINY and they would both barely fit inside and it would get pretty hot and steamy for them.

I will attempt the play session and/or walk (when it warms up, right now they hate being outside as much as I do with how cold it is).

I found out that he doesn't really cry when I leave for the day as he can see me go and knows I'm gone. It's just when I'm in the shower because I think he just knows I'm there and doesn't want to be locked up.

Definitely open to more suggestions!! Thanks!

 

[gmacleod]

Would it be an option to feed the dogs (inside or outside) before your shower, then leave them out there until you go to work? That's pretty close to what you're doing now, except for the shower part.

I think that part of the problem is that even though you don't think you're responding to Jager's crying - I think he thinks you are It sounds as though he sits there crying and shouting until you re-emerge from the shower and let him out. Ergo, crying and shouting means that you come and let him out (even if you take some time about it), and so he keeps on crying. Does that make a bit of sense? You think you're ignoring him because you're taking your shower and you don't stop mid-way. But HE thinks it's his crying that brings you back to let him out. LOL - and unfortunately, it's his perspective that counts in this case, since he's the one making the noise.

Short of spending large amounts of time crating him and only letting him out when he *stops* crying, I don't see an easy way for you to correct this. Or put another way, no way to correct it that's not going to involve spending a lot of time every morning on training. That would probably be the better solution, but if you don't have or want to spend that amount of time, then the above suggestion about rearranging your morning routine so that he's outside rather than in the crate when you shower is about the best I can think of.

 

[mancin]

How long are your showers? Would it be possible to give him a frozen Kong stuffed with some treats as well as his food and feed him that way instead of straight out of a bowl? Or, depending on how much he's fed, half of his food in the bowl and the other half in the Kong. Perhaps it would take him a bit longer to get through his food and hopefully he won't notice you've been gone. Also, it may give him something to look forward to rather than dread. I don't know if you use a Kong already, but it's very popular with my 3. As soon as they see me grab it, even before I stuff it and put it in the freezer, they start drooling and run to their crates.

 

[Mom of Jäger]

Oh my...so this morning, I let them outside first thing then planned on feeding them AFTER I got out of the shower. I just made sure there was nothing they could get in to and let them wander the house while I was showering. Then I was going to feed them, then let them out right away. Apparently, I don't know how to housetrain my dogs. I took a shower, came downstairs, and they had both pooped on the floor. When I let them out first thing, they both went potty but didn't poo. I assumed they didn't have to as they hadn't eaten yet. They HATE staying outside in the cold so they both came running to the door to be let in after pottying. With Jäger (well with both but Jager's older), 1 1/2 years old, any time he's gone inside, I haven't scolded him, just ignored him and took him outside right away and praised for going outside. The couple of times I did try the approach of scolding him, he would start to get worse and go inside even more frequently. When I would ignore him, he'd do it less, but he'd still do it. Now he hasn't hardly at all in a long time except for right after eating, until this morning. So now I'm at a loss. He (well both but Zane's younger) doesn't know how to hold it (unless crated), even for a matter of minutes, if I'm not around to let them out. And Zane, being a dane with a large bladder, should definitely be trained by now. AGH! I don't even know what to do anymore.

So, to answer your questions...I kept them outside when it was warm out but I can't now as it is freezing in the morning and they bark/cry and scratch at the door really bad to be let in. As for the Kong, I do use those now and they like them. Zane loves them and if he was the problem, it'd definitely be fixed with that, but he doesn't cry when crated unless Jager is out. But Jager, while he likes them and does eat, he doesn't go crazy for them and will leave his food if he isn't locked in the crate and sees me walk away to follow. He's a momma's boy.

HELP???? I research dog-training stuff ALL the time and should be an expert by now, but apparently I'm not even close. My roommates are going to start a petition soon to get me out if I don't get this fixed.

 

[Mom of Jäger]

Oh yeah...GMACLEOD...I wouldn't mind spending time training him and leaving him in his crate until he stops crying but my roommates do. If I had my own house, he could cry all morning if he wanted to.

Also, when I did live by myself in my apartment and before I had Zane, I would take Jager outside first thing, feed him when I got in the shower and not crate him, and then not take him outside again until just before I left for work, and he would very rarely go inside. I think him seeing Zane do it now has gotten him to do it.

 

[PrisonGuard]

3 words... Peanut Butter Kong... LOL If we want about half an hour of quiet time we put peanut butter in one of our bone shaped kongs that have the holes in the ends for treats. This is like a pacifier for a kid. They will lick and lick on those things trying to get every last bit of peanut butter out!!! Hope this helps.

 

[kmorales]

Try showering at night before bed while your roommates are awake.. haha.. just a suggestion, yet I would do it in your case.