Am I Doing It All Wrong??

[ETilley]

Okay, so my little Vegas is 8 weeks old and I just brought her home on Sunday night. She didn't seem to have any sort of separation anxiety from her litter but she gets really upset when I'm out of her sight... even if it's just for a minute. I have been really lucky and haven't had to leave her since she came home with me but I have to work this evening and will be crating her for the first time. She has been in there a couple of times for just a short while and has gone ballistic crying, barking and whining. I know that it's the right thing to do, but I'm kind of going through a guilt phase for leaving her in there and I want to know how to make this training transition easier for the both of us??
Also, I haven't crated her during the night and it's been quite the "messy" adventure so far. Should I crate her at night and what's the best place to keep her crate?? Right now it's in the living room which looks awful, but seems to be a good place during the day. Help me!!

 

[FarleyBoxer]

If you do a search on crate training you'll find tons of helpful information about how you can make Vegas' crate a sanctuary for her that she will like to stay in.

I would definitely crate her during the night, bc every time she potties inside and you don't see her do it to tell her otherwise, that just enforces to her that it's okay to do that. My advice is to keep her crate beside your bed so she knows you're there and your presence can be comforting to her.

 

[Melissa18]

I would definitely crate her at night. I bought a large crate, big enough for when Otis is full grown, and just put a box inside so that he didn't have access to the entire crate. Gradually as he got bigger, I added more space by using a smaller box. They don't like to go potty where they are sleeping, so if you only give them enough space to sleep, they shouldn't use the bathroom in their crate.

Also, to make it easier, I had two crates. A wire crate out in the living room and the plastic crate in the bedroom. During the day when I had to crate him, I would crate him in the living room and then at night he slept in his crate in the bedroom.

Good luck with the little one! It gets better, trust me!

 

[awuillay]

Crating your puppy

I had a bad experience when trying to crate my puppy. I too found it hard to listen to the intense crying not to mention the mess. I was fortunate enought to stay home and train my puppy, but ultimately found I needed a friend for her so I adopted another boxer to keep her company and that really did the trick. They have become the best of friends and no more issues with separation anxiety.

 

[Muggsysmommy]

Jacks crate is in the bedroom he likes to sleep in there most of the time. He even stays in there during the day. They get used to it I guess. Muggsy on the other hand was hardly ever crated. He hated it. He would potty in there every time because he knew you would take him out if he did that. You couldn't bribe him to go in there for anything you had to push him. I hated it he hated it so we didn't do it anymore. Instead, we gated him into the kitchen. We put the crate in there with lots of blankets and all his toys but left the door open. This helped he didn't mind....until he got big enough to push the gates down but that's a whole other story. Good luck

 

[ETilley]

Thanks...

Thanks for the support everyone!! I just had to run out for about 45 minutes to go to the bank and grocery store and since I couldn't take her with me, I left her in her crate. No mess!! I think she might have cried the entire time I was gone because she was exhausted and went straight to sleep when I returned. I tried playing with her ahead of time, throwing her toys into the crate for her to run in and fetch, giving her treats in there, etc. Hopefully it won't take too long to get her used to it.
I guess I'll have to start crating her at night too. She's going to be real mad at first and I'm going to have quite a few sleepless nights, but eventually it will be better for both of us. I'll put her crate next to my bed so she knows that I'm there. Wish me luck!!

 

[Ciscobxr]

Just remember tonight, never, ever take her out while she is crying. It will take much longer to get her trained if you do.
Good luck with getting some sleep!

 

[cybie]

I'm now training my second boxer... and I feel I will burst in tears
WHAT AM I DOING WRONG????
It seems I have forotten all the trouble I went through when I as training Cybe...
Now I have a little one, almost 8 weeks
This is the third day home and she will cry hard for more than half an hour every time I crate her...
I will post a thread... asking if anybodys pup found the crate as a "paradise" as all the manuals say... during the first week I mean....
Ah!

 

[ETilley]

Great News!!

Last night Vegas starting going to the door to go out!! She's only been here with me for a week! I'm soooo proud of her. Also, I didn't crate her last night because I ended up falling asleep on the couch watching movies and the little angel didn't make any mess on the floor. She woke me up this morning to let her out!! It was as though everything just clicked for her all of a sudden. I'm sure there will still be accidents... she is only a little over 8 weeks afterall, but this is a big breakthrough and I'm so happy. I made a big fuss and if anyone had been looking on, they would have thought I'd won the lottery!! She loves to make mom happy and looked completely proud of herself too.
Hang in there Cybie!! Vegas still hates her crate and prefers to lounge on her new bed, but they've got to go in anyway and they'll get used to it. She does wander in and out of there when the door is open now, which is progress, but I think it's going to take a while for her to actually like it.