[im_nice1]

Or 5 month old puppy, Bessie is a hell raiser in general. And in all accounts of training I have read that puppies should not be left unseupervised for a second and thats what we've doing: either she's inside the crate (barking and howling generally) or one of us is watching her like her hawk in the room. (despite which she manages to pee inside, chew, tear etc)

But recently i left Bessie outside her crate alone for a little time and went upstairs. and when i returned, she was sitting quietly curled up on her 2nd bed outside the create (she has 2 beds-one in the crate and one outside since she doesnt like to sit on wooden floors) ...no peeing, no biting, no whining! since then i have repeated this a few times and its always the same: she quietly curls up and goes to sleep on her bed when alone and is 100% well behaved. However the moment we are back she is back to her usual chewing/biting/peeing self.

Just curious as to why the puppy would behave this way. and should we leave her alone outside the crate more?

 

[Angie's Bella]

Maybe you being in the room makes your puppy feel more confident and when you leave the room it makes it a little fearful. I am no expert, so this is just a guess, but it would explain the puppy going into it's "safe place" and laying down.

 

[im_nice1]

Hmm...you might be right Angie's Bella!

what im wondering is:

1- should we leave her out of her crate since she is so good, when we are not around? (she hates being put inside her crate and barks and howls everytime before settling down)

2-How do we promote the same good behavior when we are around?

 

[MyCharlie]

A few things come to mind - have you tried to make the crate a "nice" place to be? Like giving her treats and bones inside the crate, giving her toys in the crate, etc. If the only time she is in it is when you are leaving, she will only associate it with bad things. If she hates the crate that much, is there an area you can gate off and leave her in ther while you aren't home?

It's hard to tell what is causing the behavior (so it's hard to give you an idea of how to promote it when you are around). It could be fear, it could be her wanting attention when you are there.

But it sounds to me like boredom. Do you stimulate her? Physically and mentally? Playing games, tug, fetch, practice obedience, etc? Dogs need a LOT of physical and mental exercise and when they don't get enough, they find ways to entertain themselves (chewing, barking, biting, etc.)

As for the peeing thing, how often are you taking her out? Just watching her won't prevent her from peeing - they don't always give you hints that they have to go until it is too late, or their clues might be so subtle that we miss them. One of our pups we had to take out EVERY HOUR (we got her at 5-6 months old and she wasn't fully housebroken for probably four months after that). She would be playing, then just squat and pee all over the floor. Frustrating!

Good luck!

 

[im_nice1]

A few things come to mind - have you tried to make the crate a "nice" place to be?"

Mycharlie...we have tried to make her crate 'nice'. we give her stuffed kong inside, treats inside and even hide treats. she has a comfy bed and we put in her favorite toys there too. we sometimes even sit in the same room while crating her inside so she doesn't associate it with our leaving. but she seems to prefer sleeping outside the crate always.

It could be fear, it could be her wanting attention when you are there.
perhaps...she does thrive on attention and is very very friendly towards every dog and human.


But it sounds to me like boredom. Do you stimulate her? Physically and mentally? Playing games, tug, fetch, practice obedience, etc? Dogs need a LOT of physical and mental exercise and when they don't get enough, they find ways to entertain themselves (chewing, barking, biting, etc.)

--we play games like fetch in the garden, take her for 2-3 long walks everyday, she is left free in the common garden for sometime to explore, plus training. (as soon as she get leash trained I'm planning to take her running with me.). we dont know what more to do to stimulate her. and that is why Im so confused as to why she doesnt chew etc when she is alone and therefore bored.

And since Im at home all day, I take her out to pee every hour. (i put in a separate thread on peeing and based on answers we are going to get her checked for UTI this weekend).

 

[Angie's Bella]

One thing that I read when I was trainig Bella was to never let her out of the crate while she was whining or barking, only when she was quiet that way she didn't relate the undesired behavior to getting out of the crate. Have tried doing that?

I wouldn't give up on the crate just yet. Crate training makes the house training soooooooooo much easier. However, if you are having trouble with her peeing you when she is out then I would restrict where she is allowed to be except right after she has went pee, outside. Also, do you give her lots of praise when she does pee outside and a sharp "NO", and immediately take her out when you catch her peeing inside?

Also, be sure to use something to clean any area she has went potty in that will get ALL of the smell out, if you don't she will keep going to that spot over and over.

 

[mkoranda]

My 7 mo old lab puppy is a bundle of energy. She gets into everything (when we're around.) I exercise her tons. She runs off leash for 1-2 hours per day at a dog park. We go for 1-2 shorter walks. When she was finally housetrained (no accidents for several weeks) and when she could hold it for several hours I finally started leaving her out of the crate when we werent' home. I started with real short leaves and now I can leave her up to 4 hours without any problems. I think she mostly sleeps when we aren't home. She's still a disaster when we are home. She has loads of puppy energy and she also needs more training. I wouldn't leave her too unsupervised until she is better with potty training. I think accidents just lead to more accidents. But once she is I'd just take it a little at a time.

 

[Marsh Muppet]

When my Golden was a pup, I occasionally fell asleep before putting him up for the night. He was good as gold. We experimented a bit with that and it eventually led to his being out of his crate overnight.

Interestingly, he'd be perfectly behaved until I woke up. As soon as I would crack an eyelid, it was Katie bar the door. He apparently needed an audience for his hijinks or it just wasn't worth the effort.

 

[nikelodeon79]

The very first thing that came to my mind was ATTENTION. My pup is a sweet little angel when my brother watches her, but as soon as my husband and I get home from work, she turns into a little ball of energy: counter surfing, chasing/chewing on the kitties, etc. Even negative attention is attention... and to my pup it has become one big happy game.

Try to puppy proof your house as best you can, so you don't have to constantly be chasing her around with this or that. Either leash her to you, or keep her locked in ONE room (the one you are in). When it's not playtime or training time, ignore her as best you can.

Monitor her water intake and make note of how long it takes her to have to pee after she drinks. This way, you'll know when she has to pee, and therefore know when you have to take her out.

I think the whole "not letting her out of your sight for one second" has been taken a bit too literally. Watch her... without really letting her know you are watching/giving her attention.