Problem with Cage Training (Help Please)

joe333

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#1
I have a 5 month old Wheaten Terrier. Since we got him we have been putting him in his cage at night in the laundry room. He used to love it. Even in the middle of the day he would go in just to lie down. Now that he is a little bigger and his coat is thicker he doesn't like going in and we sometimes have to push him in at night. Probably because it is to hot. It is a big cage and we have one of those foam beds at the back with blankets. I read that you are supposed to put puppies in a cage until they are one year old to properly cage train them. There is no way he will be able to be in there for a year. Would it be okay if we took out the cage and left his bed and blankets in the same spot and let him stay in the 20x5ft laundry room overnight or is this a bad idea?
 
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#2
I think that would be ok. Just prepare it by removing anything he can tear up or hurt himself with. He would probably rather be in a 5x20 room instead of a small cage...

Chazhound
 
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#3
Absolutely! Crate training is, after all, a relatively new development. Being a bit claustrophobic myself, I can't bring myself to use it, and I've never found a need for it. There's always a room I can puppy-proof if necessary, until they develop enough common sense to stay out of trouble in the house.
 

RD

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#4
Renee, I can't imagine the size crate your girls would need anyway... :D

A puppy proofed room is just as good as a crate for living in, but if you're looking to house train your pup as well, a crate is a wonderful tool. A 5x20 room is still a big room to a wheaton, and he'll see one side of the room as the bathroom, and one side as the 'den'.

A dog can be crate trained easily.

What kind of crate are you using? Are you using a plastic one with holes in it or a wire one? Most dogs, in my experience, prefer a wire crate because they can still see their surroundings, and it's MUCH cooler and more breathable.
 
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#5
Rip's Girl said:
Renee, I can't imagine the size crate your girls would need anyway... :D
I can just imagine one of them hearing a strange noise, lunging in the crate, and flipping it over until it was smashed . . . especially Shiva, the Great Destroyer! (rofl)
 
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#6
Haaa!!! I can just see Shiva poking holes in the bottom and running down the road with the cage wrapped around her :)
 
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#7
Remember the scene in Alice in Wonderland where Alice eats the cake while she's inside the White Rabbit's cottage and grows until her legs and arms are poking out and she's peeking out the dormer in the roof?
 
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#8
Yeah! That's the picture... I bet that would be a sight :)

I am like you Renee, I just hadn't had to crate dogs. But I can see how it helps if one had to go to leave the house everyday from 8-5 and had a energetic dog.

Chazhound
 

joe333

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#10
The bedrooms are upstairs and we just got new carpet up there so we are trying to keep him on the first floor and the basement. We have a radio on at night that he likes because if we forget to turn it on he barks to remind us so I don't think he's lonely. He is still however in a plastic crate but it has wire windows in the side and a wire door. We just think he's to hot. He hasn't had any accidents in the house for a while and we have left him out of his cage while we have gone out for about 2 hours and he was fine. I think he just likes to move around to keep finding cool spots. He especially likes the air conditioning vents. Maybe we should try it for a few nights and see what happens.
 
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#11
Sounds like a good plan, especially if you're able to keep him away from the rooms with the new carpet. Even the best intentioned pup will have an accident now and then, but you can help him there, too, by not giving him food too late in the evening and restricting his water at night.
 

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