Contents of crate

[josiepup]

Hi all! I am new to this forum and wanted to aske a couple of questions about crate training. We have an 9-week old Great Pyrenees pup who has been with us for about a week. She has two crates--a plastic one for our bedroom and a larger wire one for the family room (with a divider in place to make in the proper size for her now). I have been reading that the crate should have a soft blanket, so I initially put one in for her. However, I noticed that when she was out of the crate, she tended to sleep on the slate floor near the back door. So I took the blanket out and put in a sheet. Not sure that was the right thing to do, so I wondered if others have had some experience indicating that a blanket inside the crate was perhaps too warm? She goes in and out of her crate willingly, but never goes in for a nap (slate floor, by back door for that). We are making progress with crate training during the day (she is fine in the plastic crate at night), but I wondered whether I should put a blanket over the wire crate to make it cozier. Have any of you found that this makes a difference? Thanks for any and all advice!

 

[Herschel]

Herschel used to be the same way. Any blankets in his crate would get pushed out of the way.

We took the blanket out and he liked it more! He still had some stuffed toys and a nylabone to keep him busy. Apparently he liked the cold, hard floor of his crate more than the soft, warm blanket.

Now, he has one of these http://www.precisionpet.com/SnoozyBeds.asp and he really likes it. (Maybe because it is winter?)

 

[Barb04]

My dog only liked the plastic crate that was more enclosed than the wire. You could try putting a blanket over the wire crate so it's more enclosed. I went through several blankets, etc. with my new pup. I finally found a small blanket that he didn't chew.

 

[girlbuffalo1]

Wrigley never really liked anything in his crate either due to him being too warm as a puppy--and trying the trick of peeing on the blanket and pushing it out of the way. He also ate a bed I got him. So now only in the winter does he have a towel in there to lay on--I really don't think it matters to him.

When he was very small we did put a blanket over the crate to make it more den like as he seemed to like it--now it doesn't matter so he goes without.