Help!

[Yazbremski]

We have 2 dogs. A 7 year old Greyhound mix that my wife trained and is quite a good dog. We also have a year and a half old Chihuahua/Terrier mix that is a little crazy! He is a great dog and we're trying to train him but we're going batty in the process. When we first got him he marked everywhere and peed and pooped in the house but since being fixed he has basically stopped that. When we're not at home or during the night we have him in a crate just so he doesn't revert to it (plus we've been told little dogs have little bladders and 8 hours might be too long to hold it) but whenever we do, he just cries and howls. I understand that he doesn't like it, but how do we make it tolerable for him? We have no real other choice. He also chews on whatever he can now. Is it just a cry for attention or is he bored? Any input on how to train a little bottle of fun like this would be VERY helpful!

 

[~Tucker&Me~]

We have 2 dogs. A 7 year old Greyhound mix that my wife trained and is quite a good dog. We also have a year and a half old Chihuahua/Terrier mix that is a little crazy! He is a great dog and we're trying to train him but we're going batty in the process. When we first got him he marked everywhere and peed and pooped in the house but since being fixed he has basically stopped that. When we're not at home or during the night we have him in a crate just so he doesn't revert to it (plus we've been told little dogs have little bladders and 8 hours might be too long to hold it) but whenever we do, he just cries and howls. I understand that he doesn't like it, but how do we make it tolerable for him? We have no real other choice. He also chews on whatever he can now. Is it just a cry for attention or is he bored? Any input on how to train a little bottle of fun like this would be VERY helpful!

Hi and welcome to the forum!

May I ask how much exercise he gets per day? And am I understanding correctly that he is being crated at night?

Have you done any crate training or did you just kind of stick him in?

I believe there is a sticky somewhere on how to properly crate train...

 

[Yazbremski]

Well, he doesn't get as much as he probably should. My wife and I work a lot and don't really have the time to take him out a whole lot. He and our other dog do play a lot which helps to get rid of some of that. We did a little bit of crate training but we think that me may have been crated a lot in the last few weeks before we adopted him and it doesn't really seem to be working all that well. If there's a sticky that would be awesome!

 

[~Tucker&Me~]

Ok just had a look for the sticky and can't find one... Oh well!

Ok I think the first thing I would do is up this dog's exercise. Playing with another dog in and around the house just wont cut it for most breeds. One of the most useful tips ever given to me is 'a tired dog is a good dog'.

Does the dog resist when you try and put him in the crate? Or will he go in willingly?

If he will go in happily, this would be my game plan.

During the day, make sure your dog gets a good walk in so that he can burn off any pent-up energy. You can also move his crate into your room so that he can hear and smell you. When my dog was learning to be polite in his crate, I would fill a kong with peanut butter and cookies and put him in with that, so that he would develop a positive association with his crate. At night, your best approach is to completely, 100% ignore the dog's barking. Assuming he has gotten exercise and been let out for the bathroom, the only other reason he could be barking is to get attention. It will be hard at night, but I can almost promise you that if you completely ignore him, the behaviour will begin to subside as he realizes it doesn't get him anywhere.

Hope that helps!