More on Nipping: Crate as Time Out?

[maxfox426]

Okay, this goes along with my questions on how to break the habit of nipping while playing. So far, I've been going along with all the suggestions I got in my previous thread, but now I have another question.

Occasionally when I do the "no nipping" behaviors, instead of backing off he'll get more excited. I've read a few online sources that say the way to handle this is to put him in immediate "time out" for a few minutes before attempting to play again.

Is his crate an acceptable place to be for a "time out"? In another thread, we've been talking about making his crate a happy place so help prevent crying at night, so I am afraid of giving him conflicting messages here. However, I don't know where else I can contain him for a "time out" where he gets the message that nipping = seriously, no play.

What do you think? How do you handle this?

 

[seatrainer]

I wouldn't time out in the crate, as it does send mixed messages. If you time out in the crate, when you go to crate other times (night, you're leaving, etc) the pup may assume he's done something wrong.
Find an alternate place...a bathroom, other room (puppy safe of course) or even just block off an area of the house where he can't get to you (a hallway maybe?). Just a place where he can't interact with you or anything. Just please don't use the crate.

 

[maxfox426]

I wouldn't time out in the crate, as it does send mixed messages.

That is what I figured, but I wanted to be sure. Guess I am going to be purchasing a puppy pen in the next few days.

We haven't been using the crate as time out yet. We've just been doing the "ignore for a few minutes" trick over and over again, but then we still have to watch him when he gets distracted and I don't think he's getting the point!

Actually, we have a small (read: tiny) half-bathroom... would that work?

 

[seatrainer]

The half bath would work as long as you can puppy-proof it (take up any rugs, etc). You're not going to be putting him in there for any extended period of time, but just long enough to get your point across. You may want to try that and see how it works...sometimes it just takes one or two time outs and they figure out you mean business.

 

[maxfox426]

All I'd have to do is take out a rug and the trash can, and that bathroom should work just fine. Thanks!

Lights on or off for time out? That's probably a silly question, but it ran screaming through my brain so I figured I'd ask while I was here. I'm thinking lights on, since there are no windows so it would be pretty dark...

 

[seatrainer]

You can leave the lights on. The idea is to displace the puppy from interaction with you, not scare it.

 

[maxfox426]

Oh thank goodness! I was afraid somebody would say to turn the lights out, and I was just going to feel terrible locking up my poor boy in pitch darkness. *whew*

I don't mean to be dumb, but I always feel better to ask the weird questions than find the answers the hard way.

Thanks!

 

[lizzybeth727]

we still have to watch him when he gets distracted and I don't think he's getting the point!

Umm, what?

What do you mean when he gets distracted?

 

[maxfox426]

Umm, what?

What do you mean when he gets distracted?

What I was trying to say that while we didn't have a "time out" plan, we were doing the "get up and walk away" for a minute or so when he would nip while playing. However, when we do that he has a tendency to get distracted (by a toy, cat, piece of lint, whatever) and I didn't think he was getting the point of nipping=no play. I kind of think he was figuring that when we left him for nipping that "Hey... I don't get to play to play with them when I nip, but I can play with toy/cat/lint/whatever!"

That is what I was trying to say, anyways. Hope that makes for sense now.

 

[lizzybeth727]

"Hey... I don't get to play to play with them when I nip, but I can play with toy/cat/lint/whatever!"

That's ok, if he thinks that. As long as you make it really exciting when you play with your puppy, you'll easily be more fun than whatever else he can find.

I would just not go back to playing with him until he begins to get bored with whatever else he got to play with.

 

[maxfox426]

That's ok, if he thinks that. As long as you make it really exciting when you play with your puppy, you'll easily be more fun than whatever else he can find.

I would just not go back to playing with him until he begins to get bored with whatever else he got to play with.

Well I try to keep things as exciting as possible when we play. Mostly he likes to play "chase the toy" (he's starting to bring it back for "fetch" occasionally, but not reliably). Are there any other games or playtime activities I can initiate with him? I've read that tug-of-war is a no-no... so I have been avoiding that unless I learn otherwise.

 

[Mach1girl]

I have trained my "kids" that the crate is for multiple uses. I have always, and continue to do so if necessary, used the crate for time out, amongst other things, and now that I stop and think, I DONT recall ever thinking or getting the impression that my dogs were getting mixed signals.
They get into trouble, I say time out and they head to the crate. At supper time, they head in their crate to eat, and at bed time, after last call potty, they head in their crate.

I guess because this is how they were raised, they understand that their crate is their "den" so to speak, and anything "important" happens in their crate.

 

[lizzybeth727]

I use crates for time-outs, too, I just walk or carry her to the crate and she goes right in. She still chooses to go into her crate a lot (she chose to sleep in her crate last night instead of in my bed!), so I don't think it's a problem at all for her. The way I see it, it's not that the crate is the punishment, it's removing the good stuff (being out and playing with me) that's the punishment.

I also play tug-of-war with my dog, and don't think there's anything wrong with it in general. As long as my dog knows the rules - if I say "drop it" you drop it right then, don't snatch it out of my hand (wait till I say "take it"), and if you bite me (accidently or otherwise) the game ends and I take the toys away. For my dog, who's not highly toy-motivated (but does love a good game once a week or so), I even sometimes let her win.