General Question Crating - breaking our hearts with the "you're abandoning me" howls

[kazzy220]

should I say that the bulldogs are the most spoiled dogs ever?

That's only because they deserve it!!

 

[Vikinggirl]

When we are putting them n the crate, I open the door and place a piece of wellness soft treat, or other treat and they just go in

 

[Vicaroo1000]

Another suggestion, don't make a production out of leaving the house or going to bed; whenever you use the crate for confinement. All that "We'll be right back" stuff doesn't help them (since dog's don't truly speak English) and can often function as a "cue" for them -- in a negative way. If you've seen dogs that run and hide under the bed when their people announce their intention to leave the house, you know what I'm talking about.

I love all the ideas for making crate time, fun time. Cookies "hidden" in the bedding was always Bo's favorite. Bea preferred having a chew toy -- a large Nylabone; something VERY SAFE -- when it was time to kennel up. Now she goes to the toybox, selects a toy and takes it back to her crate for some private chew time. (Bo can't steal it, if she's in her crate, you see. Smart girl.)

 

[mdn525]

Tonka gets a treat everytime he "goes to bed". We also have an xpen attached to his crate so he has more room and can get at his water and play with toys while we are gone. We have never had an issue with him in there and he often goes in on his own and hangs out when we are home. We also feed him in there so it solidifies that it is his space. The door is always open if we are around. Heres a pic

I love this setup! Do you know what brand xpen that is? It looks like great quality.

 

[TonkaTruck28]

[MENTION=5602]mdn525[/MENTION] it is all made by Precision and all 36", crate and pen. Its all pretty heavy duty and I have never had an issue with it. I believe each was 50-60 CAD.

 

[mdn525]

@mdn525 it is all made by Precision and all 36", crate and pen. Its all pretty heavy duty and I have never had an issue with it. I believe each was 50-60 CAD.

Thank you so much! I'm going to look into that brand. Does he ever try to knock it over? I would be using it on carpet, I wonder if I should get the rubber mate like you have.

 

[TonkaTruck28]

[MENTION=5602]mdn525[/MENTION] He has never knocked it over as i have the xpen connected to the crate with heavy duty carribeaner type clamps though sometimes he does knock it out of shape. He got out twice when he was tiny because I didnt connect the carribeaners low enough down and he pushed the bottom of the xpen out on the edge that connects to his crate and slid through loo, totally my fault. Right now he could climb up on top of his crate and hop out if he wanted but he isnt much of a bullygoat at all and has never tried. If thats an issue for you i am sure you could put something on top of the crate.
As for the flooring, we put it down to try to save the laminate hardwood when he was potty training while we were at work. We had a potty patch in there for him, which he has great at using but he sometimes thought that if his front legs were on it his back must be too... Not so much lol. He has since outgrown that and we just left the flooring. It helped extend the floor life but stuff did still get under the mat because it is interconnected like a puzzle. I think it would end up wrecking your carpet unless you got one solid peice. Even now just from him making a mess at his water bowl it still gets under there and we had even taped the seams.
Sorry for the story, hope that helped!