First alone crate time=disasterous

[AngAngeles13]

So the time finally came when we were forced to leave Khaleesi home alone in her crate for a few hours on Friday night. I tried to tire her out, take her to the bathroom, and got her into her crate with treats and her "go to bed" command. All was well. Until we came home. She had thrown up, diarrhea, pee all in her crate. (and she has yet to have even a tiny accident in her crate until this) To me it looked like an all out panic attack. Now I am terrified to leave her. We have ordered a play pen for her so she can have more room to move around (that will have her crate inside it with the door open, as well as a grassy patch, and we will have someone come take her out and play with her once a day while I am at school three days a week...but it doesn't arrive until tomorrow)
Tuesday will be her first long period of time without one of us being home and I am so worried that she's going to freak out again. I felt horrible about it, but I don't have a choice.

 

[kazzy220]

Oh dear ...... I wouldn't jump to too many conclusions though. It is possible that the diarrhea, pee and vomiting was due to something else altogether. Just be calm and cool the next time you put her in the crate because she will almost certainly react to whatever you are feeling. If you are freaking out and expecting the worse then that is what you will get.

 

[Zoebug]

It probably was something else all together. Putting her in her crate when you are leaving to go somewhere should be like second nature, no big deal. The bigger deal that make of it the more she will react poorly to it. The more room you give her the more mischief she will find to get into. Our youngest is very food motivated and so all you have to say is bed and treat in the same sentence and she is in her crate before you know it. It will be ok. Good luck !!

 

[AngAngeles13]

I am just afraid that since it was her first time alone that it was some sort of anxiety attack. I couldn't think of anything else that it could have been since she didn't have anything out of the ordinary, although it's still completely possible. Normally when she goes to bed while I'm doing other things, she barks and whines for about 2-3 minutes and then she's calm. I may try to leave her in there later today for an extended amount of time and stay out of the room to see how she does. :/

And now that I think about it....she's been awesome in her crate as long as one of us is in the same room. I just put her in there in the other room a few minutes ago and she's still barking.

 

[Marine91]

Harlea did the same thing the very first time we left her for a few hours and we freaked out as well. The only thing we did afterwards was to put her down for naps in her crater a few times a day with the longest period being 2 hours. After a week of that we left the house again for about 4 hours and when we came home she was as happy as could be with no mess.

 

[Ashleym]

Oh poor baby. As Todd suggested if you crate and leave for 1 hr then 2 then 4 then 8hr it will make the seperation for her a lot easier. They just need to know you are coming back to let them out. My lab had the same reaction as Khaleesi the first time we had him crated for 8 hrs but once he understood we would be back to let him out it became routine. As Kazzy220 suggested dont make it a big deal act normal and she will be fine

 

[AngAngeles13]

Oh good, I am glad to hear I am not the only one who this happened to. (not good, but you kwim) There is hope!

 

[jm00ser]

Yes! You aren't alone! Daisy made quite the mess the first few times, and definitely was scared / panicked. I could hear her crying when I left. As others have said, I would have your pup get used to being in the crate even when you are home. After more than a month now, Daisy feels very comfortable for extended periods, and honestly, she's learned to sleep anytime she is placed there. She still can't hold her business if it is a super extended period, (which is rare now with my and fiancee's schedules) but at least she's equated crate with sleep / relax!

My feelings are mixed about the x-pen. We expected a mess, but it was a much bigger mess than just being contained to the crate, and she had the habit of actually doing her business IN the crate since she liked being in the x pen area.

So in summary :D you're doing great! Just takes a little bit of time!

 

[Samantha Orts]

The first day we left June in the crate and went to work, I stood outside the front door and almost cried because I could hear her inside The next few days I literally bolted out the door with my hands over my ears hahaha she does fine now, and is always asleep when we come home. Today will be her first day of being home alone for a full work day. Usually my bf goes home for lunch but today is the first day of school (he is a hs fb coach) so she will be home alone until about 4:30 which absolutely kills me! We leave music on for her when we leave (and also when she goes to bed) which I think is soothing so you could try that?

 

[ccurran]

So the time finally came when we were forced to leave Khaleesi home alone in her crate for a few hours on Friday night. I tried to tire her out, take her to the bathroom, and got her into her crate with treats and her "go to bed" command. All was well. Until we came home. She had thrown up, diarrhea, pee all in her crate. (and she has yet to have even a tiny accident in her crate until this) To me it looked like an all out panic attack. Now I am terrified to leave her. We have ordered a play pen for her so she can have more room to move around (that will have her crate inside it with the door open, as well as a grassy patch, and we will have someone come take her out and play with her once a day while I am at school three days a week...but it doesn't arrive until tomorrow)
Tuesday will be her first long period of time without one of us being home and I am so worried that she's going to freak out again. I felt horrible about it, but I don't have a choice.

When we first got Seamus I knew that we would have to crate him when we were away. Although I work from home 4 days a week I have to go into the office on Thursday. The best advice I can give you is the try and do a few minutes (and build up) in the crate every day so that your puppy is used to it. I would put Seamus in his crate while I was home for a little bit so he would get used to the environment but I would be around in case something happened. We also started with crate training with Seamus eating all his meals inside his crate (with the door open) so he would associate his crate with a happy feeling (he loves food). Hope this helps! We have had Seamus for a little over a year and he loves his crate. I am working from my desk right now and he is sleeping in his crate with the door wide open. Good luck!

 

[yoder]

Poor little thing. The advise above I awesome. Don't feel bad she will be fine as long as she can't hurt herself. Be patient. I shouldn't be giving advise yet since my first EBD Paisley hasn't even arrived yet. Counting the days till she is put on the plane and flies to her forever home. I may be posting the same stuff once she arrives.

 

[ABEBD]

Hello,

Good advice above.
Everyone who considers crate training needs to start off slow and take time. Your dogs should want to go in there. It is a safe palce for them.
We start off with just leaving the door open so they can go in and out when they want. When we do put them in for a nap, it is in a quiet place, we cover the tops and side to make it "cave like" and a bit darker and just put on some quiet music. No toys to play with.

Now, when it is time, I can open the door to the dog room, shake the cup with the treats and they all run in and jump in thier own crates. They will rest and sleep up to 8-9 hours. ONLY in very rare occassions... usually it is only 3-4 hours, but if needed they can do it.

Good Day~