When we leave our three FurKids and go for a short walk or other short in-the-campground excursion we leave them free to roam our rv.
Is there some concern that makes you think the pooch should be trapped in a crate? Like she/he will do damage or chew things up for boredom and lonliness relief?
We're probably a bit nutty but we never get far enough away from our precious FurKids to get out of range of our little two-way radios so we can leave one in transmit mode in the rv so we can listen out for them. We would never leave them alone for an extended time so we can go sightseeing or something.
If we were going to leave them alone like that then we wouldn't take them with us - at least the three of them have company - each other but a single dog gets quite lonely left alone.
We're not opposed to crates and in our stick house our girls were gently trained from birth that at bed time they will sleep the night through in their large sized crates (they are small dogs)and they seem quite happy to burrow down into their blankets and toys and they walk to their little "bedrooms" without being told and they sleep there quietly until early morn when we regularly get up.
However when camping they wouldn't put up with crate confinement and we wouldn't expect them to - not only are we on vacation but they are too and the five of us do most everything together.
Anyhow, that's just us - no right or wrong here - just different pet owners with different ideas of how to travel with and treat their pets.
goodluck
Lucy our Lab was the first one I had so much trouble with barking, I couldn't leave her for any length of time so.....
I came to this forum and got lots of advice, tried all of it, I mean I really worked with her.
Finally I did something I never had to do before and I wasn't comfortable with it but it worked, I put 1 tbls. of cider vinegar in a 8 oz. spray bottle and filled with water, after spraying her twice with a loud NO BARK, she's never done it again. I can leave her anytime anywhere, even in the rv and she doesn't make a peep.
I thought at first I wasn't going to be able to take her RVing, well she is the best behaved pup when we are at a campground people can't believe she's so young. We took her and Zachery to Florida for a few weeks in March/April when she was just eight months old, we left a tape recorder going when we went to the beach or dinner and never heard a sound.
It worked for us, yes I was reluctant to try it but I was getting desperate and I'm really glad I did, it doesn't hurt her and that was my main concern.
Good luck Barb.
I agree with Wayne. You have to actually put in some time to 'train' the dog before you can expect the dog to enjoy or even accept his/her crate. And training involves a lot more than just putting the dog in the crate and closing the door. It's *your* job to make sure the dog learns to like his/her crate, and I thought Wayne's suggestions were excellent.
My dogs would get knuckle bones in their crates when we lived in the city, and to this day they all run to their crates when I come home with bones for them. Now their crates are in the garage, open at all times, and they all take naps in their crates, especially on hot days.
The only way to keep your dog quiet in the crate is to make him like it.
Good luck.
1) feed them in their crate
2) biscuit or treat when going in
3) bone or other special toy (Kong with peanut butter?)
4) NEVER take them out if they are crying or barking - turn your back and wait for them to stop (believe me, this can take a long time sometimes, but if you don't they've just learned how to get let out!).
5) Sometimes, to help them know what is allowed and NOT allowed, a squirt with the water bottle (plain water has always worked for me). This is usually only required a few times and I don't do this until they are already comfortable in the crate. If possible I skip this, but if I have a pressing need for them to learn quickly... I had to work from home a while back when Spike was just with us for a few weeks - he was whining and barking as he could see me at my desk - I HAD to get tons of work done so a few squirts. He hasn't needed it since and goes into his crate happily and quietly.
6) Randomly, when they are quiet, take them a little treat and praise them. Then leave them in the crate.
Timing is everything.
Laura
p.s. I LOVE the advise on this list - there is some excellent advise given.
I appreciate all the suggestions and I plan on following up with quite a few. She really needs to lose this tendency to bark a lot because of the rving, so I may try the vinegar recipe. I haven't heard back about a class yet, but it is a holiday and I figure the trainer is out of town or just off.
Funny thing is that she is not very destructive around the house and she seems to not chew up stuff.
She gets treats every time she goes into the crate and eats in there, but seems willful about wanting to control doors being closed or anything like that. She did fine on the trip home with the crate??? Just think her personality is coming out as she feels more comfortable.
Jessie hated the crate and would not shut up with the barking. We gave in and she was perfectly ok not being in the crate. She didn't bark and was fine being left in the motorhome or house alone. Not everyone crates there dog. It depends on the dog. With Charlie he likes the crate and when we leave the motorhome we make sure he's crated because he will bark.
summutt2002 wrote: Wayne's ideas are good for general crate training. Not sure what your ultimate goal is here. You should not leave her crated for more that about 3 hours at a time if you are gone, and you should never leave her crated in a campground when you are gone.
Not sure where you get the 3 hours?
We've always kept our dog in a crate while we are working, so she can be in as long as 9 hours. We have tried to let her roam free, but we have a school bus stop out front, so she barks, paws at the window, and sometimes gets up on the table. This is only when we are not around, so it's something hard to break. She now loves her crate, and when ever she is uncomfortable because of storm's it's her own retreat. Similarly in the camper she can be out all day while we're there, but as soon as we leave, she'll destroy the blinds.
Also having a tent end (HTT) she could easily tear through, if another dog were to enter her "territory".
To get her used to us being away while she was in the crate was to leave a tee shirt of mine in with her, now she just needs her favorite toy "du jour". She'll even open the crate and crawl in when she know's it's time for us to go, as long as it isn't latched.
BTW: She's a small female rottweiler (~86 lbs.)with the tempermant of a lap dog. We keep her in the largest crate available, which is bigger then the dinnette, her favorite sleeping area in the trailer.
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summutt2002 wrote: Wayne's ideas are good for general crate training. Not sure what your ultimate goal is here. You should not leave her crated for more that about 3 hours at a time if you are gone, and you should never leave her crated in a campground when you are gone.
Not sure where you get the 3 hours?
We've always kept our dog in a crate while we are working, so she can be in as long as 9 hours. We have tried to let her roam free, but we have a school bus stop out front, so she barks, paws at the window, and sometimes gets up on the table. This is only when we are not around, so it's something hard to break. She now loves her crate, and when ever she is uncomfortable because of storm's it's her own retreat. Similarly in the camper she can be out all day while we're there, but as soon as we leave, she'll destroy the blinds.
Also having a tent end (HTT) she could easily tear through, if another dog were to enter her "territory".
To get her used to us being away while she was in the crate was to leave a tee shirt of mine in with her, now she just needs her favorite toy "du jour". She'll even open the crate and crawl in when she know's it's time for us to go, as long as it isn't latched.
BTW: She's a small female rottweiler (~86 lbs.)with the tempermant of a lap dog. We keep her in the largest crate available, which is bigger then the dinnette, her favorite sleeping area in the trailer.
Didn't intend to mislead you here....we're talking about a 6 month old puppy, not a trained adult....and there are many reasons to minimize crate time at this age.
As far as the RV goes, folks do all kinds of things, but I do not and will not leave my dogs alone in the RV, crate or not. If something happens, they have no way of getting out and (usually) no one to control them. Dogs(even adult)are at about the same developmental stage as infants and I cannot imagine leaving an infant alone in an RV. I will admit that when I'm tripping alone in the RV (very seldom) I occasionally leave my guy for 10 minutes while I shower, but that's the extent of it.
Personally, and I am sorry if I offend some people here, but I think many make crate training much more complicated than it really is.
I don't baby them with an introductory period to the crate or anything like that and none of my dogs have had a problem getting used to the idea of being in one. With puppies, I tend to exploit food to the fullest. So much so that I don't even feed them from a bowl until they are about 6 months old. I measure out their food ration for the day and keep it on the counter close to their crate. EVERY time they must enter the crate, they get a handful of kibble along with a verbal command to go in the crate. The rest of their food for the day comes directly from me (by hand feeding) through focus and obedience type exercises. I usually have my puppies happily going into their crate on their own in about 3 days. My newest pup barked for the first couple nights, then quickly settled down and slept quietly through the night. She only started becoming a pest barking in the crate when I started teaching her to bark on command and rewarded her with food so now she thinks if she barks she is going to always get fed but I am sure before long she will figure out that isn't going to happen.
I also don't worry about "too much crate time" with pups. Most pups (at least the type of pups I like ) are full of piss and vinegar and want to bite and chase everything. Crating a dog when unable to supervise 100% helps keep things much more "black and white" from a training standpoint. Too much freedom with a young puppy can produce way too much "gray area" because owners get distracted or busy and as a result are not consistent with the puppy. If children are in the picture then you have the issue with them yelling commands to the dog and the dog learning to it can ignore those commands. At my house I have crates all over my house (I have 4 dogs so separation is often necessary anyways)I use crates to keep order in my home. I also have out door kennel runs which works great for pups in the nice weather. Room to stretch their legs and run around with me not worrying about them destroying my property and maybe as a result harming themselves (obstruction, poisoning, etc). As they get older and less rambunctious they get more freedom but when young, if I can't be with them to follow them around, they are confined.
Usually by 3 months of age they can go through the night with no accidents in their crates. Often times when people have trouble with puppies urinating in the crate over night is because water wasn't limited in the couple hours prior to bed time. If I want to go to bed at 11 pm for example, my pups aren't allowed water past 8-9pm and are brought out to urinate right before I retire for the night and they don't go in until they "produce". If they go to bed with an empty bladder that is half the battle.
Once they are older, I will use bark collars. I like the Tritronics and Dogtra the best. I won't buy the******they sell at Petsmart. As I think someone mentioned, TRAINING does help keeping a dog quiet in the crate BUT since my husband works midnights and sleeps during the day and we like to go camping, I want a REALIABLE deterrant, and something that will give them the message when I am not in their sight. It's amazing how well they work on "most" dogs.
Hope some of that info helped.
Lisa and Larry McKay (Lisa always the one posting here-hubby computer illiterate)
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Willow has stopped the barking with just further use of bones and leaving the house so we couldn't hear her!!! Have made several trips and coming back to no barking. There was no barking while getting ready to go. I guess the last test is to put a tape recorder in the room. I was afraid that she might be a campground problem whenever we left the rig to even go outside and sit. I think she is going to do - may just keep her.
Used the vinegar solution to help with her mobbing the cats. She likes them and wants to play, but the cats don't see it that way. I am impressed with the response to the vinegar - just stops her and she turns away, but no lasting effect.
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but I am sure before long she will figure out that isn't going to happen.
