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Indoor Enclosure, Laundry Or Outside?


H@wkeye!
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Hi all

So the wait is almost over, and the drive to pick up the little bundle of fur ends on Wed (yep 24 Dec!).

We've bought most of the necessary bits, toys, chew toys (even a christmas present) crate bowl etc. Now i'm wondering on an enclosure. I've done some reading and realised that i won't want to leave puppy alone for a second without putting him (nope don't have a name yet), in an enclosed area. What i'm debating is, do i use the backyard - which is a decent size - on 750 sq. mtr block, leave him in the laundry - which has tilled wall in case there's an accident, or buy an indoor enclosure and put him in there (will be in a carpeted area of the house though - not enough room in any tiled room for one).

Option 1 and 2 are the cheapest and easiest, but i'm not sure. I'm thinking he'll need to be in here for short times, when cooking/eating (me and the wife that is) and when doing odd jobs and probably when we just need a few mins out.

I'm not so keen on these as in the laundry we won't be able to see him, and we're new to this house and want to be sure there is nothing that can do him any damage in the back-yard (is a bit grown over). However, don't really want to fork out another $200 for an enclosure. Question is, is it ok to leave pup for a little while in the laundry?

cheers,

Hawk

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Any crates/enclosures I have in the living area on hard floors. Isolating pup in the laundry may well lead to more than $200 worth of damage! Outside I just put up temporary fencing to keep pup in safe areas. Again, keeping them safe from ingesting something inappropriate or injuring themselves or destroying stuff I care about will cost less than the vet bills!

Edited by The Spotted Devil
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Agree RE outside. Gus slept in the laundry for the first few weeks while we were expecting wees overnight, and he slept like an angel. We set up an area in the yard where he could not get into mischief and that was his daytime area. Having said that, we gave him yard access pretty quick.

I feel like I might have over-panicked when he was a pup, we cleared any potential hazards and the yard was his domain when we went out. He loves his yard now and happily takes himself outside to sit in the sun.

You start out as you mean to continue, if you want him to be happy outside when he is alone, you need to put that in place now.

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Hi

We bought an outside enclosure yesterday, and i'll put it up later today. It has a radius of 1.6 m so not too small. We plan on leaving in toys and some chewing things, yes, bones or whatever we have at the time.

The puppy is a rough collie. At this point we're literally only thinking about having him in here for a few mins - perhaps 30 at most at any one time. It's literally somewhere to put him while only one is at home and that person needs to fully concentrate on something. Otherwise he'll be in the house/outside with us at all times (except when he's crate training).

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I have an inside Vebo ex pen in the kitchen, a crate in my bedroom and another Vebo ex pen (ourdoor) in the backyard. Pup sleeps in the crate in my room at night, she lives in the ex pen during the day when we're inside and when we go outside she spends time in the outside ex pen.

I have an older boy whom is submissive and won't correct our puppy so it's important that she has places where she can be outside, safe and not harassing our boy. If i go out, she's in the inside ex pen. I'm about to buy another outside ex pen to add to the existing one to make it bigger. Once puppy is no longer using the ex pen, i'll use it to cordon off grassy areas that i'm re-grassing; with two labbies there's always areas that need a rest from the pounding paws.

I don't give puppies much freedom in the house until they earn it; so crates and pens are a necessity. Any freedom that our pups have, is always supervised, both inside and out of the house.

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I found it handy to have an area like that set up, however it didn't take long before the pup learned to push the enclosure along the floor to get where he wanted to go, and then shortly after he could escape it within moments. I was heavily into Ian Dunbar's method of puppy raising at the time, but the indoor enclosure was not very successful after just a few weeks.

As Hugo would get into mischief if not supervised or given something to do, he ended up going outside for short periods from quite a young age, and either being in his crate or tethered to me on a leash. I've never really liked the idea of putting pups in a separate room. My first dog would have found it very distressing, and our current boy would have found his own destructive way of entertaining himself!

BTW, where's a pic of your new addition? I hear rough collies are lovely dogs! :)

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  • 3 months later...

How are your pups going with your enclosures?

We only just bought our boy home last night so he's not a fan yet of his outdoor area. Just wondering how long we should leave him cry and whimper until we go out and comfort him. I'm concerned about the neighbours, but know you have to do the hard yards at the start to make for a content dog.

He just wants to be nears us constantly, which I understand is fairly expected. Heartbreaking time....

post-53283-0-18000400-1428217771_thumb.jpg

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MazNat is it possible to start the pup off with very small sessions in the enclosure?

Pop him in there with a treat or a special toy and do very quick sessions of him being alone, as soon as the crying /fussing stops lift him out and have a bit of a cuddle/play etc. Look up crate games for a fun way to get pup used to being alone.

With a baby puppy I wouldn't be leaving him in the pen for any extended periods until he's a bit bigger and he's used to it..

He's in a weird place, his mum isn't around, his siblings are missing. He's going to need some extra comfort until he gets used to his new life.

Do you have a crate, or can you set the pen up in your living room?

That way he can't get into mischief, but he'll still be close and able to see you.

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MazNat is it possible to start the pup off with very small sessions in the enclosure?

Pop him in there with a treat or a special toy and do very quick sessions of him being alone, as soon as the crying /fussing stops lift him out and have a bit of a cuddle/play etc. Look up crate games for a fun way to get pup used to being alone.

With a baby puppy I wouldn't be leaving him in the pen for any extended periods until he's a bit bigger and he's used to it..

He's in a weird place, his mum isn't around, his siblings are missing. He's going to need some extra comfort until he gets used to his new life.

Do you have a crate, or can you set the pen up in your living room?

That way he can't get into mischief, but he'll still be close and able to see you.

We have an indoor crate, and an outside area which is safely enclosed -- it has a shell pool, a dog bed, a kennel and we put toys in there with him. It has a grassed area where he is using to go to the toilet. He just gets really distressed when we are not with him. We play with him before we leave in the hope he thinks its a fun place, but then gets upset when we leave. We are doing the 10 - 15 minute thing, then going to get him when he is quiet.

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10-15 minutes is a very long time for a baby puppy..

You may need to scale it back to just a couple of minutes in the outside pen, and focus on calm behavior before the alone periods.

IMO, I'd be popping him in the enclosure without playing with him, wait a minute or two until he calms down and then open the enclosure and let him come out and repeat this a few times a day.

Make being alone in the enclosure a non-event, just like you would for crate training.

The fun and games before the alone period may be counter-productive at this point, and may be better served after a couple of minutes alone..

Here's a link for crate games as well.. I found it useful in training my boy with his crate: http://www.sithappens.org/PDFs/LoginArea/HandoutCrateGames.pdf

Edited by Taliecat
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When you have him in the exercise pen, do you have interactive toys in there for him to play with?

I would play with him and tire him out before putting him in his crate or pen. Make sure he has toileted and maybe give him some brisket to chew on.

My pup at 8 weeks would happily spend a couple of hours in the indoor pen on her own. i would take her out and toilet her and play with her every couple of hours during the day then put her back in there.

I wanted her to see me coming and going a lot so she learnt it wasn't a big deal.

Edited by huski
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