I came home today to find a big chunk of carpet in front of our bedroom door gone! I'm guess Lucy did this since Berman has never done something like this.
At first, we were going to crate Lucy during the day. We have a narrow kitchen so we can angle the crate with the door open and she would have access to the kitchen and her crate. However, Lucy can jump over her crate and since she and Berman seem to be getting along, we decided to not crate.
Now, after the carpet incident, I'm wondering if we need to try crating again. I think we can come up with something to barricade her in the kitchen. The only thing I'm worried about is Berman having access to the house while Lucy will be limited to the kitchen.
Does anyone think this is a bad idea - for 1 dog to have more access than the other? If we can crate Lucy for a while - maybe at least till she's a little more potty trained- that would be great!
One good thing today is that she peed on puppy pad, but then there was another pee spot on the carpet and 2 poop spots.
Is penning them both in the kitchen an option? If not, you might try penning up Lucy and leaving Berman out and then go away for a short time and peek in just to see how they do. If you decide to do this, you might want to put a bed for Berman close to the penned up space so he could be close to Lucy, if not right by her.
Keep working with Lucy on the pp pad. I put on out for my Brandy at night. She will pp on it once and if she needs to go again - she will then pp on the throw rug in the laundry room. She never poops on it. She does poop on the kitchen floor - so I just pick it up and spray with Natures Miracle. My Brandy is almost 10, so changing her habits will be tough. But Lucy is young so keep working with her!
That's a hard one Jenny. I am having similar issues with my two. I have come home these past few weeks and have noticed that somebody is pooping in my house. My husband and I are thinking about separating them again (we just rescued Bailey in August and had then separated for the first 2 -3 weeks) but feel terrible about it. See Bailey would be gated in the kitchen (with no access to the couches or the bay window area) and Daisy would be in the livingroom (with no access to her favorite spot by the refrigerator - she loves the air that blows out).... I guess I would have to say that until Lucy behaves and stops her chewing (I can deal with the accidents, but I don't know how well I would do with damaging property) I would honestly say that I would crate/barricade her while she is alone during the day...... It may be harsh, but it would be worth it if she is the one chewing.... Now on the other hand you need to be sure that it isn't Berman - even though he never did it before, his jealousy may be getting the best of him (I honestly think it's my Daisy that is having accidents now that Bailey is here - kinda telling us she isn't happy).....
Jenny,
Personally I think all dogs should be crated when their owners are not home... not just for the safety of the house but for their own safety as well. There are so many things that they can get into... some that could seriously harm them (meds, cleaning supplies etc) I have heard many people talk about how trustworthy their dogs are and that is fine but I am not going to take that chance with mine. Also god forbid your home catch on fire the fire dept. would never be able to find them!!
When dogs are scared they will hide under beds, behind couches, in closets etc (you get the idea)
for this reason and this reason alone I would crate my dogs... make sure they are BOTH in the same area of the home and affix a sign to your front door (you can buy them online) telling emergency personal that there are dogs inside the house, how many and where they are located... put their crates in the same place next to each other in plain view. This is very important and I explain this to all my puppy buyers... a crated dog is a LOVED SAFE dog!
Good Luck :)
Jen & The Crew
I'm lucky enough to have both dogs locked in the kitchen with baby gates.
They had to be super tough plastic with plexiglass screwed on the inside.
She chewed through the first baby gate then learned to climb it after I put wire over it!
Dottie is affectionately known as whooweenie, lol! She can get out of anything
that includes crates! I also had to put the wire gate above the first gate because
she has learned how to go over the one with the plexiglass!!! ugh!
They also chewed the edge of the carpet if the gate wasn't touching the
bottom of the floor! Can't give mine an inch!!!
They have their food, beds, toys & a doggie door to the outside.
I was worried about them digging out of the yard but there has
been no sign of that. We have privacy fencing & the gate is locked.
They do great & it really helped with the potty training.
I had to fight with my dh to get the doors put in but it's worth it even
if you have to eventually replace the door on the house (if you move, etc.).
Dottie was so unhappy being penned up & it broke my heart when I left her.
Now my dog are much happier & so am I.
Good luck & just keep trying until you find what works for your babies.
I think baby gate may do the trick! We'll leave her crate in the bedroom and block of the end of the kitchen with a tall baby gate. The other end of the kitchen is a wall. I'll put her bed, water, toys, and puppy pad in the gated area. Maybe we can practice this weekend before we leave her in there for 8 long hours on Monday. This will also help us not have to move her crate from the bedroom to the kitchen to the bedroom everyday.
Thanks for all the great advice everyone!
I do think the baby gate will be a great way to do it. I also think, though, that she and Berman will need to be in the same area. Not having him in there will make her more determined to get out and she may become more destructive in trying to do so. Make sure she can't get to a corner of the floor or any carpet near the gate, If she can, she will chew or scratch through it! Kendall-angel taught us this. They will even try chewing sheetrock if they are desparate enough. That is why I think you may want to try putting Berman in the kitchen area too. Trying it out over the weekend it a great idea.
Cannot comment as we have doggie door and have high fences plus we have a system similar to a baby gate that keeps them out of carpeted areas etc, and even now we don't always put it up, as time has settled them and they take theirselves out. Plus if something happened we know from experience they high tail it out the back.
Sorry I don', share the crate thing it is something that is not done out here, to me leaving them in the back yard would be more humane, but that is my own opinion. I just think how I would feel in a confined area for 8-9 hours.
I don't crate Cajsa when I leave for the day, but she does get gated on occasion. I let her have free reign in the kitchen where her food, water, pottybox is located and she is perfectly happy there. Sometimes I let her stay out in the livingroom and kitchen wile I'm gone, but only since she's stopped getting into things.
If I had more than one dachsie and I needed to confine one of them, I'd do it to all. I have a good sized kitchen so I'd just stick them all in there for the day if need be.
I took Berman to the vet this morning because he's having some allergy issues. While we were gone, I put Lucy in the kitchen with the baby gate. She had water, a puppy pad, her bed and blanket and a toy. When I got home, everything looked good - no destruction and the gate was still up.
I'm thinking of spraying down my cabinet doors with bitter apple so hopefully she won't chew on them. Also, Johnny and I have a long weekend (off Monday) so we're going to try keeping her in the kitchen several times this weekend - maybe an hour or so at a time or when we are out and about.
Berman is still having some dominance issues and has attacked Lucy a few times this week so I'm not sure putting them together in such close quarters would be a good idea. Maybe we'll test that out this weekend too.
We crated Berman when he was a puppy and I think it really helped out - especially with potty training! Also, by crating, I mean we confined him to the kitchen - he wasn't in a closed crate all day.
I guess we just have to keep trying new things till we figure out what works best for our puppers and our situation.