Free puppy (this morning I'll pay you to take him)

[Kittilicious]

Maybe once this caffeine wakes me up a bit, I'll change my mind, but if you can get here before then you can have Knuckles. He's a cute, bouncy, friendly devil dog.
We came home yesterday from a 4 hour trip to town to see my husband's grandma in the nursing home and what did we find? Knuckles had SHREDDED his dog pad in his crate. (4 hours is not the longest he's been crated during the day, although it doesn't happen often at all) It was an egg carton foam pad covered with a sheep skin on one side, cooler fabric on the other. He had never so much chewed a hole in it. It was demolished - there was no saving it.
So last night he had to sleep without anything in his crate. Well, let me rephrase that - neither him nor I slept without anything in his crate. He whined, cried, howled for a good hour before I finally snapped at him where he knew I was pissed off and he settled down and I finally fell asleep. This was about 11 or so. (I was tired, I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have snapped at him) At 2:00 I woke up to it again and from the way my head felt I'm assuming it was whining most of the time. I let him out, took him outside... he just wanted out of the crate. He's looking at me like "I don't go potty now?!". (he hasn't had overnight potty breaks in 2 months)
I took him back in and put the baby gate in front of my bedroom door, double checked my bedroom to make sure there were no socks or anything he would love to swallow. He laid down in front of his crate and went to sleep Until 7am when I got 2 tons of paws on my chest. That's enough, Mom, time to get up. But, of course, I didn't really sleep much because I was keeping one ear open making sure he wasn't getting into anything....
It's gotta be that he's that spoiled that he needs something soft to lay on... he usually sleeps in his crate even with the door open.
I am so mad at him right now and so overtired that his cuteness is not cheering me up one bit.

Yeah, I know, pads in a crate aren't a good thing, but he was doing fine with it, so I left it. 4 months he never so much as chewed a corner.

Can we say separation anxiety?

[jocoyn]

Well give the boy some bread and watch his stools to make sure he clears anything he may have swallowed. I quit beds in dog crates for puppies after the $700 ER vet bill and that was just for x-rays and observation and laxatives.

I guess I have given up getting mad knowing what all they do. Take the newspaper and hit yourself over the head......repeat ......... "bad mom, bad mom"

[doggiedad]

my dog destroyed lots of bedding before
we figured out he doesn't want any bedding
in his crate. i finally figured out he doesn't want
anything in his crate when i watched
him pull the mat and the pillow out of his crate
and then he went in and laid down. maybe you need to do
some reinforcement crate training with Knuckles.

[Kittilicious]

Originally Posted by jocoyn

Well give the boy some bread and watch his stools to make sure he clears anything he may have swallowed. I quit beds in dog crates for puppies after the $700 ER vet bill and that was just for x-rays and observation and laxatives.

I guess I have given up getting mad knowing what all they do. Take the newspaper and hit yourself over the head......repeat ......... "bad mom, bad mom"

We watch his stools anyway because he is very notorious for swallowing things that aren't food (socks, hair scrunchies...). I am obsessed with feeling his tummy multiple times a day.
I know I shouldn't have gotten mad at him, but I was so overtired and so sick of hearing the crying. I never thought a dog who asks to go outside just so he can nap on the concrete floor of the garage would want a cushion to sleep on at night.

My husband said last night "I think we have ourselves a problem child"... I said I am hoping this is just his puppy behavior and that he'll not be like this in 10 years.

[Kittilicious]

The next night he pretty much did the same thing - whined & cried. I put an old blanket in with him and within 5 minutes I heard a rip. So the blanket came out and he hated it. So last night we decided to just block off our bedroom again and let him have the whole room. He did great - he actually slept in his crate most of the night. I put the blanket back in the crate, but left it open. I guess he just hates being locked up.
I did get a wet nose to the eye at about 2am, but I just pushed him away and listened to make sure he didn't cry or anything like he needed to go out. Nope, he went in his crate and was snoring before I fell back to sleep. Maybe he was cheking to see if I was still breathing.

So I guess thats it, I guess his crate is now our bedroom.

[kennajo]

duh!? It never occured to me that Rocky might not WANT anything in his crate and thats why he is choosing to sleep outside on the concrete. Good greif may I borrow that newspaper to hit this mommy over the head! I have try placing his crate in our bedroom but if I leave the door open he is in bed with us...I no likey that. He wants to play, I want to sleep. Thanks for the thread......sorry you had a rough night!

[Kittilicious]

Update: Knuckles has been sleeping in our bdrm with the crate door open since Monday. The baby gate is on our door. He's been doing great. (he usually just goes in the crate at night even with the door open)
I had an eye doctor appt this morning and decided to test him. I was gone for an hour. He had full run of my bedroom, the kitchen & the living room... the only room I closed off was the bathroom (and the baby gate was in the stairway so they couldn't go upstairs). I was a nervous wreck the whole time I was gone, but when I got home the only thing I found out of place was he took one of my slippers into his crate (he likes to take my slippers when I'm not home, even if someone else is home with him. He's a mama's baby).
I could tell he was nervous/anxious when I got home just by his attitude, but I am happy that he didn't tear anything up!

[Freestep]

Originally Posted by Kittilicious

I had an eye doctor appt this morning and decided to test him.

It's a really, really bad idea to "test" your puppy. He may not have done anything this time, but you're going to be in for a world of hurt if he does next time. You already said he likes to eat things that could hurt him... why take chances?

My dogs don't start getting "tested" with free run of the house until about 2 years of age.

[LaRen616]

Originally Posted by Freestep

It's a really, really bad idea to "test" your puppy. He may not have done anything this time, but you're going to be in for a world of hurt if he does next time. You already said he likes to eat things that could hurt him... why take chances?

My dogs don't start getting "tested" with free run of the house until about 2 years of age.

I left Sinister out for 4 hours when he was almost a year old and he ate part of my wall and my carpet.

He didn't get free run of the house until he turned 2 years old.

[Kittilicious]

I'm still proud of him over this. He wasn't near as hyper when I walked in the door than he is when I get home and go to his crate. I'm not saying he's got free run from now on, but I just wanted to see how he would do. I think being confined to his crate is half the problem, he's gotten to the point he hates being confined. He's fine with the door open, but he almost goes into panic mode when the door is closed.
I've noticed that at night he settles down right off the bat when we go to bed now that he's not IN his crate. He still goes in, but he goes right to sleep. The past few weeks there has been 5-10 minutes of whining when we would close the door before he would settle down.