I picked up Gaddy on Monday morning from the kennel and after the uneventful two hour drive home with the family cocker keeping and eye on the little black ball inside her small travel crate that was strapped tight with one of the seat belts in the back seat.
As stated in our opening post we are crate training Gaddy. We were apprehensive she would be keeping us up all night crying, barking and whining because she was in a strange place and missed her litter mates, this has not really happened. Yes she cries and whines but nothing serious were we had to put earplugs in. We had purchased a smaller travel crate knowing it would only last about a month before she out grew it, but it is perfect for getting her started, being small enough she doesn’t want to soil her bedroom. During the night she sleeps in this crate at the end of our bed and when she gives out that little high pitched yelp, she’s letting us know its time to go, we get right up and let here out. Depending on the night she gets up two to five times, depending on how much water she drank for supper.
The crate training at this time is going extremely well. Gaddy’s daily schedule starts around five a.m. when she wakes up, she goes outside before she does anything else, to do her business, then she eats and drinks. After breakfast its play time and socialization time with the rest of the family and our cocker Roscoe, before eventually having to go outside two or three times. At about seven she’s tired herself out and she goes into her large crate for about a couple of hours or another potty break. Once this is accomplished we’ll spend the next fifteen minutes training which is mainly obedience including sitting and staying which she is picking up very quickly.
Gaddys large travel crate.
We also have a large travel crate that Gaddy takes her naps in during the day. It didn’t take much to get her to go inside, I just used small treats, throwing a treat into the back of the cratel telling her to kennel. I had to put her in a few times at first saying kennel the whole time and after a few days she was going in on her own to get the treat. I also feed Gaddy her in the crate, I get her food ready and won’t put the food into the crate until she gets in.
After the first week Gaddy is about ninety percent house broke and even on a few occasions she has gone to the door and either licked or pawed at the glass. This is why I believe if you get a pup you need to have the time, even if you take a couple of weeks of vacation to get your pup started off on the right foot.
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