As many of you know, I have a 12 week old Australian Shepherd puppy. I'm crate training her in my office. She does pretty well. Most of her day is in her crate and ever couple of hours I take her out for at least a potty break if not a walk. However, as she grows she's getting less happy in her crate. I'm sure that it's she needs less sleep and is getting bored. I can't really let her out of her kennel. There's too much trouble that she can get into. I'm not worried about house-breaking mistakes; she's got that well under control. I'm more worried about puppy chewing the wrong stuff up mistakes. When I'm in my office working, I can't pay close enough attention to her to make sure she stays out of trouble.
I know you guys have good suggestions on how to keep a dog busy in their kennel. I've done some searching, but I was hoping to get a thread that had a bunch of suggestions in one place. It seems like I'll need a variety of options to keep her interested and I'm wondering what types of things you guys do.
Lynne Barrows Webboard User Reg: 09-22-2007
Posts: 2531
Loc: S. Florida
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Fillable chew toys are great: here are links to some that Leerburg sells. http://leerburg.com/treat.htm (scroll down to the bottom)
Bully sticks will last a good long time for a pup also: http://leerburg.com/1182.htm
Kong toys are good, too. You can stuff w/ creamcheese, peanut butter, or moist dog food and freeze to gain some extra time with them.
Also, is there any chance that you could keep her on a short tether, attached to you, and have her sleep under your desk for part of the day? She may be less antsy and willing to settle better, especially if she has a chew toy to keep her occupied...
Have you got a bit of room? Maybe an ex-pen would help. She would have more room to move around a bit. She could have her crate in there for sleeping, a water bucket clipped to the side and an assortment of different toys and a bit of room to stretch. Plus she would be able to see you better and maybe not feel so closed off from everyone, yet still be safe. Ex pens saved my sanity when I had pups.
If you have time on your lunch hour, playing a rousing game of fetch or keep-away in the yard will do wonders to her ability to stay calm when back indoors.
I have the everlasting treat ball. How full do you usually fill it? Also, seems like the fireplug takes that hard insert thingie. How long does that last? I have a kong (that's probably too small), but I guess I'll get a couple more (sized right) and keep one frozen all the time.
I'd like her to be out of her crate. Maybe the thing to do is make another sweep through the office and get it better puppy proof. I've graduated her to a full-sized, wire crate. She has plenty of room and can see quite well.
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Keeping dogs occupied in their crate
#236751 - 04/20/2009 09:47 AM 
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Suzzie, the Australian Shepherd
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