Hi Everyone. Happy Veterans Day.

I'm going through the motions with my 13 week old GSD pup and the ex-pen. It's set up in the kitchen and she spends a lot of time in there. In between she gets lots of training, exercise and play time. She sleeps like a dream in her crate at night (which is in our bedroom). She's gotten quite barmy lately in the pen - mostly as she sees the cat go by, or my other dog, or sees anyone ignoring her. Should I have a crate in or next to the ex-pen? In other words, when she's not chilling happily in the ex-pen should I crate her? She does nap in her ex-pen, sometimes for an hour, She is in there right now happily chewing a bully. But sometimes her yelping is so over the top.

So, I guess I'm confused. I didn't use an ex-pen with my first dog and he was in his crate much much more than she is. I'm wondering if the ex-pen is allowing her to see too much of what she's missing and causing her to yelp?

Additionally, my current dog's crate is near the ex-pen...could I put her in his crate when he's outside or is that a "no-no"? (I mean asking my male dog to share his crate with his new sister).

Lots of ??'s. Thanks to all who put in their 2 cents

Disclaimer: I've only raised one puppy using an ex-pen so I'm by no means an expert.

I use the ex-pen to give my puppy more freedom than it would have by normally being in the crate. I don't think there are any hard and fast rules for using the ex-pen (or anything in dog training for that matter). The reason I use an ex-pen is to provide a contained environment for my puppy to be out in the open and part of the pack while not being able to be wild in the house chewing up things she's not allowed to. I use a wire crate, and ended up attaching the wire crate to the ex-pen. That gave my puppy the option of going into the crate to sleep if she was sleepy instead of just sleeping out in the open in the ex-pen. She exercised that option about half the time. When she slept outside the crate, it was usually up against the side of the pen closest to me. I then considered rearranging the setup so that the crate was closest to me (the crate was located on the far side of the pen in relation to where I sit in the living room), thereby passively encouraging my puppy to go into the crate to sleep AND be closer to me. I never got around to actually doing this, but next time I raise a puppy, I will probably do it this way.

I'm not really qualified to give a recommendation on crate-sharing. I'll leave that for those people here who have multiple dogs.

I re-read your post after I replied and realized I had not answered your question.

I think you're asking if you should crate the dog if he is screaming for attention in the ex-pen? I would probably not do that. I would continue to ignore the pup. The reason you have him in the ex-pen is to introduce him to house rules and to teach him to be calm in the house when he's out in the open. If you crate him every time he's throwing a tantrum, I think you're giving him the attention he wants and you could (quite possibly) transfer the screaming behavior straight into the crate.

 Quote: Vanessa Grebe

Hi Everyone. Happy Veterans Day.

I'm going through the motions with my 13 week old GSD pup and the ex-pen. It's set up in the kitchen and she spends a lot of time in there. In between she gets lots of training, exercise and play time. She sleeps like a dream in her crate at night (which is in our bedroom). She's gotten quite barmy lately in the pen - mostly as she sees the cat go by, or my other dog, or sees anyone ignoring her. Should I have a crate in or next to the ex-pen? In other words, when she's not chilling happily in the ex-pen should I crate her? She does nap in her ex-pen, sometimes for an hour, She is in there right now happily chewing a bully. But sometimes her yelping is so over the top.

So, I guess I'm confused. I didn't use an ex-pen with my first dog and he was in his crate much much more than she is. I'm wondering if the ex-pen is allowing her to see too much of what she's missing and causing her to yelp?

Additionally, my current dog's crate is near the ex-pen...could I put her in his crate when he's outside or is that a "no-no"? (I mean asking my male dog to share his crate with his new sister).

Lots of ??'s. Thanks to all who put in their 2 cents

Belated Happy Veterans Day to you as well.

I think what your doing with the ex-pen is right, I wouldn't use the crate as a "punishment", social isolation is one thing used for other behaviors, but not for whining. What Kurt suggested with attaching the crate and ex-pen is magnificent, I'm going to do that with my next puppy.

Here is what I'm seeing, a hyper 13 week old GSD that's still learning house behaviour. That's what it boils down to. Your going about it the right way, it's just going to take time.
There is a step you may be missing though, rewarding for quiet behaviour. I like to keep it random with very high value treats,(cooked chicken, dried liver treats, Bologna, cheese etc.)

Behaviour shaping takes a while but is well worth it, and makes things more upbeat, and positive. Positive reinforcement instead of a positive correction, his crate is supposed to be used as a safe haven, not a jail cell.

Edit: To answer your other question - No I wouldn't allow two dogs to share a crate. I view them as individual safe and personal areas of space where they have thier chew toys, thier bed, and thier familiar surroundings. They know where thier crate is, because it is thiers. IMO, it would be like asking two dogs to share toys, and food & water bowls. Your asking for problems. JMO.


Edited by Ben McDonald (11/12/2011 02:58 AM)
Edit reason: See edit section.