Rhys meets crate; enjoys included Kong
Things are moving quickly so far. Rhys has his very own sanctuary in our home. Wire crate, soft bedding, water bowl, multiple toys, and he’s spending quite a bit of time there on his own.
He definitely had incentive: we stuffed his Kong with treats and tossed it in there. I don’t think he looked back until he got the Kong stuck to his lower jaw. Poor guy. I mentioned that they are prone to death by eating. I am sadly not joking about that one.
Later, I experimented with his anxiety level today by closing the crate and leaving the room for a couple of minutes. He did pretty well: no whining, no crying, no panicking.
The key for this to work is to let him go at his own pace. We have committed the next six months to training him. I want to look back in June and know that this is all worth it.
In addition to crate training, we are using the supervision method. This means that whenever Rhys is not in his crate, we are watching him very closely to ensure that he doesn’t do one of the many things we are trying to get him to forget: marking in the house (ugh), jumping onto the furniture, eating out of the litter box (again, ugh), and eating inappropriate foods/objects.
The supervision method is next to impossible with tiny dogs, though. I am getting really annoyed at all the websites I’ve found that simply say “watch your dog.” Seriously? It seems like he can drop a puddle in the blink of an eye. Oh well, I’m trying my best. I’m going to pretend like the little puddle I found today doesn’t count, it being the first day and all.
By the way … that puddle? I never would’ve found it if it weren’t for Stink-Finder Super Brite. I joke not about it’s name. It’s a UV light and it’s fun to play CSI and search the house … until you find something.
rhys jenkins crate crate training kong uv light supervision method photo i iphone
