[SOLVED ] Q. I just rescued a 6 month old Labrador puppy. How do I keep him from screaming bloody murder when I put him in the kennel and go to work?

Experienced and professional animal trainer provide their insights in answering this question :

A. U need to get him accustomed to being in there all the time even when your home. Feed and give him water in there. Make him sleep in there at night. And after a while he will basically make that his safe zone. The kicker is that you can’t punish him with the crate. Otherwise he will relate it with being something bad and you want it to be a positive thing.

How to Identify Common Pet Problems ?

Our sources include academic articles, blog posts, and personal essays from experienced pet care professionals :

Crate Training Expectations: Crying is Normal At First

With young puppies, crate training generally takes several weeks. Most puppies under the age of about 16 or 20 weeks (4-5 months) won`t be able to stand being in the crate for more than a short period of time — typically no more than a few hours.

Try to ignore the whining. If your dog is just testing you, he`ll probably stop whining soon. Yelling at him or pounding on the crate will only make things worse. If the whining continues after you`ve ignored him for several minutes, use the phrase he associates with going outside to eliminate.

Kitchens and bathrooms can easily be turned into a long-term confinement area using pressure-mounted, walk-through gates–just provide your puppy with a bed or crate to rest in and then completely cover whatever floor space is visible with pee pads or newspaper.

It`s a common mistake that some owners make to just leave their puppy in their bed or crate to `cry it out`. Even if they seem to settle down, this could actually be having the opposite effect to what you want and making them more anxious to be alone, causing them more stress.

Kathrine says, “Our goal should be for puppies to feel relaxed and comfortable in their crate, so if the puppy does not settle within a couple of minutes, he should be removed from the crate and re-introduced to it in a way that does not cause these unpleasant feelings.” In the long run, taking him out for now is best …

If your puppy cries in his crate before bed (or anytime): Make sure you place good bedding and a few favorite toys in the crate. It`s also essential to consider the room temperature. Puppies and smaller dog breeds can get chilly quickly, so make sure you position the crate in an area that`s not too cold (or too hot).

If they continue to cry for a long time, then there may well be something you need to help them with. If you do go and check, limit your time with them. Check if they need the toilet or if they are hurt, then settle your puppy again and leave. If they start up again, as hard as it may seem, leave them alone.

The instant you feel your puppy`s teeth touch you, give a high-pitched yelp. Then immediately walk away from him. Ignore him for 30 to 60 seconds. If your puppy follows you or continues to bite and nip at you, leave the room for 30 to 60 seconds.

Separation anxiety symptoms can include loud crying, excessive barking, accidents in the house and other undesirable behaviors. Fortunately, puppies can learn to be comfortable with their alone time with some dog separation anxiety training, encouragement and a little patience from their human companions.

Neither young pups nor adult dogs should be confined to a crate all day and night. Very young puppies can not be expected to `hold it` for more than a few hours. So, when you need to leave your young puppy alone for longer than you think he can reasonable hold it in his crate, don`t confine him there.

Prolonged solitary confinement is indisputably catastrophic to your dog`s well-being. Your dog is NOT a toy that you can put away whenever you are done or want out of sight. Don`t get a dog just to confine him for long periods.

One research study conducted by University of Lincoln`s School of Psychology found that dogs truly recognize emotions in humans and other dogs as a result of combining what they hear and see when a human is crying.

Begin by closing your puppy in the confinement area with a chew toy or other constructive activity, then quietly walk out of the room. Return immediately and reward them with praise and a treat. Repeat the process, slowly increasing how long you`re away each time.

Where Should Your Puppy Sleep? While you may eventually want to let your dog sleep in bed with you (or your kids), it really is best if your pup starts out sleeping in a crate — you can always let them in the bed later, once they`re fully potty-trained, sleeping soundly, and happily acclimated to their crate.

Most puppies do best in a crate with a soft and suitable bed or bedding tucked inside. Crates keep your little guy corralled and away from temptations and dangers while you get some shut-eye too.

Give your dog at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity (for example, running and swimming) every day. Try to exercise your dog right before you have to leave him by himself. This might help him relax and rest while you`re gone. Play fun, interactive games with your dog, such as fetch and tug-of-war.

How do you calm an anxious dog in a crate? Put your pup in their crate and leave the room for short amounts of time. Slowly increase the time you leave the room. You can give them a toy or treats that take time to consume before you leave.

There is no real right or wrong answer.

Just like humans, dogs are different. Some may feel more comfortable in a crate next to your bed, while others prefer to sleep on a blanket in the living room. The best sleeping place for your dog depends on their age, personality, health condition, and your preferences.

Obviously, his stronger sense of smell is useful, but it`s also because dogs can see movement and light in the dark, and other low-light situations, better than humans. They are assisted by the high number of light-sensitive rods within the retina of their eyes. Rods collect dim light, supporting better night vision.

There are different opinions, as well as a variety of factors, that influence the answer to this question. However, most veterinarians and breeders would put the optimum age to bring home a puppy somewhere between 8-to-10 weeks old.

There is nothing wrong with cuddling and playing with your new puppy, but try to limit picking them up. Continually holding your dog can make them begin to feel as though they are human and can encourage behavior that causes dominance struggles within your home.

Contemporary experts urge against all uses of physical discipline. Tapping or bopping a dog on the nose can be misconstrued as playful behavior, and being too rough with your dog can actually trigger biting, reactive, or defensive behavior.

The behavior is being reinforced.

As puppies, biting was a way for them to try to instigate play and attention, explore the world, and burn off some teething frustration.

Separation anxiety is a serious condition that creates high levels of stress for your puppy and often results in abnormal behaviour when left alone. Puppies may cry a little when you leave the house, but separation anxiety is usually explained by more extreme behaviours, such as: Destructive or disruptive behaviour.

Relevant Questions and Answers :

the most relevant questions and answers related to your specific issue

Q. How do I get my dog to stop chewing on things? I kennel her when I leave for a few hours, but I can’t go to the mailbox without her eating something.

ANSWER : A. If she’s young, then this is just normal puppy behavior. Don’t worry about it. The thing about puppies is, they explore using their mouths. If your puppy grabs a coat hanger, or a slipper, you should roll up a newspaper, and smack yourself on the head with it for leaving those things out.. your puppy is going to explore things, that’s normal! It is 100% up to YOU to keep those things away from your puppy when your puppy is unsupervised… even for just a moment.

Remember to never scold your puppy for grabbing these things. They are just curious little cuties, and they don’t chew things up to bother us.. Dogs do not have intentional thought, so they aren’t ever doing anything ON PURPOSE to us.. The most important thing you can do when your puppy is chewing something you don’t want her to be chewing is TRADE her the inappropriate item with a toy of hers, so she understands “no honey, that isn’t what puppies chew on… THIS is what puppies chew on!” and then begin playing with her using her toy to show her that TOYS ARE FUN.. Way more fun than a boring ol’ coat hanger.

Another helpful thing you can do is have two bags of toys. In each bag is many different kinds of toys. Lots of chew toys, lots of soft squeaky toys, lots of rope-type toys, a bunch of balls.. All kinds of things! For one week you have bag#1’s toys out for your puppy to play with.. At the end of the one week, you collect those toys, and you bring out bag#2! The toys will be more interesting/feel like new to your puppy, which will in-turn, make her chew less inappropriate things. Her toys are too fun to care about that dumb Wii-mote that you left laying around.

Hope this helps!

Read Full Q/A … : Stop Dog Chewing – Put A Stop To Your Dog's Or Puppy's …

Q. I just rescued a 6 month old Labrador puppy. How do I keep him from screaming bloody murder when I put him in the kennel and go to work?

ANSWER : A. U need to get him accustomed to being in there all the time even when your home. Feed and give him water in there. Make him sleep in there at night. And after a while he will basically make that his safe zone. The kicker is that you can’t punish him with the crate. Otherwise he will relate it with being something bad and you want it to be a positive thing.

Read Full Q/A … : Causes of Limping in Dogs

Q. My puppy refuses to walk outside on the leash. This only happens when we’re outside… Is it stubbornness or fear?

ANSWER : A. It is never stubbornness. Dogs are not stubborn, they can’t be. Dogs do not generalize well, and dogs display fearful behavior that appears to be stubbornness. Absolutely NEVER force this dog to walk outside when he is uncomfortable with doing so.. the more you force him to do it, opposition reflex – the more he will resist. The more he resists and is forced into it, the less he learns about being comfortable, and the more he becomes fearful of you and of the situation.

What you can do is carry extremely high value treats outside with you. Things like cooked white meat chicken, cooked fish, turkey pepperoni, turkey bacon, diced ham, mozzarella cheese sticks – all cut up into tiny little pea-sized pieces. You can also use peanut butter in a squeeze tube. First, put on the leash indoors and begin feeding him the treats. Help him make positive associations with having the leash put on. Then, take the leash off, and start over in 10min. Put the leash on, feed treats, walk to the door, open the door, feed treats, close door, take off leash. Start over in 10min. Put on leash, feed treats, go to door, feed treats, open door, feed treats, go outside, feed tons of treats and praise. Keep Titus in his comfort zone. If he doesn’t want to go far, just feed him tons of treats where he IS comfortable going. Make sure everything is calm/happy/positive. I bet in a week of doing this, he will be happy with walk further and further all of the time. If ever he is uncomfortable, feed him lots of treats for being a brave boy, and then turn around and go back home. It’s all about keeping him in his comfort zone.. it’s all about remaining within his threshold and never forcing him to feed uncomfortable.

This is very common for puppies. The world is scary! It’s brand new to them, and it’s up to you to make their interactions and discoveries positive, happy, calm, and to never force them into anything.

Read Full Q/A … : My Puppy Won’t Walk on Leash! 3 Ways to Train Your Puppy to …

Q. My 9 week old puppy uses the bathroom outside and then goes again as soon as I bring him into the house. Is this normal?

ANSWER : A. Puppies are good at getting distracted and forgetting to empty themselves completely. Try taking him to a low distraction area and stand still, he may stop and go a few times before getting completely empty.

Also feeding on a schedule will help you know when he has to go. Keeping a chart that tracks when he goes can help you get him out on time and see your progress.

If you keep a chart and it seems like he’s going excessively (pups go a lot, but there’s normal puppy a lot, and way to much) the chart can also help you and your vet determine if there may be a medical issue going on. An underlying medical issue such as a UTI will impede even the best housetraining efforts.

Read Full Q/A … : My Puppy Pees Outside Then Pees Inside – Puppy In Training

Q. We have a 7 week old Toy Poodle/Bichon. We are trying to house train her, any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

ANSWER : A. It’s understandable that she isn’t able to hold her bladder all that well yet. The bladder doesn’t fully develop until around 6-7 months of age. For now, you should be bringing your pup outside every 30 minutes, immediately after she eats/drinks, immediately after she plays, immediately after a nap, immediately after training.

Is she crate trained? If she is not crate trained, I have some wonderful crate training exercises I could go over. Crate training and potty training go hand-in-hand. Any time you cannot keep your eyes on the puppy, she should be in the crate so accidents do not occur. The main idea when it comes to potty training is to keep your puppy successful.

After a while of bringing her outside every 30 minutes, you can try to increase that time. What you should do is wait until the 30 minute marker strikes, and then begin some basic obedience using treats, or some puppy-play! Then go out a few minutes later. Teach her it’s fun to hold her bladder!

Read Full Q/A … : Can anyone tell me about the breed "bichon-poo"? Is it… – Q&A

Q. My puppy is urinating a lot. And the lady I gave one of the puppies to said she thinks her puppy has diabetes could my puppy have it to

ANSWER : A. It is not likely that either one of these puppies has diabetes. It is very uncommon for a puppy that young to have diabetes. If your puppy is straining to urinate or is urinating very small amounts frequently and cannot seem to wait for very long between urination, he may have a urinary tract infection. It is quite possible that your puppy is completely normal. I would suggest an exam with your veterinarian and discuss the behavior with them. They may suggest a urinalysis. Your puppy should be going to the vet at 3 week intervals for vaccinations at this age, so you can discuss it when he has his next set of vaccines. The other person with the other puppy should also be taking hers to a vet for proper immunizations and she should also discuss her concerns with her vet.

Read Full Q/A … : When my dog goes pee it is dark and thick. – Questions …

Q. We have a 4 yr old lab-pit mix we raise from 6 weeks.If my husband tries to take hin by the collar and make him go out to pottie he growls.Problem?

ANSWER : A. This is not good behavior. Rather than take him by the collar, call him to come with you. If he’s not good about coming when called, you can work on that. Keeps treats on hand to to entice him out and reward him when he does go potty and he’ll come to look forward to it. Clicker training is another great way to teach a dog all kinds of things, from obedience to tricks.

Have treats on hand that you know he loves, then simply click and treat. He will come to associate the sound with getting a treat. Start putting distance between you so he has to come to you. Call and click and when he comes to you for that treat, treat him and give him lots of praise. Move to hiding somewhere in the house, call and click. When he comes to you reliably inside when you call, click and treat. When this behavior is consistent, move outdoors with a very long leash. Call and click, if he doesn’t respond, give a light tug on the leash. If he takes even a single step toward you, click, treat and lots of praise. Keep doing this until he comes eagerly. Next, try him off-leash in a securely fenced area. Call and click. At this point he should be responding well and coming easily to the call and click. If he does not, go back to the last step he performed reliably and work on that again until he responds well. Eventually, you can start not treating him every time, but still praise him. Gradually lessen the frequency of the treats until he comes just to the click and praise.

Keep training sessions short, ten or fifteen minutes to start, no more than 30 minutes at a time and do it a few times a day. Try not to do it any time he is overly excited so that he can pay attention to you. Always end a training session on a good note, even if it is just getting him to do something he already does well on command. And never, NEVER punish a dog when they come to you, no matter how far they’ve made you chase them, no matter how frustrated and angry you might be. That teaches your dog that coming to you is a bad thing.

Read Full Q/A … : Causes of Limping in Dogs

Q. My puppy ate 2 peanut butter with chocolate chip granola bars.

ANSWER : A. It is important to know your pup’s weight, age, and breed. It takes a decent amount of milk chocolate to cause any issues in a dog. However, if it was dark chocolate, and your dog is very small (2lb small breed) then you should consider going to the vet. If your dog is a little larger, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Keep a very close eye on your puppy for the next couple of days, and check each bowel movement.

I am hoping you didn’t scold your dog for eating the granola bars. I say this because you may have, when truly, it was your own fault. Allowing your puppy to get into trouble like that is irresponsible. A puppy should be crate trained, and crated when unsupervised. Not only that, but if your puppy had already eaten the granola bars, scolding is pointless. Scolding after the fact is always pointless. If you’re going to scold, or redirect your puppy, you should do is DURING the act, and not after. The puppy will only learn that you are scary, and unpredictable if you scold after he has done something bad and forgotten about it.

Read Full Q/A … : my dog just ate a granola bar with chocolate chips