I got a sweet little Yorkie-Poo yesterday "Dorothy". Dorothy is so darn cute. I will post her picture as soon as she sits still My question is, does anyone have a dog that is crate trained? I put her in her crate last night when we went to bed, and she barked, yelped,and screamed loudly for about 45 min. It was the worst! My husband and I ignored her, and she eventually went to sleep. Did we do the right thing? How long will this take? Can anyone help?

It will take some time - could be a few days, could be weeks - but she will eventually stop. Don't give in or you'll have to start all over again.

Ignoring her is the right thing to do. Man, I remember those days, my weimaraner puppy would cry for hours and hours at the beginning. Brutal.

Here she is...

brocklynn said:

Awwwww!!!! What a pretty girl!!!

JustErin said:

Thanks, I hope it doesn't last weeks! I feel sorry for my neighbor, she must think I have a pet monkey She can make some real loud strange noises!

Dorothy is so cute

and like Erin says, it will take time, you need lots of patience when training a dogs

aww too cute

Why do you need to keep the dog in a crate? What's the use in having a dog if you're going to keep it in a crate? I'm not saying you have to allow it to sleep in your bed but in a crate...that's stupid.

Thankfully I live in a country where keeping your dog in a crate/cage on a regular basis will be illegal in a couple months.

Teacher said:

hey sexy.. tbh I didnt know what she meant by crate..

Oh, and yorkie-poo my ass, it's a crossbreed just like any old mutt off the street only somebody wanting to make money thought up what they think was a cute name. You have absolutely no proof whatsoever the breeds in your dog are both yorkie and poodle, the yorkie is easy to see but there could easily be something other than poodle. There's also no way for you to know that the parents/heritage further back are free of hereditary race-prone disorders/diseases, or that your puppy or its parents/heritage isn't the result of inbreeding.

Teacher said:

It is really a big pen, with food, water, a blanket, toys, and a litter box that she knows how to use. She is very tiny and new to our home. We were told it was important for her safety while we are gone or sleeping.

REDFEATHERS said:

Hey you The way I figure is that it HAS to be some kind of cage or crate it can't get out of, it wouldn't stay in there bawling if it could get out. But just cos you said this I'll say:
- If you want your dog to sleep at a designated spot/doggy bed you need to make it cosy for the dog there. Put a nice blanket it knows well in there and something of yours too - an old t-shirt you wore or something. Then put the dog's bed next to yours so it can feel close to you. Also make sure that the dog is well activated but has calmed down before bed and of course that it's done its business.

Personally I can't see why you'd want to get a pet when you don't want it to be close to you but that's just me. That kind of dog can be little else than a pet so why not want to be close and cuddly with it?

Teacher said:

Thanks for all the positivie words

brocklynn said:

LITTER BOX??? L I T T E R B O X?? For a DOG? Dogs get WALKED, they don't use litter boxes. If you can't walk your dog then get a fucking cat or a rabbit. Those don't need exercise that's beyond the house. You know that ALL dogs need exercise, right?

Do some reading on DOGS, cos you just got one. Why would being caged up being a safety issue? What would she be kept safe from while you sleep? Don't you fond it just a little bit strange that she'd need to be kept safe from the people she's supposed to bond with? Do you realise that leaving your dog home alone while you for example work is a training process that takes weeks or could take months?
I know the answer to these questions but you don't. I'm sorry for your dog.

brocklynn said:

You're welcome. So does your puppy have any hereditary diseases and have you calculated the inbreeding precentage yet?

brocklynn said:

My dog had puppies a little over a week ago, right now they are ok in their bed with their mom but once they start walking believe me they are going in a crate when we are not around, I would not want them getting hurt, so I completely understand why you are using the crate

veronikka said:

Of course puppies need a crate when they're with their mommy before they get to leave her side, but provided the puppy is 8 weeks or older it doesn't need that. At 8 weeks they're ok to be taken from their mom and they need to start exploring the world. Having a puppy is like having a child in that you need to baby-proof your home...or stick it in a crate and let it use a litter box.

very cute doggie

Teacher said:

My understanding is that mixed breeds are less likely to have a hereditary diseases as there is a decreased chance that both parents are carrying the same disease.

There is nothing wrong with crate training when it's used for keeping them in when you're out and/or for them to sleep in at night. It also helps with house breaking.

There is also nothing wrong with teaching little lap dogs to use a litter box. It doesn't mean that you don't walk you dog.

JustErin said:

One4All4Ever said:

That said. I only crated my dog for about a year - once she got through her destructive phase when I was out - I'm talking about chewing the corners of walls, pulling up carpet, ripping off wallpaper, etc. Eventually she was allowed to be loose in the house when I stepped out for a bit. Her breed is notorious for separation anxiety and just going out for an hour led to some serious damage. After that phase she was awesome. That dog used to sleep with me under the covers. Damn, I miss her.

My little dog now is not crated, ever. No need, he's fine when we're out...but then again, he's hardly ever alone. And he sleeps with me at night.

Awww cute puppy

JustErin said:

A dog is a group/herd/idunnohowtocallit animal ... it will finds it place in the group. If, by mistake, it thinks it's the leader. Crating is quite a good way to let it know its place or teach a dog bad from good.

He's a lucky dog

One4All4Ever said:

Agreed.

veronikka said:

This is a common misconception. That's something that "breeders" of crossbreeds have used as a selling point for decades and many people believe it to this day. The truth is that all hereditary diseases occur in all breeds, genetic abnormalities in many. In most pure breed dogs individuals that are going to be used for breeding have to go through a series of tests to ensure that they are free of hereditary/genetic defects, it's often not allowed to register or even breed individuals who aren't tested or that hasn't an established inbreeding degree below a certain figure. This is of course to try and ensure that the dogs used for breeding are continuing good bloodlines.
Individuals that are used for crossbreed mating are seldom or never checked or tested for diseases or conditions and that means that there is no information on the offspring. If they ARE tested they might have failed or a defect showed up but the owner still wants money and/or has the feeling of "but my dog is sooooo adorable and his temper is sooo great, he's so friendly and great with kids". There is no sentiment that is more stupid than this, it's a great part of why there is a huge problem with crossbreed dogs that nobody wants today. The puppies of these mixes are seldom or never put through the vet exam that purebred registered puppies are so problems the puppies are born with are almost never detected. They should also be given the normal shots before they leave their home but that's also almost never done, all in the name of making more money.
If you think about it and know anything about genetics, there is no reason that genetic defects/physical conditions should show up less often in a crossbreed dog than in a purebred - some genes are dominant and some are recessive, many can lie dormant for generations. Unless you have a pedigree you have no way of knowing what your dog might be carrying, and a sad but honest truth is that people who get a crossbreed are less likely to spend money testing their dog for defects. For example, using the yorkshire terrier and poodle in brocklynn's dog, we get the following - both breeds have a defect called "patella luxation", it means that the joint on the hind knee has a tendency to jump out, whether or not this occurs often depends on the severity of the defect. That both of these breeds have the defect doesn't mean that a mix of them both has LESS chance of having it, cos two positives doesn't equal a negative. Furthermore the yorkshire terrier can have a malfunction in the blood supply to its liver. it's something they're born with and needs to be found before it seriously damages the dog. Both breeds are prone to a retinal defect that detaches the retina or causes premature blindness, that's tested for and purebred individuals used for "official" breeding with this defect cannot be used.

This is only scratching on the surface as to why you shouldn't get a mixed breed dog, in fact why not to get ANY dog without knowing as much as possible what you're getting.
It's sad that people still see a dog as something you just get without ever considering the consequences or the medical care your dog could need.

Teacher said:

it's an animal

JustErin said:

Yes it does mean you don't walk them. A dog has no problem whatsoever holding it in for a reasonable period of time (Uzie sometimes sleeps like the dead for 10-11 hours) but that's not what I'm talking about, in the daytime I take Uzie out every 5-6 hours but in actuality more often - but NOT because she needs to go, just cos we're going out for a walk cos I want to. If you give a dog a litter box it doesn't GET housebroken, housebroken means they don't EVER go in the house if there isn't a real emergency. If you have a litterbox for your dog you can never bring it anybody else's house cos it doesn't know not to go, or keep it in the car if you're going somewhere or things like that.
Keeping your dog in a crate when you leave the house only means you didn't have to train the dog to be alone, not that it's ok. Nobody I know (except for North Americans on the Org) ever used a crate/cage to "train" them to be home alone - we all trained them, period. Little by little, in minute periods at first, then longer and longer. Crates/cages/litter box aren't training, they're LACK of training.

One4All4Ever said:

Yeah. Aren't you lucky there aren't that many rules for breeding people?

Teacher said:

Funny, I was just just thinking the same thing!