Am I being mean to my dog?

Question

I have a 1 1/2 year old Pug and 2 cats. Well, my Pug likes to pee on my furniture and I let him do it for too long and I am having a rough time breaking him of it, so about a month ago I went & bought an indoor kennel, it's just big enough for him to be able to turn around & lay down and stuff (I was told not to get a kennel that's 2 big or they will use the bathroom in it) So now every time I leave I put him in it w/ a pillow and a toy or rawhide & I leave the TV He gives me the saddest look right before I leave every time, lol, and it makes me feel so bad. Well, I work from 8-4 and sometimes I'm able to go home @ lunch to let him out for a little bit, but sometimes he's in the cage the whole time. Can this actually be bad for him? Not only do I feel bad doing this, but I didn't know if this is actually unhealthy in any way? I just don't have a choice because he will pee on things when I'm not home. But trust me, I give him TONS of attention when I get home...Am I concerned for no rea

reason?** And what I meant to say above is that I do leave the TV on for him. I don't have any signs of seperation anxiety that I know of either.

Answer 1

No, that is fine! :) Don't worry about people saying it is mean, I guess you could say it depends on the person's point of view. If you leave the dog in there all the time, it's cruel, but if you take him out whenever you get the chance, it's fine. It's called crate training and it's GREAT! Right now my family is using that method on our new dog, and it is working. At first she would try to stop me from putting her in there, but now she understands that we are not neglecting her in any way, and she is a really happy puppy. She is also almost house broken! What a difference from the puppy she once was who pooped on the rug atleast 3-4 times a day even when we took her out! haha.

Best of luck to you and your little dog.
Don't worry about the dog as long as you take him out a lot and give him plenty of attention and love, and as long as he is not showing any health/mental issues. hehe :) Good luck.

Answer 2

I think you're doing the right thing by leaving him in the kennel while you're gone. It's good to leave the TV on and give him some chew toys and rawhide. After a while, he will get used to it. I have a twelve week old dog and I keep her in a small area blocked off with a gate. She's not totally housetrained so I have to leave a training pad in the area. Since she's so young, I don't leave her too long- 4 hours max). I have to leave some food for her since she is so young and small. I don't think you need to leave food for your pug since he's an adult and you get the chance to go home and check on him. If you feel the crate is not working, think about trying the gate. But I know a lot of people that leave their adult dogs in the crate while they're at work and it seems to be successful.

Answer 3

Your last line was the most important thing you said. Your entire question is typical... Ah human emotions......... The crate WILL become his little cave. They really do look at it as a safe place. Secure and only open to attack from one side !!! Most will not pee where they sleep ? would you ?
Give him time and try to fight your emotions. Worst case scenario is you come home at lunch and let him out to do his business for now and gradually work him in the crate Maybe 2 weeks tops. My 10 year old Doberman never had a kennel until about 4 WEEKS ago. Well he's 10 and this was new to him. I left the door open in ( I keep it in the bedroom ) and he worked into sleeping in it within the 3rd night. All on his own. Now as long as he has access he will meander back in there around 9 pm and he down for the night. Guess where he goes when he hears thunder and lightning???
The reluctance for him to go in right now is more separation anxiety than anything else. All these things take time and effort from you and you will see. Always make it a good place to be. Don't use it as punishment as you can see the reverse effect that would have on your dogs acceptance of the cage.

Answer 4

Well, he's now being punished for a behavior that you have allowed for so long, so I'm sure he's pretty confused. It's good that you go home at lunch to give him a break, but you need to do that every single day, not just once in awhile. And when he goes outside, reward him with a treat (make sure it's low-fat). This lets him know that he did a good thing - and if he's anything like my pug, he's VERY food oriented. And when he pees on the furniture, spray him with water from a spray bottle put on spray (not stream). That's how I trained my pug.

Think about how hard it is for you to break an old habit, no matter what it might be - they die hard. That's what he's dealing with, but he doesn't understand. And pugs can be stubborn.

Answer 5

Youre fine.

I know very few dogs that dont go to a kennel during the day.

Depending on weather mine is either in a small crate in the house sleeping while I work, or in his large kennel outside. He is fine, actually he tends to prefer the crate over the kennel anyway.

As long as he's getting attention when youre home, youre being consistent, and youre not just shoving him in there all the time to get him out of the way its fine. He's probably safer in there anyway.
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Just look at the first response you got. No info at all, he just name called and used that idiotic phrase "dogs are people too". I figure anything that is in disagreement with that person has a very high chance of being the right thing to do.

Answer 6

This is actually a very normal way for dogs to spend the day. If you think about it, chances are, if they had the whole house to run around in, they would just sleep anyway. It's never too late to housebreak a dog, and crate training is the best way to do it. I actually had a similar problem with my sisters dog when she got him. Dogs can hold their bladder for a very long time. Dogs have a good way of giving you that little look that just suckers you in and makes you feel bad, but they really are fine in their kennels, plus it keeps them from possible trouble (maybe eating something they shouldn't while you're not home) Don't beat yourself up over it. :)

Answer 7

I think crating a dog that is unreliably houstrained or otherwise does dmage to your home is fine and not cruel. I've used crate training in the past and think it is a great tool. The fact that your dog is not showing signs of separation anxiety or problems from being in the crate indicates that it's going OK.

My only concern is the period of time you're crating on some days. On the days you can't go home at lunch and let the pug out, you should find someone else to do it, perhaps a pet sitting service if you don't have a family member of a friend to help you out. 8-4 feels a little long to me.

Answer 8

I have 7 dogs and 5 are crated whenever I leave. My 2 big dogs are loose and my 5 MinPins are crated for their health and safety. They all zoom into their crates when they see me getting ready to leave and I know they will not get into something, in case of fire they can be removed and since they are MinPins and rescues most are not handleable on home ground by strangers. Since they were all adults when I adopted them most were not reliably housebroken and will pee when left alone esp the 2 males that have a love/hate relationship. Two of them are 13+/- and I know they will not fall off the couch and hurt themselves or get sat on by a Dobe and Lab couch hunting. If my house was set up differently and I could baby gate the kitchen I might try that as well but they are safe and have chewies in their crates. My Dobe was crated until he was 14 mos old and then he was left out in increasing amounts when I wasn't home to test his readiness. I do that with all my large breed pups since if they do not get into the habit of couch eating they won't as adults.

Answer 9

You are doing exactly what you should be doing. An adult dog can be crated for up to 8 hours. In the wild, dogs lived in dens where they slept for hours at a time. A kennel provides a similar environment. Do not feel guilty. This is an appropriate training method.

Answer 10

Wow, people sure do have a lot of opinions on this subject! Just be careful, because many of them are misleading or plain wrong. You are clearly a loving owner, if a irresponsible one, yet one probably desirous of becoming responsible. If so, train your dog! The notion that your dog will "get used" to the crate misses the point completely. The idea is to get him back to normal, right? Find out for yourself what is required, and do it! It will be work, and it will be frustrating at times, but the result will be that you have a dog you can allow to roam and sniff at will whether you are home or at the office.