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  1. #1
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    Un-crating Tips?

    Hi Everyone!

    I know this may seem like a silly question, but I would like to start training my year and a half old lab to be un-crated for short periods of time(running errands, etc). I have done this a few times to go check the mail(maybe 5 minutes) and he seems to go into a panic, and I either come back to find him curled up in a corner or IN his crate. Now of course I know that un-crating comes with time just as crate training did. Does anyone have any tips? If anyone has been crazy enough to attempt this haha.

  2. #2
    Senior Dog
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    little trips like you say but if the dog likes the crate and feels secure……..

  3. #3
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Is he loose in the house when you are home? How is he then? Maybe 5 minutes was too long to start. What if you go out the back door and walk around to your front door and come back in? No big goodbye or hello, just out and in. Part of the conditioning is to make your comings and goings a non event. Don't talk to him, don't even look at him for maybe 10 minutes after you come back in.

    I don't see a problem with him curled up in a corner or in his crate. You want him to relax and chill out, if those are safe places he likes then good. It's the panic part you don't want. Good luck.

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  5. #4
    Senior Dog WhoopsaDaisy's Avatar
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    I've been experimenting with this as well. I have been leaving mine for 1-3 hours. She is always sleeping by the front door when I come home - in the exact spot I left her in. I kinda want to get one of those cameras to see if she actually moves at all. I would think if he is sleeping in his crate that is a good thing! I would make sure he has had plenty of exercise when you leave him outside the crate so all he'll want to do is sleep anyway.
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  6. #5
    Senior Dog Jeff's Avatar
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    I would just start slow, little trips here and there, best thing you can do is not make a big fuss about leaving or returning. Some petting and stuff for a greeting is fine. I always give a butt scratching. Then when you start doing it for work. I started Tuesday and Thursday in the afternoons for a couple weeks. Then Monday, Wednesday, Friday a couple weeks then all afternoons for a couple weeks. Then all days. I wouldn't worry about him going to the crate. A lot of dogs the crate is their safe spot. My sister has a 6 year old lab, still has his crate set up, never closes the door but has a blanket over it. Its where he goes when he wants a little nap. My boy doesn't have his crate set up anymore but we use one once in a while. When he goes over there to my sisters we have often caught them both going in the same crate and snuggling for a nap.

    I do have a camera so I can see whats happening. My guy pretty much after I leave curls up and sleeps. I do recommend getting a web cam if you can, as it provides lots of laughs. This morning I got to work and fired everything up and I was like where is Hemi? Then I seen the nose sticking out from under his bed. No idea why, but he crawled under his bed. Sometimes there is activity outside and he watches out the window. But thats pretty much how he spends his day.

  7. #6
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    You could always block off a room or a smaller area that would be relatively dog-proof in case he does go wild in your absence. Keep the crate there with the door open so he can go in if he wants. It sounds like he feels safe in there so no reason that he should not have access, at least until your leaving does not seem to upset him. My dogs are very accustomed to me going in and out of the house or upstairs or down to the basement without them. That's usually what I start with, letting them know that if I go out of sight, I'll be coming back. Like the others suggested, I don't make a big deal of either leaving or coming back, it's a non-event. If I'm going to work, I usually given them a dehydrated sweet potato chip, some people use stuffed, frozen Kongs, to distract them from the actual act of me walking out the door. I don't do that if I'm just taking a walk, doing work outside that I don't need their "help" with, or getting the mail.

    Some people find that everything seems like it's going so well, better than they expected, for a month or a few months and then come home one day to find ripped up magazines, they've gotten into the trash, they've just decided they've had enough of this freedom stuff. It happens. That's one reason to try to make sure there's not much they can get into trouble with to begin with. And if they do have an "episode", just go back to crating and try again in a few months.
    Sue

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  8. #7
    Real Retriever Archie's Avatar
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    I'm working on this right now too. Archie's been doing well with being loose overnight, and loose in the house for about an hour while we run out for groceries. I haven't tried a half day while I'm at work yet, but we're working up to it.

    Can you trust your pup if you take a shower, run to the mailbox, or get lost in a good book? Those are all good signs you're ready to start slowly working on longer periods of time.
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  9. #8
    Senior Dog ZoeysMommy's Avatar
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    Just try leaving the crate door open. Start with 30 minutes and go from there. Does he sleep in the crate at night? If he does you might want start there first.

  10. #9
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    curious on what you maen by goes into a panic? what are you seeing? (other than the posiition she choses?) Gonig in the crate is actually a great sign.

  11. #10
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    I'm unclear on the reaction. You say he goes into a panic, but you find him curled up when you get back, yet you're gone for just five minutes. If that is the case, I would not say that is bad. I would put part of his meal in a kong or similar toy, and give it to him when you leave for that five minutes and see what happens. Mine usually watch me leave, ignoring the kong, but dive into it as soon as the door is shut and they know they aren't coming along. If I go out to get the mail (no kong) or similar or when I get home, after he hears my car lock, one of boys watches me out the window. As someone else said, don't make a big deal of leaving or coming home. I generally ignore my dogs until they are calm.

 



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