Re: Spending too much time with him

In Reply to: Spending too much time with him
Category:   General Training
Posted by:  Erich
Posted on:  May 29, 2002 at 16:38:19

: We've had our JRT for almost a week. He's about 10 weeks old now, and he's doing real good. Sleeps all through the night, hasn't started barking yet, and he's very good at going out to use the bathroom. He's had a few accidents, but it's usually because he wasn't taken out long enough, or often enough. My question is, are we spending too much time with him? He sleeps in our spare bathroom, in a crate with the door open. We just close bathroom door. The only time we've actually locked him in the crate was during a ride in the car, and he always falls asleep right away. When he gets overly "nippy" we just close the bathroom door for occasional time-outs, maybe 5-10 minutes. He whines/howls for awhile, but then quiets down. We've left him alone a few times, but no more than an hour or 2. I work all day, but my wife spends the whole day with him. He always wants to follow us around, and sit or play in the same room. He's got a small bed he likes to sit in, while enjoying one of his chewy toys. As long as my wife or I are in the room, he's ok. When we leave him alone, he crys. Are we spending too much time with him? Should we get him used to being alone more often? Sooner or later we're going to have to leave him locked up alone for more than a couple hours. Should we lock him in the crate, or is the small bathroom fine? We leave a puppy pad with him, he has used it a couple times, pee only, but i think he prefers going outside.

Response:

Dear Erich,

There is a fine line between leaving a terrier alone too often and not leaving him/her alone often enough; both scenarios can lead to behavior problems. You are absolutely correct to want to find the balance for your pup.

I recommend that you crate train your pup rather then leaving him alone in the bathroom. First, the crate is portable which means that he can be crated where ever you are (see below.) Secondly, using the bathroom as his "time out" area and sleeping quarters is a recipe for disaster. Plus, a closed door is down right intimidating to a small dog. :-)

I suggest you start by putting him in his crate even when you're home; this way he won't associate being crated with being alone. The crate should be in a central location (family room or kitchen); this way he's still part of the family though he's confined. The more you do this, the sooner he will learn that his crate is an okay place to hang out. When you do leave the house, don't make a big deal out of it. Put him in his crate, give him a treat and calmly tell him to be a good boy and that you'll be back soon.

At his age, he has neither the bladder size or control to "hold it" for longer then 2 hours so if you and your wife need to be gone longer, I suggest you ask a neighbor/family member to see to his needs. As for the puppy pads...return them to where you bought them. They rarely do anything more then confuse the dog about where it's supposed to eliminate.