Barking & Nipping

[pikachu]

Hi there,

Need some advice from you guys. How do you know barking is excessive or just acceptable?

My puppy is coming to 4 months old. We noticed that he seems to bark at us when we were near his crate. Other times, when we were not there, he's quiet. We work during the day, and he's left alone in the crate, no one else at home. When we reached home, feed him, after a while, he will start barking. Is he trying to tell us that he wants to play, or get out of the crate?

Does spending more time with him help to reduce his barking? Also, he likes to nip my toe during play time. Is this a typical puppy behaviour? Or is it due to not spending enough time with him? How do you deal with nipping habit?

Just how much time does a puppy required from us, in terms of hours per day?

Appreciate advice.

Thanks.

[ZdogZ]

My four month old does the same thing. She is also put in a crate during the day (7:30-11:00 a.m. and then 11:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m.). I'd love to hear others' ideas.

[tandemgal]

If you puppy is barking when you come near I think that is him saying "welcome home, let me out, lets play" After being in his crate all day your corgi is ready for human interaction and play. The more he is with you I think the more calm he will be and the less barking you will hear. Corgi are a wonderful companion - they like being with their owners.

How much time do puppies require? My Girls are 7 years and 1 year and where ever I am in is where they want to be... soooo my answer would be "they want all of it...you are the most important person in their world"

We have several good threads on puppy nips and biting - check the forum's past threads on puppies!

[Michael Romanos]

Yeah, I'll buy into that. Let me out and play with me. please, please, please.
Your Corgi talks to you. Some others just bottle it all up and remain inwardly or outwardly miserable.

Puppies need three-four meals a day up til about six months and then two meals a day up til about 12 months. They require someone to feed them and play with them, exercise them and take them toileting during the day - either a friend, relation, neighbour or hired help.

When absence is too long, puppies will either cry or suffer in silence.

Corgis nipping a little is normal and if they are not hurting anyone it can be easily tolerated and accepted that it will disappear in time. Otherwise do a search on Go Corgi for my advice in a thread called "puppy nipping." If by nipping you mean your Corgi grabbing your hand without malice and harm I for one agree with what your Corgi is trying to do (come, he says play with me or hold me or stroke and tickle me).

[pikachu]

Hmm...thanks for all the advice and encouragement. Both my hubby and I are working from 8am to 6pm from Monday to Friday, left the house by 8.30am, & reached home by 7pm. Is this too long a duration for the puppy to be left alone?

I have read yr post on Puppy Nipping & several other related posts. Working on them now, hope to see some results.

[darci]

A puppy of 4 months can only be expected to hold it for about 5 hours.

The rule of thumb is your pup in months plus 1 is the amount of time they can go without a potty break up to 7 months. Then I wouldnt on a regular basis go over say 8 hours.

As others have mentioned in this thread you may want to look into a dog walker, neighbor, relative etc. to let him out during the day.

Or you might consider training him to use a potty pad in the house.

Good luck.

[corgimom]

Pikachu,

I second what others are suggesting. That is a long time for the pup to be in a crate all day at 4 months old. If family or friends can't help you out, could you get a reference on someone who does this for their profession who could come into your home to feed, potty and play with him around the lunch hour?

When you get home, I am sure he must be so excited to see you and that is why he is barking - and after all day of being in that crate, he wants to get out and interact/play with you. I think T-Gal said it perfectly; "You are the most important person in their world".

[pikachu]

The so-called crate I refer to is actually a 3ft by 2ft dog cage, he has no problem for his potty during the day while he is in the cage. In fact, he's already paper-trained, we shifted the soiled newspaper to the toilet, and he knows how to pee on it. My concern is more for his emotional aspect, will he feel any anxiety over such a long hours? If yes, what are the things I can do to ease his anxiety, if I cannot get anyone to accompany him? Will he feel afraid? I noticed he will whine at me when he sees me going out every morning.

Does turning on the radio help to make him feel less lonely?

[pikachu]

Originally Posted by corgimom

Pikachu,

I second what others are suggesting. That is a long time for the pup to be in a crate all day at 4 months old. If family or friends can't help you out, could you get a reference on someone who does this for their profession who could come into your home to feed, potty and play with him around the lunch hour?

When you get home, I am sure he must be so excited to see you and that is why he is barking - and after all day of being in that crate, he wants to get out and interact/play with you. I think T-Gal said it perfectly; "You are the most important person in their world".

*sign* I feel so bad about him, I can't wait for my knock off time and then rush back to feed him & play with him. Yeah, you are right, he is very excited to see us the moment we step into the house, at this moment, he won't bark, but he will wag his tail for few minutes.

Any impact to his development if this were to carry on? Or does spending more time with him after work make up for the lack-of-interaction during the day?

Thanks again for all the advice.

[tandemgal]

Physically as long as he has a place to potty and drink and a bone or toy to chew on he should be fine. Puppies sleep a lot when they are crated. Ideally if someone could come and walk/play with him 1/2 way thru the day would be great but not all of us have that option. When I worked I was lucky to have Hubby home a lot of the time (he works different shifts) when he was at work The Girls were either crated, blocked off in the kitchen, or on my back deck.

Mentally your corgi boy should be fine as long as when you are home with him he gets lots of your love and affection. Corgis are smart and they need mental challenges like learning manners and tricks.

[Fluffypants]

Hi Pikachu.
I am out of the house all day as well, so I understand your situation. The ultimate thing to do is find someone to walk and play with him around lunchtime, to break up his day. Other than that, there are lots of toys you can give him to keep him occupied - toys that can be stuffed with treats (kong, buster cube, a-maze-a-ball, etc.) are especially good at entertaining your dog while you are away. Corgis are very bright - so it helps to give them something to challenge their minds, and the above toys are very good for that.

Question - do you crate him at night also? If so, you may want to change that a bit. Maybe leave him in a safe, gated room (ie kitchen or bathroom), or an exercise pen, during the day and only crate him at night. Then he will be able to move around, play, and expend some energy during the day, and he won't be quite so frantic when you come home.

Not that this is what you HAVE to do, but here's what we do, and it works great . . . during the day, Jackie is gated into the kitchen with her toys, bed, water, and her crate (open). I give her a toy stuffed with treats* when I leave (around 7:30am). My walker comes around midday and, depending on weather, either takes her for a long walk + playtime OR takes her to the park. When the walker leaves, she gives her another treat-filled toy* (which I have left on the table in the am for this purpose) and freshens her water bowl. Then we get home around 6:30pm she is with us until bedtime (around 10pm), when she goes in her crate until the next morning.

*The only thing to keep in mind with these treat-stuffed toys is to make sure you aren't giving him anything high in fat/calories, and that you decrease his food at mealtimes, otherwise you will end up with a pudgy corgi!

[darci]

Jessica,
What kind of treats do you use in the treat toy???

Sounds like you have a great set up. I wish I had a dog walker just a few days a week so I didnt have to come home every day. It's a 15 minute drive for me.

There have been a few times when I couldnt get home and they have held it all day, with Darci being so prone to UTI's I dont like to do that very often.

But the times that I have they have done fine.

[Fluffypants]

Originally Posted by darci

Jessica,
What kind of treats do you use in the treat toy???

Sounds like you have a great set up. I wish I had a dog walker just a few days a week so I didnt have to come home every day. It's a 15 minute drive for me.

There have been a few times when I couldnt get home and they have held it all day, with Darci being so prone to UTI's I dont like to do that very often.

But the times that I have they have done fine.

I use different ones.
In the kong, I either:
1) put some bits of freeze dried liver in, and then plug up the hole with carrots or green beans
2) freeze plain yogurt in it
3) smear some peanut butter on the inside

And in the amaze-a-ball, I fill it with the itty-bitty buddy biscuits.

I also have a hollow red rubber "ball", and I put one of those "goodies & grains" treats inside. They are bigger than the holes in the ball, so she has to figure out how to get it out. It's fun to watch.

It is great to have a dog walker for the midday visit. Especially my new one (I've had for the past month), because she takes her to the park almost every day. So, when I get home, Jackie is dirty . . . but happy! What more could I ask for? It's the next best thing to being home with her myself.

[milles2]

As far as how much time do corgis require? Lulu is far more independent that Tucker. Tucker has moments of being a velcro dog. He is definately a Momma's boy.

I have to admit., I feel so much better leaving Tucker home alone now that he has Lulu. When it was just him I felt terrible and worried he was lonesome. He is a very social dog.

[pikachu]

Originally Posted by Fluffypants

Hi Pikachu.
I am out of the house all day as well, so I understand your situation. The ultimate thing to do is find someone to walk and play with him around lunchtime, to break up his day. Other than that, there are lots of toys you can give him to keep him occupied - toys that can be stuffed with treats (kong, buster cube, a-maze-a-ball, etc.) are especially good at entertaining your dog while you are away. Corgis are very bright - so it helps to give them something to challenge their minds, and the above toys are very good for that.

Question - do you crate him at night also? If so, you may want to change that a bit. Maybe leave him in a safe, gated room (ie kitchen or bathroom), or an exercise pen, during the day and only crate him at night. Then he will be able to move around, play, and expend some energy during the day, and he won't be quite so frantic when you come home.

Not that this is what you HAVE to do, but here's what we do, and it works great . . . during the day, Jackie is gated into the kitchen with her toys, bed, water, and her crate (open). I give her a toy stuffed with treats* when I leave (around 7:30am). My walker comes around midday and, depending on weather, either takes her for a long walk + playtime OR takes her to the park. When the walker leaves, she gives her another treat-filled toy* (which I have left on the table in the am for this purpose) and freshens her water bowl. Then we get home around 6:30pm she is with us until bedtime (around 10pm), when she goes in her crate until the next morning.

*The only thing to keep in mind with these treat-stuffed toys is to make sure you aren't giving him anything high in fat/calories, and that you decrease his food at mealtimes, otherwise you will end up with a pudgy corgi!

I do crate him at night too, but not the entire night, when we reached home, we will put him in our hall to play with him, for a couple of hours, when he's tired, we will put him back to his crate, & usually he's happy with that, & sleeps.

As mentioned, his crate is a wired cage, has plenty of rooms for him to move around,with wired base, there is a water bottle for him, plenty of toys in the cage.

We have been teaching him not to nip us during play time, and we do see some results. He has also bark less, for the past few days, probably due to the amount of time we spent with him, can see that he's so happy, & don't bark for most of the time.