Crate time - how much?

[Bayoucorgi]

I've had a Corgi for 5 days! Yippee! He's 8 months old and came from Corgi rescue. I was told he was crated for up to 22 hours per day in his old home because his owners returned to school. I'm glad they were selfless and let me adopt this wonderful dog.

My husband has never used a crate. I used to show and train and crate-trained everyone. We are arguing about how much crate time is reasonable.

I work 4-10 hour shifts at a hospital and my husband works from a home-office. I get up at 5am, feed puppy breakfast and let him out in our fenced yard while I shower, then I put him in our downstairs bathroom with toys and I leave for work. He plays in there until everyone else gets up about an hour later. He's out to run around while the kids get ready and leave. He can't stay loose in the bathroom while my husband is working because it is next to his office and he barks sometimes when my husband is on the phone.

I told my husband to put him back in the crate until lunch time - about 4 hours. At lunch he can go out in the yard or be in the house supervised for an hour. Then back to the crate for 3 hours until the kids get home. Then he's out for the rest of the afternoon and evening with us.

This means he will be in the crate 7 hours per day - 4 days per week. He is out almost all of the time on my day off and weekends, unless we are not home.

Is DH right - is this too much? Or is it reasonable until we are more confident that puppy can be trusted? He's already chewed up two handmade baskets when DH let him run wild in the house unsupervised. This dog is comfortable in his crate - has a Kong, chewies, and a ball in there at all times. As he gets older and more trustworthy, he can be out more. Help!

[Checkers]

I think if he is showing that he is comfortable in the crate then that time in should be okay. If I understand right, hubby is working from home? If that is the case could he have nameless in the room with him (maybe a baby gate up to keep the pup from running the whole house unsupervised)? Just a thought, but if that isn't possible then I think the arrangement you have should be okay. If it were a straight 7 hours it would be different, but where it is being broken up by a playtime in the middle for an hour I think it is fine. Hopefully it won't be long anyhow until he can be trusted with more free time.

-Cheryl

[corgimom]

Okay,

First of all, can we find out what your corgis name is, have you named him yet?

You mentioned that you can't have him loose in the bathroom because the bathroom is next to your husbands office and sometimes "he" barks while your husband is on the phone. When in the bathroom, is your dog in there with the door shut? That may cause him to bark, because he can hear what is going on outside the room, but can't see anything and that may be making him anxious.

If that is the case,could you put a babygate up by the bathroom door, so he doesn't feel so closed in without being able to see anything OR, do you have a laundry room, further away from your husbands office, that you could put him in with a baby gate also? Put some toys and Kongs in there and turn on a radio for the dog.

Now you mention that he barks while your husband is on the phone and obviously this is not welcome when hubby is trying to talk. I guess at 8 months old, I would work on training your dog not to bark so much because it sounds as if THAT is the reason why he is being put into his crate since being in the bathroom causes him to bark. If you could accomplish this with your dog, then he could have much more freedom of the house, when hubby is working and it would be a win, win situation for the two of them; and maybe at times, your dog would just enjoy laying next to him in his office.

You could put up a gate, so that the dog could not get out of the office and he could have a basket full of toys in there and maybe he would not bark if he could be close to hubby. He should be able to hold his bladder now at 8 months and not have to be let out for at least 3 to 4 hours. What does your Golden Retriever do during the day? My 9 months old dog Cody lays by me when I work on projects or I am on here(like now)
and he is fine.

Also, since you have a fenced in yard, and it sounds like you trust him out there already(when you shower), maybe he could be out there more,(with your Golden Ret.) versus being in the crate...or does he bark a lot when outside also?

I am not against crates, I use one myself, but I think with the fact, that your husband is home working from his office, then crating him for that many hours would not have to be necessary if you could help him in regards to his barking issue.

That is all I can come up with

[Bayoucorgi]

Thanks for the input! No, puppy doesn't have a name. There are many suggestions but no consensus.

Puppy can't be IN the office with DH because he plays constantly, bouncing balls and kongs and wiggling between the desk and the wall and doing puppy activities. So far he has been very reliably housebroken. DH is in scientific sales so a dog barking in the background is not acceptable.

Puppy can't be where he can see or hear someone in the house because he wants to be with that person, and starts barking as soon as he hears DH talking.

The crate is in the laundry room. He can't be loose in the laundry room because the cat box is in there and he really LIKES the catbox for digging and rooting and more icky mischief.

He only goes outside for short romps because it is SO hot and humid here and he has lived his whole life indoors. And yes, he barks out there and scratches the door furiously to come in. My old Golden does stay outside but he just sleeps under the trees. He survived a serious bladder surgery 5 years ago and has limited capacity so can only come in whenever anyone is here to watch for "the restless look".

When I'm there, puppy is the perfect companion. My big shadow and my little shadow do yardwork, housework, walk the kid to school, do crafts, whatever. He just becomes bored and mischevious so I think the crate is the safest alternative for now. I'll try to negotiate with DH to take mid-morning and afternoon breaks to let him out and play.

Thanks again.

[corgimom]

What about an X-pen in the office; they come down easily; that way he would have more leg room to move around, but would be kept away from things you would not want him to have. He sounds very active and might enjoy the chance to move around more.

Can you move the litter box to the basement- if you have a basement?? - cats can be retrained to go in a different room to a litter box even at older ages. I have moved 3 times and have done this with no problem. That way,doggie could have the laundry room.

Again, I use a crate also and have nothing against them; so if that works for you, fine. I just had a couple other suggestions that came to mind.

[tandemgal]

deleted by T-Gal

[Bayoucorgi]

We named him Liam. Little Liam. He's so smart. We took him to the beach Sunday and he boogie-boarded and dug up a dead fish. I don't think he had been there before in his former home but he barked and romped and had a great time.