We’ve had Maya home for 4 nights now and she’s spent each of them in her crate. The routine so far seems to get us about 2 hours before she wakes up and fusses, and then when we bring her back in from using the restroom she REALLY whines quite a bit – 20-30 minutes each of the first couple of nights. After that, however, she’s been sleeping for about another 5 hours before waking us up.
We’ve been bringing the crate into the living room with us during the evening and leaving the door open so she can enter and exit at will. We’ve also been tossing treats in there for her to find for positive enforcement of her going into the crate on her own. Unfortunately, she’s still small enough that crawling under the couch or behind the end-table in the corner is better than a crate to her right now.
Finally, today, our 4th full day with her at home we put her in the crate while we quickly went to the grocery store. The test seems to have been a success. We timed it to follow a play session so she’d hopefully want to take a nap, and it looks like it worked. When she went in she didn’t fight it, and when we returned within the hour she was still quiet and didn’t seem to be distressed at all. In fact, when we got back we immediately let her outside and then gave her some food. After she ate a bit she ditched us and found a quiet spot in the back room to take more of a nap. So no separation anxiety there.
We’re just over a week now and the crate training is going well, but the first night with 5+ hours has not yet been repeated. I always heard the rule of thumb was 1 hour per month of age, and so far it seems to be accurate. She sleeps about 2 hours when we first put her in at night. Then we get about 3 hours before going out again, and then maybe another 3. After the 2nd time out it appears she doesn’t REALLY need to go outside, but it’s more of a ‘I’m bored and lonely’.
As of yet she is still not selecting the crate as her place of choice. Under the couch is still #1, but it’s likely only a few more days before she’s too big to fit, so we’ll see what her next choice is. She’ll poke her head into the crate, lay down for a few seconds, and then bail.
(Creative Commons photo courtesy Jim Winstead, Flickr)
