exercise x-pen for puppy

[davidardill]

how suitable is an x-pen for a puppy which cannot be supervised? (maximum 2 hours)

[lankeela]

Excellent idea. Put newspaper at one end so the puppy can wee if it needs to without worrying that it will be told off. Leave plenty of chewy things, i.e. pigs ears, rawhide chews, bones and toys. It will be safe and secure (and will probably sleep all the time you are away). Your belongings will be unchewed when you come home and everyone will be happy! Leave the door open while you are there and it will probably go in itself for a sleep.

[davidardill]

I already have a crate for him which he sleeps in and uses as a general den, though I am thinking of getting an exercise pen (ie a hexagonal, open-topped pen with room to walk around - to an extent) to place in the kitchen when no-one is home. Is this more preferable than a crate, or complementary to a crate, or a bad idea altogether?

[lankeela]

Better than a crate if you have the room, but a crate would do for short lengths of time, depending on the size and provided it has room for him to have a separate place to sleep and wee. Depends also on the age of the puppy, i.e. how long he can go without needing to wee. If you play with him before you go out to tire him out he will probably sleep anyway. Wish all puppy owners would be so sensible, some people thinks its cruel to crate them, then berate the puppy when it chews their home up.

[woofgang]

those exercise pens can be unstable if pup tries to get out, you don't say what breed the pup is but the big ones can knock the pen over with enough effort and the littlies can injure themselves.

I am not a fan of crate training....have never needed it, but if it is only for a max of 2 hours I think that pup would be better tired and in the crate. IMHO its not a good idea to let a pup think that there is any place to poo or pee except outdoors, it just makes for confusion later!!

Also I would never leave any dog alone with a chew toy. Accidents do happen and you wouldn't want to come home to a puppy who had choked to death, would you??

[lankeela]

Sorry woofgang, have to disagree with you. A very young puppy cannot be expected not to wee or poo if it needs to and far better it has a proper place, i.e. on newspaper or puppy wee wee pads, provided it is given the opportunity to go outside when the owner is there, it will still learn that this is the correct thing to do.

I would never leave a puppy with something it could swallow or chew bits off, but proper toys/ chews will not harm it and will stop it getting bored. Baby puppy teeth are not strong enough to bite through solid toys or bones.

The puppy pens sold these days are made of sturdy stuff and link together so they will not collapse - I have used them for GSD and Rottie puppies and never had a problem. Try looking up the Croft website www.croftonline.co.uk

[drgnrdr]

It all depends on what kind of pup he is and how old he is and how long your leaving him.

Woofgang is correct: I do not recommend rawhide/ears for dogs unless they can be supervised while they chew it, and know what kind of chewer they are, soft or aggressive. A puppy under 5 months shouldn't get rawhide or pigs ears anyway. A better chew is Nylabone, for the right age, they have some made for young puppies and then some for 12 weeks old and then 16 weeks old and such, even a Kong is allot better to leave with them unsupervised.

And your right lankeela, if they have to leave the puppy for longer than they can hold it then you have to give them something to go on and not be crazy when you come home and find a mess, but realize just because you gave them newspaper to go on it doesn't mean they will avoid the area, they might trample thru it and you'll find a stinky puppy when you come home. I would rather they mess on the linoleum than in the crate.

A far better solution is to take them to work with you or, find a daycare or a petsitter to come in every few hours or come home yourself or have aneighbor or someone to take them out to potty.

Once you get a dog your world has to change, you have to now be responsible for him whether that makes you have to loose sleep to take them out or exercise them, get into a puppy class that has Pos Reinforcement program. Training is an investment in your dog, if your not willing to invest, get a stuffed animal.

(I can't give direct answers there is not enough info)

[lankeela]

My puppies have rawhide/pigs ears from the age of three weeks. They have a big knuckle bone which they climb all over and lay on chewing. Two pups from my last litter are now two and a half years old and they still have the bone they had when they were babies. Every so often one of them will pull it out and start chewing on it and it is as solid now as it was then.

[woofgang]

yes drgnrdr I agree, if you have to leave the pup, make sure that they can't poo where you don't want them too, but better IMHO to make sure that they have "been" before you leave them and that you get back before they need to go again. The more times that a pup can't hold on and needs to relieve himself wherever he happens to be, albeit in a crate or pen on newspaper or pads, the more potential there is for there to be confusion over where the right place is to go!!

[drgnrdr]

Yes Woofgang I agree, if you let them go they learn to live in their filth,(crate) if they go in your home they think it's okay to go in your big crate (your home) potty training to outside is more difficult, not impossible. That's why I say get them someone to let them out or take them with you. But allot of people get their dogs and leave them for longer than they can hold it, if by accident or on purpose, that is why I say if you leave newspaper realize they will go and maybe trample thru it.

Alos if the dog is not an aggressive chewer you will be fine with rawhide and or ears or knucklebones. But I have seen and heard of all kinds of things and I would rather not risk it. The last 3 people in the last week had 1. dog in for rawhide stuck in intestine, 2. they had found an old femur bone and got a splinter and diarrhea, the vet said that the old bone may had bacteria and such growing on it 3. a puppy chewing on rawhide got sick and it was also stuck, heard about a dog chewing on a greenie, got too big of a piece and it got stuck and killed off most of the intestines and they took most of it but the infection and such was too much for the little dog, he died.

So since I hear all kinds of this stuff I just give mine, she's very aggressive chewer, Nylabone, and such.

[Tammera]

ive gone through the process of starting to do puppy walking for dogs for the blind, this entails keeping the puppy for a year and training it to toilets exactly where you want it to and when you want it to and getting it used to every envirement a blind person will need to access ie shops, trains, trams, schools etc we was discussing the pottie training and the way they do it is using pens, a dog will not mess in its bed (unless its left to long obviously) and they reguard a pen as its bed rather than living quarters. your not to leave the puppy for more than 3 hours alone as they cannot hold themselves for long, and the first few weeks it has to spend most of its time in the pen (with regular toilet trips) so it knows he will be taken out when he needs to toilet, so very quickly it will accociate bed indoors is for sleeping and putting outdoors is for pooing. theres a bit more involved with what i have to do but again thats because they have to toilet on command rather than when it needs. i wasnt keen on keeping it pened up most the day, but thats how they do it and they have kept dogs longer than me so cant really argue. if done right it wouldnt be long before they know whats expected of them toilet wise so that makes me feel a tad better. but the main thing is, its not to associate the pen with toileting so maybe that will help with domestic training.