New staffy mum - problems with pen

Hi all,

I am just wondering if you can help me. Luna is 14 weeks old and we have had for 4 weeks. She is doing really well, except for the nipping and those super sharp teeth, but that’s getting loads better too so I’m not worried about that.

We have a crate inside a pen - she is usually happy enough in her crate, she sleeps well during the night. The problem is she seems to really dislike being in the pen, but outside it, won’t self-settle. I work from home and so there are times during the day when I need to focus on a zoom call etc or just crack On with housework etc and would like to put her in the pen, sometimes if she is really tired, she will just go straight into her crate and sleep. Other times she just stays in the pen area, cries and then bites the bars - I know that’s not good for her teeth and the noise is awful.

We have tried to make the pen as lovely as possible, it has toys, water, I give her kongs in there, puzzle balls and a licki mat - she is fine for as long as it take to eat the treats in Kong/licki mat and then she cries.

She does play by herself outside the pen but as soon as I need to work or start a call, she will just start jumping up, nipping and anything else to get attention!! If we didn’t put her in the crate/pen during the day, she would never settle or sleep…

She has enough physical and mental stimulation during the day, she can’t go out until next week but we play/train her using the 5 minute per month rule.

Please help, I hate seeing her so unhappy

Luna is a pretty pup Sounds to me that its an attention seeking behaviour, she can see you but not get to you. Staffies crave human attention & she's getting frustrated!
The only thing I can suggest is to play with her before your zoom calls & she should sleep. Once she's going out for walks she will settle better, they have so much energy at that age & can't burn it off!

Hello !
I also use the crate-in-a-pen setup
Much as Luna appears to have associated the crate with something nice and comforting, a quiet place to rest, she doesn’t appear to associate the pen as such.
Where is your pen situated in the house and what is around it ?

My pens are in the lounge. Even when the girls are closed in their pens, they can see us on the couch. When they were pups, I would close them in the pen. I would sit in the pen for cuddles and the such and step out (but stay in visual). That way the pen is not a punishment but a cuddle area too.

I would suggest going back to basics and reteach her the pleasures of being in the pen. Perhaps set up a routine whereby she spends set times in the pen. It could even be for 10 minutes every hour to start with. For now, she’s associating being put into the pen during the day with an activity she can’t participate in so she cries to get attention.

You could also start cushion training - get her to stay on a cushion which you can move around the house so she can keep you in her sight but she has to stay on cushion and hence out of under your feet.