Crate/Attention Advice

Just looking for a bit advice on how other people have gone about crating their pups.

Currently my pup's "home area" is the kitchen which is baby gated off. She has a free run of this (a rather large kitchen) when we are about and access to all her toys that we can keep an eye on.

When we have to go out of sight for an extended period she gets put in a play pen that contains her crate, newspaper and bowl of water. I was really wondering if it is safe to leave any toys in the pen or crate with her if she is unattended or during the night?

Last thing I want is her to choke on something but at the same time I feel bad about her being bored when we can't attend to her or when she will be on her own a few hours at a time during the working day. She is very quick to settle with minimal fuss and in the evenings she gets a lot of attention in the living room while we watch TV/play.

Am I just being an overly anxious parent? Lol.

Hi, She will probably get bored with nothing to keep her occupied. Colin is in his crate every night and whilst I am at work so and I usually leave a dog friendly teddy, a treat ball and some nylabone chews with him. I don't leave rope toys or anything that has anything that he can break off and choke on. He did have a chew boot, but as soon as he started breaking bits off this is now limited to when I am about to supervise. They nylabone's I can really recommend. I also give Colin a 'Kong', during the day I occasionally put some peanut butter in it for him as a high value treat. This helped him acclimatise himself to the crate as well. Good luck! Fun having eyes in the back of your head isn't it. What to see a pic of Abby!

I leave a selection of toys with Chiquito during the day - toys that I consider tough enough for him not to destroy, large enough not to swallow and with small enough holes that he can't get them stuck on his mouth. I also leave him with a stuffed frozen kong to keep him busy

I do not crate him, however if he needs to be contained in a room/area while I do something I always leave him with a toy or two - I would much rather he chews them than my floors/walls etc!

KarenGoodall wrote:Hi, She will probably get bored with nothing to keep her occupied. Colin is in his crate every night and whilst I am at work so and I usually leave a dog friendly teddy, a treat ball and some nylabone chews with him. I don't leave rope toys or anything that has anything that he can break off and choke on. He did have a chew boot, but as soon as he started breaking bits off this is now limited to when I am about to supervise. They nylabone's I can really recommend. I also give Colin a 'Kong', during the day I occasionally put some peanut butter in it for him as a high value treat. This helped him acclimatise himself to the crate as well. Good luck! Fun having eyes in the back of your head isn't it. What to see a pic of Abby!

Thanks for the advice Karen. I'll look into the Nylabones. I did give her a kong this morning stuffed with peanut butter that seemed to keep her entertained for a little bit. She seems to enjoy the easily shredded rope toys more than the tough kongs unfortunately at the moment probably due to little mouth and teeth. I posted some pics on the other thread I put up here "Abby's first night"

You can leave toys, but just make sure they are durable and large enough that she cant swollow them. Always look at the condition of the toy so you know immediately upon return if anything is missing from it

Darcy has a crate and has done since her first night home, in the day we leave her things she can't hurt her self on, plus kong frozen with peanut butter in. We have a kong wobbler too that I put some of her kibble in. I hope it goes well with Abby

You could also try her with a stag bar - a medium or large one at her age would be good for her. Some dogs don't think much of them, but I think most love em!

And no, you're not being over-anxious; or if you are, so are 99% of the members on this forum!

Thanks for all the tips guys. Definitely putting a couple of peanut butter stuffed kongs in the freezer tonight!

Hide some treats in her bedding for her to find when she goes into the crate of her own accord. She will soon want to go into her crate to find what today's surprise is.
Although Bacchus is 11 mths old I still give him his Kong stuffed with mashed sweet potatoe every bedtime. When he sees me preparing it he goes to his crate in anticipation.

Poor little bub is now sleeping off her first injection and farting away as payback:

That is such a lovely photo!

She's beautiful :0)

Try layering some peanut butter mixed with some of her kibble in a kong and then freezing it! When you freeze it, it takes much longer for them to get it all out! Plus mixing in some of the kibble makes it healthier than just loading it with peanut butter and treats all the time! Beware, too much peanut butter can cause diarrhea! We unfortunately learned this the hard way! :O

Aw Abby is a cutie! Gwen used to fart so much when she was tiny! Especially at night, used to stink up our whole bedroom! We started calling her Stink Butt! She doesn't seem to do it much anymore though!

Looks like she's a real daddy's girl. Gorgeous pup.
Re peanut butter.....when I cook sweet potatoe for stuffing his kong, I mix in 1 tablespoon of peanut butter to a large mashed swet potatoe. As Cara suggests with the kibble, you could freeze this also, to make it last longer.

i put alfie in a cage when we were out because he took a liking to eating my sofa and within a few months he was a changed dog and now he lays on the sofa until we come home

Morning everyone.

Took the helpful advice and left a kong chew toy in her crate along with kong dispenser in her pen. I also hid some treats in her crate and she seemed a lot more keen to settle down there this morning after she had a play, food and toilet.

Thanks!!