First day in the crate...

[hmeadq]

My pup is in his crate for the first day today. He'll be there for about 5 hours...

Last night we put him in it when we went to a friends for a couple hours and he seemed OK, but so pitiful. Not whining or anything, just looking at me like "Hey, I'm in here... HELLO... I'm here..." I gave him a pig ear (his favroite) and a peice of cheese as I closed the door and left...

I'm probbaly more concerned then him. I'm sure he's asleep...

[lucky82c]

I'm sure ur more worriede then him too How old is your pup?

[AZPaws]

I was worried when we started crate training for the first time. But both our rotties loved their crates! Arthur (before he went to the bridge) knew when it was time to go to bed and would go in on his own. And Anna can usually be found with a chewie, hanging out in her crate. We move her crate depending on where we are in house. If we're watching tv in the living room, the crate gets moved in there so she can be with us if she wants to lie down in her crate. Then, at bed time, it gets moved into the bedroom with us. My other 2 dogs are both severely kennel shy, and could never be crate trained, but I'm so glad my rotties both took to it so well. :)

How old is your pup? And is he adjusting to the crate pretty well?

[hmeadq]

He's 5-1/2 months. A really good dog, but starting to get chewy...

We got him 7 weeks ago, from a fairly bad situation. But, like I said, he is doing good. He actually passed Basic Ob. his first time through! The only dog in the class to do it and he was the youngest by a couple months in the class, being just 4 months when we started. (But the trainer did not want him in the next class just yet because of his age, so instead of waiting a couple months and having him reevaluated we decided to go through Basic a second time, for socilization and reinforcement.)

Being good in class does not stop him from picking the most expensive shoes in the house to eat.

[SABELLESMOM]

Things are bound to be harder on you than the dog. They adjust more often than not, particularly with the less fuss you make. Mine sleep when I'm away. Only the 6 month old pup is crated during times I'm away. The older 2 know it's "naptime" and are often dozing off before I even leave the house.

I've never given anything to chew. Label me too cautious, but I don't believe theny "need to be entertained" and I've had a dog gag in my presence years ago on a chew. I had to literally pull it out of the dogs throat. A very unpleasant experience!

I give them healthy things to gnaw on like raw meaty bones...when I'm home.

[Bastianboy]

We use a frozen Kong stuffed with cookies and easy cheese. It probably only lasts him about 15 seconds when we leave, but he gets so excited because of it that he goes running into his crate. He actually opens the door himself to go in. It wasn't that way when he didn't have something super tasty to look forward too. He also knows when I don't have a frozen Kong for him and he kind of saunters in. He loves his crate though and has learned that when he goes in the crate in the van he gets to go for a long walk at the lake, or go play with the wooleys. That gets him excited too!!! Good luck, it can be hard, but best for all involved I say.