Exercise Pen

[stella dormoy]

Hi all,

I need feedback, tales, idea and suggestions pertaining exercise pen.

I have to work full time (10 hours from home) when Mei Mei turns 10 weeks, which is in 10 days time! She will get a sitter (rate :$130 per month) to walk her for 20 mins at 1 pm for 2 months... then the puppy will be 41/2 months.

I know and agree very well that giving a puppy took much space in the beginning may be difficult for housetraining.... I know that... but to put her when she is only 10 weeks old in a crate for 10 hours with 20 mins break in between is unreal and I just find it hard to swallow and I really can't bear to do it.

I need all experienced doxie parent with Exercise pen experience to tell me if a bathroom is better or a exercise pen in the kitchen with a lake view is better, or.. stay with the crate, don't forget, 10 hours with one 20mins break on week-days.

I intend to place the crate open in the pen, so she has her den with her. She is very tiny now and the pen that I am looking at is 30" high.

Any response will be welcome. There will always be room for everybody's thoughts.

Thank you.

[blazeman]

NOt sure if Mei Mei will be able to see the lake view... but it sounds nice to me :-)

I am not to sure about the pen issue vs the bathroom. In the bathroom there is a door to scratch up... in the pen you wouldn't have that.

One thing You might want to be careful of is leaving food and water down for her. If you leave that down you WILL have accidents. in a pup... usually... 20 minutes after they eat/drink.. they will need to go out. She will be fine without water during that time. When the sitter comes over.. give Mei Mei the water first... then she should be ready to potty when the sitter is leaving.

I know it's hard to leave your baby... but she will be fine!

[dutchman]

It's been way too many years since I've had any first had experience with such a young pup and when I did it was when I was still at home and had a stay at home mom there to watcht he family pup so I wpn't make any comment about what is the best approach. All my adult life fur kids have feen rescues the youngest 6 months old. At 6 months the kennel with jsut one short break could work.

Now for my general comment consider getting a taller x-pen than the 30" one. All too soon your little one will start to figure out ways to get out of the low a pen. I had one that height for my little mill rescue Aggie but the first time I tried to sue it for 6 month old Frank he was greeting me at the front door when I got home. Among the ways they can figure out to escape fron an x-pen is the trick of pushing the kneele up against the pen jump onto the top of the pen then up and over the wall of the pen. The x-pen I have now is eigher42 or 48 inches tall I can't remember for sure but think it's the 48" one. The additional cost for the extra heights is minimal and if it will help keep your little one safe it is worth while. Also while it makes transporting the folded pen a little more difficult thetaller pen also gives them more protection from stray dogs (or kids) if you ever plan on taking them some place like a park and using the pen at that location.

My mill mother Aggie age two who had lived in her own filth in a wire cage for the first year and a half of her life would walk circles in her own feces in a kennek but with the x-pen setup in the kitcen I could leave her kennel (her safe den) in one corner witht he door open her food and water in another corner and she would then take care of business in a thrird corner which I had to clean up almonst every time I got home but at least she was clean. IF you can avoid establishing a habit like that in your pup I would suggest doing so. With aggie I learned to make many concessions as to what I expected and was willing to accept.

Good luck,

Tom and the boys (Frank, Tanner and Dexter)

[LisaH]

I vote for the X-pen with her crate in it with door open, lots of chew toys, and with puppy pads or newspapers to pee on. This is what we did with Annie--and we still leave a pad down when we're away for more than a few hours. It can be a little more challenging to teach them there are TWO places they can go, inside and outside...but it's not impossible. Whenever we were home we took Annie out very frequently, took her to the same pee spot each time, told her to "Go pee" and gave her a yummy treat when she complied. The treat was IMMENSELY helpful in getting the message across!

I figure if I'm not willing to forgo the bathroom for 10 hours, I can hardly expect Annie to do it!

LisaH and Annie

[doxunzX3]

It sounds like you have thought it through very carefully. I agree it is better to have a place to let them at least potty and move around a bit more at that young age. It is better than them ending up to be a little piggy and not mind sitting in there own mess. It is one of the hardest things to break a dog of, once they are used to it. Doxies seems to be a little piggier than other breeds. :flush: But when ya gotta go ya gotta go!
Good luck and let us know how it works out for you. By the way bathroom door can also leave spinters in little mouths. :eek:

[Cheryl]

I tried confining the girls to the bathroom...they did find ways to get into mischief! One day it was the kids' strawberry shampoo all over the tiles (and it definitely was up near the sink when we left!) Of course my linoleum and drywall took a beating too. I dont crate my girls, for pretty much the same reasons you gave. An x-pen would do well...just to reiterate what Tom said: get one thats pretty high. I started out w/ the 24" one. I figured, theyre minis, so it should be enough. Yeah right! Sassy learned to push her crate next to it and hop over it in no time!

[juliette]

Mei Mei may be tiny now, but she will grow and fast! While I've only had adult doxies, I've learned very, very quickly how ingenious they can be when it comes to getting out of confined situations. Case in point. We have a 30" baby gate which we were convinced would confine them to the kitchen. Took Otto 10 minutes to jump over it.

Next attempt by the humans - put up baby gate and secure with Dining room chairs - it took Otto about a 1/2 hour to Houdini his way out of that one.

We STILL haven't figured out how Hijinx managed to get over the baby gate and past the blockade of high back chairs, but the sitters swear that she greeted them at the door two days in a row!

The voice of experience says, the higher the pen, the better you will all be!

(oh, additional voice of experience - bleach is the only thing that gets puppy pee out of grout in ceramic tiles!)

[stella dormoy]

Wow, a 36"H pen!! I wonder what that's going to look like in the kitchen with the deco.... kidding.!!

Maybe initially, since she is still tiny, I could put her den in the pen and eventually her bed... so she will not be doing any stunts. When I sometimes pretend not to hear her wimps from my sofa, she will go to her bed by my feet and watch CNN with us in the TV room. I am sure she likes CNN by now!

Mei Mei is doing real well with paper training after I introduce her to her first treat. I cut one Pup-Peroni stick in small pieces and treat only one small pce at a time. Now, she is really performing and runs to the treat shelf and wag her tail after she pottied. Couple of times I pretend I didn't see it, so I don't overfeed her with treats and 1 min later I will praise her only.

By the way, has anyone tried those adjustable wire gates height with wooden frame? I have a feeling that my dachsie will eventually be able to push the suctions off the wall!! What do you all think?

[juliette]

So glad she is figuring out the potty! One quick suggestion however - you are correct not to overfeed with the treats, but always praise right away even if she doesn't get the treat. After a minute or so she won't associate the praise with her positive behaviour. Your praise will be as good (well, almost as good) as a treat.

Cheers

[stella dormoy]

I bought one with 30" height and placed it on the tile floor in the kitchen and tested it with Mei Mei. She is too tiny and looked so lonely in the pen and it doesn't look cosy for her so I returned the pen after 3 days. Maybe a pen is good for 2 dachsie at least.

Mei Mei is being gated in the guest bathroom which has a window and enough sunlight for her. Yes, with her toys, water, radio and paper. Whenever I come home, I will find her in her crate either just sitting there or sleeping.