# Do I need to switch from pen to crate or can I do both?



## Lisa Tintner (May 4, 2017)

So my puppy is 5 months on Monday. She originally was left in her crate when i left and pen when I was home but wanted her confined. this worked pretty good when I got her home at 11 weeks she did good about 3 hours didn’t cry. I used to have her in her pen when I work at home but I work about 2 feet from her. I assumed since she was good when I left occasionally since she was good in her crate at night when we slept she would be fine confined when i left. I didn’t leave often i would always confine her tho. Until one day i had a meeting and had to leave for a few hours. Watched her on the nest cam and she after an hour or so was crying in the pen. I hadn’t been leaving frequently so then I realized she’s fine in the crate or pen as long as I’m home. So I started planning to leave and was training her in her crate when I left. around 16 weeks old we had robbery in our building and i was robbed - so i was very upset w crime in our neighborhood and it led me to not want to leave for a while as well as I was sick for about two weeks. So essentially after not leaving her alone for 2 weeks and bringing her everywhere with me i knew i had to get back to training or she would never be ok alone. She is always ok alone in the pen or crate as long as I’m here sometime will whimper and whine now that she’s older. . So since she was 19 weeks old (during the last 3 weeks)i have had her in an xpen and leaving for 2 hours in am and 2 hours in pm. Based on recommendation from the trainer just leave twice a day so she gets used to it. She sleeps for about 1 hour 15 min then she wakes up and cries and walks around and paws at the bars. She settles every so often Like she cries on and off and paws the pen for like 30-45 minutes intermittently almost non stop stopping for a min or a few seconds. then will go back to sleep a while (which could be anywhere from 30 seconds to 30 minutes) she’s very confident, isn’t afraid of anything or anyone (Dog or people) she’s very curious - so the trainer says the crying is trying to get her way so just leave her. 

Now after training with success the last week with the pen (meaning the crying is less intense) I realized I have a situation when planning for Xmas at my family house - essentially I plan to have her in the pen or crate when I leave always. I feel better knowing she’s safe. She’s now been being trained in the pen with the crate in the pen with the crate door off but she hardly goes in there but a min or two when I’m gone. She does sleep in her crate with door closed all night from 9pm -7:30am and rarely has to get up to pee. So I know she likes the crate and will go in on her own when she’s tired occasionally w the door open or closed

So here is my dilemma. I have to go to my family house for Xmas and she’s gonna have to be in the crate if i have to leave my moms or my brothers and started thinking about if someone ever had to pet sit her ahe needs to be ok in a crate cuz i won’t have a pen to carry my pen is heavy and just want her to be used to being in her crate when I leave as I can’t carry the pen everywhere. So now that I’ve been training her in the xpen do I have to switch back to the crate? I would like her to be able to use both so that if I leave for a while she can be in the pen or crate. I just don’t know if it’s best to pick one method or can they be trained to use both. I feel like I need to stick to the crate so she always knows that’s where she goes whether she’s at home or someone else’s house and we have to leave. I eventually want to take the pen down as I’m using it to help confine her when I’m home and have to cook or can’t watch her. But now she’s 5 months and I have spent the last 3 weeks training her in the pen. Can I just switch to the crate or am I now going to stop my progress and confuse her? I don’t want to back track but I want her to be able to go to Xmas at my moms and be ok in her crate and now I realized well now she’s used to me leaving when she’s in her pen. 

Thoughts on what I should do or how they adjust to both and can they?


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