# please tell me this will get better



## katieskodakmoment (Oct 13, 2008)

kodak has been home now for 4 days now. whenever i put him in his ex-pen he STILL SCREAMS-JUMPS-BARKS-GETS IN HIS LITTER BOX THROWING OUT THE LITTER EVERYWHERE! when will this end? i ignore him! should i say no? should i say good boy when he is quiet and give him a treat? help 


i hate it because i just need him to be in there for like 15 mins when i take a shower, not an hour or til he stops


----------



## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

Katie, 4 days is really not that long of a time. But here's what I'd do if I were you. Since it's only 15 minutes, try putting him in a crate. Even for up to 3 hours a crate would work out just fine (no longer than 4 hours, though). Kubrick used to FREAK OUT in the expen... he hated it with a passion and I found that the crate didn't bother him as much as I think he felt more secure. Make sure the crate has JUST enough room for Kodak to turn around and lie down. Too much room and he will pee/poop in a corner.

Put him in there and always give him an extra special treat when you do so. Make sure that you never ever ever let him out if he's crying or barking. Ever! If you do this, he figures out that crying/barking means he gets to be let out. Do this for SMALL increments of time. Start out by putting him in there but walking around the room the crate is in so he can see you. Let him out after 5 minutes (again he CANNOT be barking - wait until there's at least a 10-30 second break). Ignore him, don't give him tons of attention when you let him out as if you do, you're teaching him that being out of his crate is more fun than being in his crate.

Repeat this exercise later and work your way up (slowly) to 30 minutes of him being in the crate with you in the room. Next, start leaving the room in SMALL increments of time. First just walk out the room and walk back. Ignore him the entire time... don't even LOOK at the crate. Then walk out for 5 minutes and walk back, then 10 minutes, then 15, then 30, so on and so forth. Do this multiple times a day and he will get used to you coming and going and won't freak out so much. Also, when you actually LEAVE the house, I would use a key word, like Be Good or Guard the House or whatever you want to say. He will associate these words with you coming back home if you do it every time.

Good luck!

ETA: I also wanted to add that once he is 100% comfortable being left in his crate, you can start putting the crate inside the expen and putting Kodak in the crate but NOT latching the door, just closing it. I did this with Kubrick and we finally were able to work our way up to having him just go into his expen with the open crate in it and he was fine.


----------



## havaluv (Oct 15, 2007)

I suggest you put Kodak's crate, water, food and toys in the ex-pen and leave the door open. If he's hungry, I'm thinking he'll go in there to eat. Maybe if you just leave the door open while he eats and let him go in and out for a while at will, he'll come to think of it as a good place. This is what I did with Oliver when he was a puppy and he really liked his ex-pen. It was kind of his safe place. Oliver was very afraid of being left alone and it took a long time for him to stop screaming if I was going out. I found if I gave him some jerky treats or his kong with food in it as I was walking out the door, he was distracted and did better....so maybe if you put a really intriguing treat in their and enticed him in to get it...leave the door open the first couple times you try it and as he gets better, you could work on closing the door.


----------



## Leeann (Feb 28, 2007)

I really like the crate idea Lina, Monte was the same way he prefered the crate when I could not watch him.

When using the x-pen or even a crate I always reward the good behavior with a treat. As soon as they stop barking even if they are not coming out walk over and reward with a treat. This will also help as you lengthen the time you are working up to. I still use this method on Riley, he does not bark but has all of a sudden decided when I tether him up to walk a course to chew through his leash... So I am running back and forth treating while trying to remember the course I need to run, it's great exercise LOL


----------



## katieskodakmoment (Oct 13, 2008)

yeah i didnt think of that, kodak prob doesnt feel that secure in the ex-pen...ill start bringing his crate in my living room (its in my bedroom right now because only been using it for night-he is good at night time) when im in here and start putting him in it a few times a day to build up to 30 mins..thanks so much for the advice!!!
should i bring the crate in the bathroom when i need to take a shower and get ready, or at least have it by the open bathroom door?


----------



## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

I actually would just take a quick shower for the first couple of days and use that as your 15 minute out-of-the-room training time. Dragging the crate into the bathroom won't help you much unless Kodak can see you, which I'm sure will be hard if you're in the tub. But just try things out. Every dog is different and has different needs.


----------



## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

I am working on tihs right now with the puppy and what I did was just really short burst at a time. She goes in with a bone that is special, she is chewing and I let her out and take away the bone. I tried the first few times before she even got a chance to cry or realize she was locked up. Then I did it for 10 mins, etc. But she will cry for a minute and even if I am doing stuff and Dasher is staring at her to get her out, she just relaxes and she has only been with us a few days. (Well, she found out how to climb it but that is another issue!)


----------



## RikiDaisyDixie (Apr 15, 2008)

*It gets better...*

Consistency and patience. And treats for good behavior.

This is why we have two...


----------

