[nagdu] My experiences with crates was:crate vs tie-down

Daryl Marie crazymusician at shaw.ca
Fri Nov 14 14:56:00 UTC 2014


Danielle,
That makes complete sense about letting Willa have "her space" in her crate.

When we first got Jenny, I was working afternoons, evenings and weekends, so we didn't have a lot of people over; then we had water damage to our house and it took nearly six months for it to be repaired, so half the rooms in our house were covered in plastic.  All of this meant that we didn't have people over much, if at all, and definitely no large groups.

We hosted my birthday party in July, and we had probably 10-12 people over for the first time since I got Jenn.  Poor girl felt a little overwhelmed.  After a little while of her laying on her bed in the living room (with all the people), I noticed this, and gave her a treat (a bone or a pig's ear), which she took to the landing on top of the stairs.  She chewed that like crazy, chilled out by herself for about half an hour, and then came back down to mingle.

I did this the next time we had company over for a long time, and I think it helps her a lot.  It gives her a choice between being social, but also tells her that it's OK to be alone for a while.

Danielle, I think being in a dorm room with a guide dog is so hard!  I applaud you for doing what you can to let both you and Willa have your space.

Daryl
----- Original Message -----
From: Danielle Burton via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
To: Debby Phillips <semisweetdebby at gmail.com>, NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: carcione at access.net
Sent: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 06:37:20 -0700 (MST)
Subject: Re: [nagdu] My experiences with crates   was:crate vs tie-down

Willa absoulutely loves her crate. It's literally her place. She also has a pillow that she can lay on beside my bed that she lays on as well as on my bed. She refuses to sleep with me here in the dorm because I have just a twin size bed and she gets mad if I move so she will get up and go to her crate. I do shot her crate door at night. I think she likes for me too since it gives her a sense of security and a safe place she will grunt with satisfaction when I do this or when she has decided to go to her crate. I have a very small room and I think the crate helps her define her space in my room. She goes into it on her own throughout the day if we are in the room. But again it's just us in my room so no major activity going on beside me studying. She does get super excited when I have friends over. I do put her on tie down or her crate depending on the situation. If we are just hanging out I put her on tie down that way she can be in the activity but she can choose whether ha
 ng out or go into her crate since the tie down is right beside her crate. If my friends and I are going to be studying or working I put her in her crate simply because she is easily excitable still and it's a space.  

Danielle and Willa 


> On Nov 13, 2014, at 10:09 PM, Debby Phillips via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi Lisa, I probably would have had the same feelings you did about the crate if the first one I saw had bars in it: The crate Neena has is rectangular.  It has kind of a canvas material on the outside, with mesh so that she can see out of it.  It has two zippers that zip on the side and a zipper that zips on the top.  Her first crate at home was huge, and both she and Lamar could have fit in it pretty comfortably.  Lol.  We got a smaller one that my brother-io-law had, and it's much nicer.  She still sleeps in there at night when we all go to bed, though I'm wondering if it might be time to leave the door of the crate open so that she could get in and out of it at will.  I just don't quite trust her at night.  And though I feel bad because she's getting left out, there is NOT room for Lamar, who always has slept with us, and Flounder our cat who have so slept with us since we rescued him, so Neena sleeps in her crate.  She doesn't seem to mind as long as she's in on the tre
 ats before bed.  But I can go to sleep knowing that she's not going to get up and wander around and get in the garbage or something.  But I'd like to leave the door of it open for her so she could go get in it if she wanted to.  But she watched Lamar get on the bed in the daytime, so now she gets on the bed, too.    Blessings,    Debby and Neena
> 
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