We adopted our 1.5 year old Lhaso-Maltese mix Muffin from our local Petsmart in April, and although she was a bit more active than we're used to, we thought we'd get a long find and she'd calm down eventually. Well, it's September already, and she's as fiesty as ever. Against advice (I admit, my fault), we never crated her--at the time, I felt it was cruel. But I realize now that it should have been the first thing we did when we brought her home. When we go out, she doesn't stay in "the designated area"--she jumps over gates, scratches and chews things, and makes a general mess. But we HAVE to work 8 hours a day. Giving her back is NOT an option. Is it too late to start crating her? Any advice for such a late bloomer? HELP! And thanks in advance!
Hi! Congrats on your new doggie! It is not too late to start crate training. I actually had to go back to it with my 1-yr old dog because of separation anxiety issues. Here's an article that might be helpful in getting started: http://www.pets.com/petcare/articles/new-adoption-know-how-dog-training. Good luck! :-)
Thanks so much for your advice--we got her a crate, and so far, so good! She's not crazy about being put in it, but she doesn't fuss too much, as long as she knows it's just while we're out of the house. If she knows someone is home, though, she wants OUT! But she seems to not mind being in there, as long as we keep her water and KONG toy filled and her wee-wee pad clean. Thanks again!