Hello from SC - allow me to introduce our rescue Boxer

[BuddhaBoss]

Welcome to the forum. You will find loads of great and helpful information on here. George is a cutie. We have 2 boys- 8months and 4months. We don't use crates for either of them, as both my husband and I work from home so we are here majority of the time, also we live in a small town so pretty much take them everywhere, they also sleep at the bottom of our bed (or occasionally jump in with us)- not ideal- but they are too cute to say no to. Having said that, I did crate train my old boxer (she now lives with my mum in the states). It was very very helpful and i would recommend it especially for boxers. Try introducing the crate to him slowly, but don't force anything. Boxers go through phases where they get scared of things very easily (obviously it does not help if the poor pup was left in a crate for 20hours at a time) but hopefully with time he will get over his fear. When we got buddha he was petrified of his lead.. he would not walk anywhere!! Now he is fine.. but it did take a month or so to get him walking!! He is still scared of very odd things- like opening the fridge door, plastic water bottles or anything that is out of place- like my new fluff slippers.. he is a bit weird lol, but is it just a phase. Anyways, give it time. Congratulations on your new addition

[Breezygirl]

lol.. I have to giggle when people say crates remind them of a prison. I tell all my clients.. if you had a baby/toddler ... would they be in a crib, highchair, or playpen when you couldn't attend to them?? Absolutely!! So please dont feel bad about crates.. its a safe place

[Zeus050412]

welcome from California! You are quite the ANGEL! George is a lucky lil man!

[sueellen]

BreezyGirl - you have a good point there. But I never had kids, so I can't really answer that. LOL.

BuddhaBoss - we haven't noticed that he is afraid of anything yet except for rain. He encountered rain for the first time today since he's been with us and I'll just say that lunch was interesting today. Can't wait to get home and see how this evening goes since its raining even harder now.

Zeus - Thank you! Our little beagle has cancer and won't be with us for a lot longer and my old dog is 16, so I know she doesn't have a ton of time left yet either. My husband and I had discussed getting a puppy and completely decided against it so that we could concentrate all off of our love, attention, and spoiling on our old girls. But George picked us and wouldn't take no for an answer, and I think that having the puppy around is actually good for our old girls - they are both somewhat fiesty-er since he's been with us which has to be good for them. He may not lengthen the number of days they have, but he is certainly making their last days more playful. So I think we are the lucky ones that he picked us.

[Laneysmom]

Welcome Sue Ellen! George is adorable!!

[Laylas-Daddy]

Welcome!!!

[Georgiapeach]

Sounds like George is in great hands! You'll just have to retrain yourself to not leave desirable items where George can reach them, until you can get him better trained. Otherwise, you're setting yourself up for failure - sort of like baby proofing a house - a PITA!

I've had success in getting dogs to like their crates by starting off feeding them in the crate with the door open. I did this for at least a month. Eventually, push the door shut, but don't latch it, so if he panics, he can get out. Work your way towards latching the crate during feeding time. You want the crate to be a positive place to be.

Even now, all three of our dogs get a treat every time they're told, "crate", and they go in. If we're going out for a short time (to the store, etc.), they get a few pieces of their kibble (all of mine are very food driven, which is helpful). Dempsey runs to his crate and drools, waiting for 3 stinkin' pieces of kibble - lol!!

If they have to be crated all day for work, or a longer shopping trip lasted several hours, they get a Kong smeared thickly with peanut butter around the inside - frozen, to make it last longer. My dogs actually get excited now when they see me getting my coffee to go, putting on my coat, getting ready to leave. They go RUNNING to their crates, even whining with excitement, wanting their Kongs. Once they have them, I cease to exist - lol!

[sueellen]

Thank you Beth. I talked to my husband last night about getting the crate and putting it on the back deck and then we will just have to take it a step at a time to get him comfortable with it again.

I have read a few posts on here about Kong toys. I am not familiar with them. I am planning to get stocking stuffers for the dogs today after work and will look for these. I see on the internet that they have several different toys. Do you recommend any particular one(s) to start out with? And then my other concern is that with 3 dogs will they fight over them or is it possible to teach them that they each have their own. You will probably not be able to answer that about my specific dogs. The beagle generally doesn't care about toys or bones or anything like that much at all, so don't think she'll be an issue. But my chow mix is a cranky old dog who believes that all bones are hers and growls at George when he comes within a few feet of her when she is enjoying a bone; she doesn't care about toys at all. George loves everything he can get in his mouth; I have several stuffed animals and balls for him and loves them all and he loves all of the bones too. I wonder if they have different Kongs that will peak the interest of my 3 very different doggies.

[Era]

Wow So cute dog
I love his style
Welcome

[Katielovesleo]

Great photo! That's really awesome of you for taking him in! welcome to the forum!


Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App