Crate Problems with my "neice" puppy.

[spunkadelic]

My sister has a 9 week old german sheperd puppy that she got when it was 8 weeks old. They bought a Life Stages crate for it to stay in during the day, and put the divider half way so that she would have just enough room to lay down, stand and play - but not enough room to deficate on one end and eat on the other.

The problem is, this puppy is so darn velcro that it's trying to escape from the crate when you put her in. My sister is a Cardio Vascular Tech and her husband is an A/C person so they aren't home for some 7 (or is it 6?) hours a day so she has to be in there.

What she does is she stands up and tries to push her paws through the metal wires and pulls - she's worn down her nails and my sister came home to a dog with bloody paws the other day. They cleaned it up, and it doesn't seem to be bothering her but my sister felt bad. She left the puppy out the other day, tied to a leash (an 8 foot leash, mind you) confined to the kitchen. The puppy chewed through the leash, defecated on my sisters new couch (which she's not allowed to be on in the first place), chewed up the cupboards etc.

What can my sister do to protect the dogs paw pads during the day - because she obviously can't leave her alone outside her crate when they aren't home....

[Shelteez2]

Maybe your sis can set up a safe area for the pup. Something like an x-pen around the crate (with the door open or off) with some papers put down in one end. I personally am not a fan of paper training but in this situation it might be better.
A pup can hold its bladder for approx it's age in months plus one. So her pup is approx 2 months old plus 1 is 3 hours. If your sis can't hire someone to come let the pup out half way through the day then the above situtation would probably work for it.
Also make sure she tires the pup put before leaving with a good play session. She can make sure it has some safe things to chew on to keep it occupied.

Wish her good luck!

[Kfamr]

:( That poor pup and your poor sister. I really don't know what to say or how to help...

Hopefully she finds something that can keep the pup safe and her house safe!

[spunkadelic]

Yeah, this is my sister's first dog that she's had since she was seven. Her husband hasn't had a puppy in over 10 or so years, so I guess you could say that this is their "first", lol. What makes it even worse is that my sister doesn't know if she can have kids (and I don't know about me either) so this is basically her child! She's really upset, because the poor thing's paw pads are all pretty beaten up!

She called yesterday though and said that she moved the crate into their master bedroom, so that way she will be sleeping with them, in a sense. She said that it is sort of working, but sort of not. She jammed her whole (huge) paw between the crate bars and the black litter pan thing that slides underneath it, in her excitement to see them the other day. They're taking her to the vet - actually, since I'm puppysitting and the appointment is tomorrow, I guess that would be me whose taking Cody to the vet! LOL.