Puppy That Climbs Gates!!!

[AmyK]

Does anyone have any advice for keeping a puppy contained while a go to work??? We have tried the crate route and she has accidents and ends up with it all over herself.
Does fine with the pottying when we are home. Started putting her in our kitchen with the tall gates and when I went home for lunch to let her out-she had climbed the gate and was sleeping in the bedroom!! (where she does at night).
I don't want to come home to a hurt dog or one that has pooped in the house either!!!
HELP!!

[tricollie4me]

Wish I had some advice for you; what you're experiencing is what prompted us to buy a crate for our pup! We initially crated Bijou in our kitchen using baby gates but that only lasted about five weeks or so -- by then, she climbed over all of them and had run of the house a bit too soon! Thankfully, crating is working out well and I'm so glad we chose that route. She keeps it tidy and sleeps well in it at night.

How old is your pup, and what breed?

[AmyK]

She is a collie/shepard mix and 4 months old. We have done the crating route and she suffers from severe seperation anxiety. we got her from a shelter and she was in a run there for 4 weeks and god knows where before then. She throws herself against the sides, claws and bites the bars and goes potty in there! We thought putting her in our kitchen would help, which it has with the stress(for all of us) but don't know how to keep her from the rest of the house due to her getting into something, having an accident on the carpets, etc....
Anxiety wise she seems so much better and does fine at night in the bedroom with us with a gate at the door so we can hear our son. She came from the bedroom and I think that is where she knows she sleeps at night, so maybe that is why she got out and went there.
She is a good dog and has had a couple poop accidents in the kitchen while I am gone in the morning, but otherwise doing well.

[Ginger's Mom]

I had the same problem with Ginger. It ended up that it was fairly easy to fix. I just needed to get a different type of gate for the doorway. Ginger was home alone for 9-10 hours a day and still wasn't completely potty trained at six months. So my boss, who is just wonderful with dogs said that he thought that she was in the crate too long, and that I should find a room to keep her in and give her pee-pee pads until she could physically wait 9 or 10 hours to go out. Well I, like you bought a gate for the kitchen. And when I came home, Ginger greated me at the door. I tried it again the next day, making sure there was nothing nearby that she could climb up on so she could jump over the gate. Again, she met me at the door. So I went to PetSmart and asked their advise. They said, get a baby gate that only has slats/rails that run from top to bottom. Nothing that goes from side to side, that she can get her little feet on to boost herself over. Worked like a charm. Not only did my little darling stay in the kitchen but three weeks later she was completely housebroken. Babys R Us has baby gates with metal bars running up and down for $49.99. The best investment I ever made. Ginger is now two years old and has had the run of the house while I am gone since she was about 9 months old. I hope this helps. Keep us informed.

[mruffruff]

I had the same problem with my three years ago. Now I like to say I live in a gated community. I built gates for the doorways by attaching (with screws) 2 1"x3" wide boards to one door frame with hinges and putting 1" lath strips vertically. A hook on the other side holds it shut. When they chewed the wood, I attached an old wire oven shelf to it with plastic ties until they gave up.

Sort of an H with an extra cross bar. If you build one, you can make it as tall as you need, just add an extra cross bar if it's more than 4 feet tall.

I also used one on the cat room so the cats can get out but the dogs can't get in. Works great.

Mary

[AmyK]

Thanks for the help. We have started using the crate again. She is doing much better...started out slow and left her 3-4 times each day during the weekend for 1-2 hours or more, so we will see how she does today while I am at work this morning and go home for lunch to take her out. Potty wise she can go about5 hours, so hopefully she get the hang of it. I guess she will sooner or later!!
She seems so much better this week and more calm.
Thanks again for your responses.