Quote Originally Posted by applesmom
Congratulations on resolving the barking problem so quickly. Apparently it wasn't seperation anxiety but just an annoying habit.

I'm a firm believer in feeding twice a day so their stomachs are never completely empty. The possibility of digestive upsets are also greatly reduced with this method.

I agree that leaving food and water in the crate is setting him up for accidents. Leaving food and water in a crate is not necessary unless the dog is going to be in there for hours and hours. They should only be fed when someone is going to be there to let them out within the next couple of hours.

A baby gate in the kitchen is an excellent idea.
Feeding once a day is something I prefer, as long as its 2 cups or less.. anything higher then 2 cups, needs to be broken up into 2 feedings. Bear only gets 2 cups, so I'm comfy with the single feeding.

Only for now, Mr. Biggles needs his food in his kennel, other wise he wont get to eat until 3pm, if Chad has to leave when he wakes up... thats not fair...

I might start the 6am thing for tomorrow, so he wont have his food in his kennel at all. If I get the bigger kennel soon, He'll have water, as he can't go all day without water... I might buy him a rabbit feed bowl, as they can hang.. I'll rig it so its attached at the back of the kennel so he cannot accidently tip it over.. His kibble is all over his kennel right now.. I head the bowl crashing about lol.. I took the bowl out, so he would have more room & brushed the kibble to the back of the kennel, so he wouldn't lay in it... silly pup.

Its crazy how the doggy gates are so bloody $$.. I got a sweet gate for 20.00 at toys R us back in Ottawa & it worked fine on a BM & that mutt from hell. So it should be just fine for Mr. Biggles lol


Now we need to save up for a temp fence & a wooden fence, so the dogs can run free in our yard... Sure its a small yard, but they can sniff about, play in it & potty. In the summer it'll be nice to leave teh door open & have them come & go to enjoy themselves... I know my old dog liked that (even though he wasn't fenced in, he didn't need it)

How safe is bark bits? Our yard is under a tree so its unlikely we'll get grass to grow.. so I was thinking of covering the larger level (our yard has 3 levels) in bark bits to keep it clean & mud free for the dogs... I'll be planting bushes along the lower fence yard, as its too small for the dogs to play on, & a bushes would look great... I plan to get wild bushes from Chad's mom's place in the middle of nowhere in Ottawa. I like free lol