Not long ago my girlfriend decided to get a dog. We went down to the local shelter and she got a little misty at a few muts, but we eventually settled on a very cute little hound mix. All the other pups would never stop yelping, but this one never made a sound. All it would do is bring its little stuffed moose over to you as a present. We took it out and brought it to a little room they have, and it would only hide under me while I was kneeling over. The big kicker, though, was when it walked over, crawled into her lap and took a nap. That sealed the deal and we took her home.
Now that she's good and spoiled, we're running into some problems getting her trained. The house-breaking is it's own problem, to which I don't really know the answer. The mutt is taken out frequently and regularly, and my gf tries to restrict access to food/fluids. The dog will still pee in the apartment though. But I digress..
The real problem is when my gf leaves and has to lock the mutt up in her cage. (We tried leaving her out, but quickly learned she couldn't be trusted. Carpet was torn up, glasses were eaten, etc.). First she managed to dismantle her cage from the inside, but some zipties remedied that issue. But the problem now is she barks (howls) quite a lot when put into the cage, after she hears my gf leave. For a good few minutes after waiting just outside the door you can hear her howl. I had my gf leave a tape recorder while she was away, so we don't think she's doing it the whole time, but can't be certain.
We also find that she almost always will have peed in her cage when she/we return, no matter how long we've been gone. I imagine this is just from anxiety about us leaving.
Anyone know solutions to barking/peeing when caged like this? She just won't get used to it. I read somewhere that dogs like it to be sort of covered/cave-like, but she chews up any sort of covering we put on the cage. I'd try wood, but don't want to spend the money if it's not got a chance at working.
Puppy training is hard!
