Anyone adopt a dog before?

[TheBlueWave]

Right. Eventually its just like a personal zone for them. My friend's dog actually likes her kennel as she feels safe there. I'm not worried about cruelty or anything like that, its just another thing to train on and another expense, etc. I will do it if needed, but from what the PetCo lady (he got a nail clipping and shampoo) says, he HATED the kennel. He used his big body to resist them kenneling him up, though. He didn't growl or bite or anything, he's really just a big 'ol sweetie (75-80 increasingly muscular pounds as I whip him into shape).

 

[rook]

Right. Eventually its just like a personal zone for them. My friend's dog actually likes her kennel as she feels safe there. I'm not worried about cruelty or anything like that, its just another thing to train on and another expense, etc. I will do it if needed, but from what the PetCo lady (he got a nail clipping and shampoo) says, he HATED the kennel. He used his big body to resist them kenneling him up, though. He didn't growl or bite or anything, he's really just a big 'ol sweetie (75-80 increasingly muscular pounds as I whip him into shape).

I kennel trained my Lab from the beginning. It was great peace of mind while he grew up. Although he no longer needs to be in the kennel when I am away, he still sleeps in there (upside down sometimes!) and like you stated it is their personal space. I can tell from your posts you understand dog psychology, and introducing a dog to a kennel need not be a difficult experience for either of you. When the dog is in a calm state, introduce him to the kennel. Use your calm assertive energy that Cesar writes about and youll have him trained in no time.

 

[OdinWiski]

Rook, your lab is adorable!!

TheBlueWave, Rook has raised a very good point about crate training. It just makes things so much easier for both you and the puppy and more importantly, it's much safer for the puppy! Plus, ease of transportation and all that other great stuff. I'd never NOT crate train a dog.

Here's how we work and compete our dogs in schutzhund obedience

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwiMYTeVXFA

 

[TheBlueWave]

Well then, its settled! I'm going to start crate training him!
A few considerations and questions for you dog dudes:
I hope it all goes well, I guess I will use treats to get him in there and teach him that they are okay. Thankfully both of his breeds (GR, yellow lab) are very food motivated.

 

[jrs2]

I've never crate trained any of my dogs. Tried it on my last female Lab and she hated it. One year old dogs are still very puppyish, just bigger, stronger and potentially more destructive, especially Labs, it takes them forever to mature. Until they are trustworthy enough to be left alone inside I confine them to areas where they can't get into too much trouble.

You don't realize what a great asset a well trained mature dog is until you lose them, and you have to start over with a pup.

Next time I'm going to try to adopt an adult dog, I've never done that. Hopefully less work plus rescuing a dog that may not make it out of the shelter should be good karma.

 

[TheBlueWave]

I just haven't seen a reason to crate him up yet, he does a great job in the house. He has an old crappy couch we allow him to lay on, but all other furniture is off limits. He seems to get it pretty well, he always "asks" to get on the bed and the newer couches downstairs but won't get on them unless invited. Same with the couch he gets to himself, if I'm sitting on it, he asks to come up, and of course moves over without me asking if I want to sit down. What I'm saying is, he knows (after a month of conditioning) that everything in the house is mine and he just gets to use/play with them. Yes, he won't grab toys out of the bin without my say so.
I will have to crate him though because he is "mouthing" door knobs when he wants to go outside or into a room. I'm thinking that eventually he will figure out how to open some doors on his own, in which case a crate will be essential just to keep him out of trouble.

 

[jharris2]

I just haven't seen a reason to crate him up yet, he does a great job in the house. He has an old crappy couch we allow him to lay on, but all other furniture is off limits. He seems to get it pretty well, he always "asks" to get on the bed and the newer couches downstairs but won't get on them unless invited. Same with the couch he gets to himself, if I'm sitting on it, he asks to come up, and of course moves over without me asking if I want to sit down. What I'm saying is, he knows (after a month of conditioning) that everything in the house is mine and he just gets to use/play with them. Yes, he won't grab toys out of the bin without my say so.
I will have to crate him though because he is "mouthing" door knobs when he wants to go outside or into a room. I'm thinking that eventually he will figure out how to open some doors on his own, in which case a crate will be essential just to keep him out of trouble.

We also found that having the dog used to the crate made it less stressful for him when we traveled. The crate would fold up easily and fit in the trunk of the car, so we took it with us whenever we traveled with him. It meant that he got to sleep in his "bed" anywhere we went.

After a while, he learned that when we said it was bedtime, it meant it was time for him to go to his crate to sleep.

 

[Red]

Yeah I dont think there is anything wrong with kennel training the dogs. The only hard part is the beginning when they are puppies and the like to cry and whine when they are put in the kennel at night but once they give that up then it becomes their little home and they will probably sleep in there every chance they get.

Just have to make sure you buy a kennel that is going to fit the dog when its fully grown but im sure that obvious.

Anyways, congratulations on the new dog.