# Help! My adopted pup doesn't like being confined...



## luvbowie (May 17, 2007)

I just adopted a 1 year old chow chow who had been picked up by animal control as a stray. When I leave the house for work, I use a baby gate to keep him confined to the kitchen, which looks out on the living room. For the last week or so, every time I put the gate up and try to leave he freaks out and starts banging and clawing at the gate and whimpering and barking like crazy. I've tried putting on different kinds of music for him, ignoring him when I get home and not making a fuss when I leave, and I leave one of my old shirts for him. 

I have tried leaving him alone in the house for short periods of time without putting the gate up, and he doesn't freak out at all. He is not destructive and everything looks the same as when I left, but I am afraid that if I let him roam as he pleases in the house all the time that I am giving him too much control. 

I thought this was a case of separation anxiety, but he seems to be fine when I leave as long as he is not confined to a certain area. He doesn't cry when I go into a different room or anything like that. Yesterday he managed to knock the gate down while I was at work, but when I got home he was just laying down in the living room playing with a chew toy. 

Could it be that because he was a stray he just needs to have room to wander around? Will I be destroying any chance of training him if I don't keep him confined? 

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!!

Angie
(Bowie's mom)


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

I think there are two possible reasons to confine a dog when you're away: To protect the dog and prevent him form hurting himself. Or to protect your household.

If he is not risking either himself or the household, I personally would not confine him.

But I am hardly the training guru around here, so we'll see what others have to say.


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

We had a friend who adopted a lab from a couple moving overseas. They confined the dog to the laundry room the first day when they went to work, only to come home and find that she had clawed through the wallboard and such and was waiting for them in the kitchen when they walked in.

They never confined her again and all was well until the day she died.

I would try small increments and see how it goes before leaving her a whole day.


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## squirt1968 (Feb 19, 2007)

I have a year old shih tzu I let her roam the house while I am at work. One day she pulled a couple of books down once she found a small piece of fire wood neither time was any big deal and she also is very unhappy if she is gated. She lays on the couch whic is a no no unless invited when I am home.
For me letting her roam free is normal I do not see it as giving her control which you stated was your concern. I allow it she did not take control.


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## jlancio (May 18, 2007)

Hi, your message stood out to me.
i am not replying because i have an answer  but i have experienced the same thing.
my question woudl be, why do you require them to be contained? i have the same problem with a (then 10 weeks old) puppy. when i finally gave up trying to contain her ,the training was easy.
if your pet doesn't create any problem for you, why question it? i don't mean to be curt, but if you are okay with it, and they are okay with it, just let it be? i am kind of the same way, i gave in and i'm waiting for "the other shoe to drop" i think sometimes (esp with a developed adult dog) maybe they are just adjusted to something? I am no expert, but if you areokay with giving your new friend their freedom, why not? i only tried to contain mine becuase she was not housebroken, but i gave her the freedome and the papers, and she never missed the papers! as she has gotten older, she is more interested in outside than the papers. i think you are lucky! yes?


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## DogsforMe (Mar 11, 2007)

In Australia we mostly leave our dogs outside in the backyard. But then we don't have cyotees (sp) or mountain lions & bears. When my now 14 y/o Border Collie was a puppy I took my sons to Pizza Hut for dinner. She was locked in her 'room' & when we got home she had climbed over a 1/2 wall & was sitting on the lounge. I thought how cute she looks, until I saw my new verticle blind torn off its tracks. I never left her inside again unless someone was home.


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## Dogstar (May 11, 2007)

I don't see letting him roam in the house to be a control issue, really. Out of curiosity, how big is the room you're gating him into, and what does he do if you leave him in a different room with the door shut? How long does it take him to settle down after you leave? Does he settle down? (If you've got a baby monitor, you can use that and stand outside the house, but you can also set up a cheap webcam to watch him, or even get a friend to hide in the house in another room.) Is he doing damage to himself or the gate, or just being loud and dramatic? Does he do this if you confine him and go into another room, or only if you leave the house? 

He may also be playing off your emotions, if you give any sign that this behavior is upsetting you. 

If he's not destructive, I wouldn't worry TOO much about it, but I would probably begin slowly conditioning him to a crate just in the event he ever needed to be confined- on a trip, at the vet, whatever- so that he didn't find it stressful. (I WOULD give him a month or so to settle in and see if he remains non-destructive- you're still in the honeymoon period. ) With a non-destructive dog, you can take it extremely slowly. If it's a matter of housebreaking or hair, I'd try confining him in different rooms, using DAP-type air scent things and rescue remedy to try and lessen his anxiety, and treat it like any new and scary thing- small doses, and lots of positive reinforcement. 

If you decide to go this route (slowly getting him used to being confined behind a gate), I'd break it down into TINY steps and move slowly, just because you don't need to make him any more anxious.


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## luvbowie (May 17, 2007)

I was keeping him in the laundry room, which is probably about 12 x 12 feet. I tried expanding the area to include the kitchen so it was a fairly large area, but that didn't help - he has done considerable damage to the wood on the gate. I tried leaving him in the bedroom with doors shut instead of the gate, and he scratched a ton of paint off of one of the doors. I am not sure how long it takes him to calm down so the baby monitor thing is a good idea.

He is housetrained, so that is not really an issue. 

I think I will continue to let him roam free when I'm gone, and maybe try some of your suggestions and also try gating him in small increments of time when we're home so it's not so stressful. 

I guess I just needed some more reassurance that I wasn't being an irresponsible dog owner by letting him have run of the house! 

Thanks!


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## SFury (Apr 12, 2007)

There is nothing wrong with having a dog have the free roam of a house/condo/apartment if you trust them. My boys just got the freedom of the entire house almost two weeks ago now. Well, aside from the basement. They are happier, and so am I. They don't damage anything, and they don't relieve themselves indoors either.

As long as there are no rooms that you do not want the dogs to go into, there should be no problems. I have my laundry room in the basement, and I only have open shelves in there. My laundry detergent is out in the open, and while they most likely wouldn't do anything with the chemicals, I don't want them anywhere near them. Even though there is a door that remains closed at all times for it as well. The basement is just not somewhere they need to go freely.


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## threedognite (Feb 10, 2007)

Your dog doesn't like being confined because he was confined at the shelter. If I were you, I would buy a crate and put him in it. A new dog should never have full access to your house, no matter how well behaved he is. You have to remember that Chows can be stubborn and dominant and if you aren't showing him who the pack leader is, HE will take that role and you will have problems on your hands.
Teach him to go in the crate with a treat with the door left open. Praise him and let him walk out on his own. If you have to use really yummy treats to do this, use cheese or little pieces of hot dogs. Be patient with him because if you go too fast, he will start to hate the crate. Once he is comfortable in the crate, close the door, give the treat and praise him.
Open the door and let him out. 
When you want him to go in the crate, say "Crate", hold the treat in your closed hand so he can smell it, once he's inside, give him the treat.
If he starts whining, let him whine. Don't say anything to him. Don't scold him, don't 'baby' him. He will stop after awhile.


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