# HYPER Right Out of Crate



## Mulvich (May 20, 2010)

Hello!
My wife and I just got two puggles- 2 years old. They are kept in a crate over night and most of the day. Whenever we let them out of the cage they go nuts! Jumping all over, running around, just very hyper. I know this will eventually pass (I hope!) once they start getting used to their new routine but is there anything to help speed this process up? My wife really has a hard time with this. I know they're just excited and all but it's tough to stay calm when they're just nuts!
Thanks!!!


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## infiniti (Mar 19, 2010)

Mulvich said:


> They are kept in a crate over night and most of the day.


Why?????  Why did you get dogs if they were going to be contained for this length of time all the time???? A dog should not be crated, ideally, more than 3-4 hours a day.

Of course they are hyper and excited ... how do you think YOU would act after being let out of a cage where you had been for the last 12 or more hours?


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## LaurenE (Mar 16, 2010)

How much excercise do they get every day? Sounds like they have quite a bit of energy pent up. Working on basic obedience commands will help but they have to be calm to train lol. I would suggest making sure they get some pretty heavy-duty excercise every day and then see how they do.


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## Mulvich (May 20, 2010)

Ideally it won't be as long as it is now but we've only had them for a few days and don't trust them in the house alone just yet. They are in the crate overnight and a few hours during the day and they are good in the crate. Cause I keep them in a crate for more then 4 hours a day means I shouldn't have gotten a dog?


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## Mulvich (May 20, 2010)

We go for walks in the morning and evening and started playing in the yard yesterday (had to fix bad step on deck before letting them run around in yard without a lease). Since our deck issue is fixed we'll be playing a lot more in the yard!


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## infiniti (Mar 19, 2010)

Look, dogs are social animals ... they need attention, affection, interaction. While I understand that you just got them and that you have some adjusting to go through, can't you gate off the kitchen or something rather than having them stay in crates for "most of the day" (your words, not mine).

And yes, Lauren is right. They need exercise as well. They need to be walked, they need to play, they need mental stimulation.

It just irks me when people get dogs and they don't seem to really have the time necessary that dogs require. If you and your wife work 40-50 hours a week and can't get home in the middle of the day, you might consider daycare a couple times a week, or hire a dog walker to come by and take them for walks. 

But to just leave them alone all day long, waiting for a few hours each night of interaction from you is really unfair to them.

I work over 40 hours a week, and I can't get home for lunch. However, I have two grown daughters who live with me and who are home at alternating times during the week during the day. My dog is seldom alone for more than 3-4 hours. If it was just me and my dog, I would have issues to work around because I wouldn't do that to her.


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## Mulvich (May 20, 2010)

Maybe your right- thanks for the advice.
We'll just return them to the AWESOME life they had before. 
I was already a guilty mess and having second thoughts but your sweet-as-pie post maybe put me over the edge. Thanks for helping an insecure dog owner four days into it.
Your message is good, but you have a long way to go as a communicator.


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## infiniti (Mar 19, 2010)

Hey, I'm sorry you don't like having things put bluntly, but that's the way it is. I will also have you know that I usually do communicate more sweetly and kindly than many others here, but you caught me on a bad week.

1. I'm quitting smoking

2. I am still sickened over a show I watched this week about caged dogs in puppy mills.

So I am a little tense, irritable and hypersensitive right now. I apologize ... none of that is your fault.

However, I will try to gently convey that it's typically best to give long, thoughtful consideration to what a dog will need prior to getting a dog. Think about how much time you can devote to interacting with the dog, training the dog, etc. Getting a dog is not a decision to take lightly and it's not as simple as seeing that doggie in the window.

I love dogs, and it really hurts me deeply to see the things on tv that I saw this week. It hurts me to know that there are shelter dogs all over that need homes. It hurts me that there are strays wandering around homeless and loveless and without food. These are things that concern me deeply and I wish I could save them all.

But I cannot, and that's because I know the limits to my resources: my time, my money, my home size, but most of all my time. Sometimes as much as we want to do the right thing, other obligations and commitments in our lives prevent us from being able to do as much as we want to do.

So again, I am sorry if you didn't appreciate the way my message was conveyed, but everything I say here is with the best interest of the DOG in mind. 

The people can take care of themselves.


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## Bordermom (Apr 28, 2010)

Totally normal, you may want to shoo them right outside to rip around first if you can. And, when you do get home, ignore them for about five minutes before you go calmly let them out (don't race to let them out and make a big fuss out of it or you'll just feed into that).

Take them for power walks, a brisk walk where you get them trotting as much as possible (no stopping to sniff and pee on everything, go go go!) and that'll tire them out and let them burn off some energy. And yes, when they mature they'll likely settle down.

I don't like to hear about dogs being crated ALL the time, but if the only people who had the right to own dogs never left the house, or weren't allowed to leave for more than a few hours, I'd have to give up my guys. We do run into the city here and there and the two troublemakers will be crated for six hours here and there. They are fine with it (better than them chewing up the house, pestering the cat and getting into everything which seems to happen if they're all loose in the house - darn hyper dogs!). When I worked, they were crated if we weren't home too, but that work meant they got fed, got to see the vet and had a house to live in.

Lana


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## DogPaw (Jan 11, 2009)

My girl was the same way when I let her out, she was all over me. What I did was I ignored her. I opened the crate door, said nothing and wakled away and went about my business. I ignored her for at least 5 mins. By that time she was trying to figure out what was going one and was calm. Once she calmed down I acknowledged her. It took less then a week for her to figure out that she didn't get anything from me until she was calm. After that she would come out of her crate nice and calm.


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## puppy.l0ve (May 2, 2010)

though it may have been perceived as mean or harsh, infinity does have a very valid point. dogs are a lot like children; they need attention and affection. is there not a tiled space you could keep the both of them in while ya'll are gone?

exercise is a great way to release all the energy they have built up. that would be my first suggestion. my second would be wait. when you get home, let them settle down before you even approach their kennel. if you go to open the door and they get excited again, pause and wait for them to settle again. when you open the door, don't let them run out, make them sit/lay until they are calm, then calmly let them out. if they continue, then ignore them, and keep your back to them. i would refrain from saying anything to them from the time you get home to the time they are out and calm (any attention will just be fuel to the fire); it's not being mean or cruel, it's training.
good luck and have confidence in your trainings.


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## FlashTheRottwuggle (Dec 28, 2009)

Mulvich said:


> Maybe your right- thanks for the advice.
> We'll just return them to the AWESOME life they had before.
> I was already a guilty mess and having second thoughts but your sweet-as-pie post maybe put me over the edge. Thanks for helping an insecure dog owner four days into it.
> Your message is good, but you have a long way to go as a communicator.


I will vouch for the fact that infiniti has tons of great advice but from threads I've been reading, she's having a bit of a tough week. That said, many of the members of this forum are VERY infatuated with their dogs, actually all dogs. So sometimes the passion gets a little intense. If you bear with it and keep reading you can really learn alot.

On to your topic...I have a similar situation. I live with my 21 yo son and a 22 yo friend of his (my second "son"). We all work 40 hour weeks, my son and I each are 45 minutes away from home. Did I think that meant we shouldn't have a dog? NO! At first Flash was spending from 7:15 AM to 4:45 PM in her crate M-F. My second son would come home on lunch if he could and let her out. He does have Wednesdays off and works Saturday, so really it was 4 days in the crate. I decided not to crate her at night, but to shut her in one of our bedrooms. It has worked out that mine works best. I also eventually found a doggy daycare to take her to, where she now goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So Mondays and Fridays are her long days in the crate. She has adjusted and gets tons of attention, exercise, training, etc in the evenings and on weekends. It works for us. Not the best situation all the way around and not what most of the dog experts here would tell you should or even could be done. However it works for us and everyone tells me Flash looks like a very happy, loving and LOVED dog.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

I have to say I agree about trying to crate your dogs as little as possible. They aren't likely to learn the rules of the house, and a routine, and learn how to behave more calmly if they're not spending time interacting in the house.

As far as you saying you don't trust them in the house alone just yet, that's a valid point. If you leave them in the house and they are really hyper they could destroy things, or hurt themselves.

I think the thing is there are lots of threads about people who have seen dogs kept crated most of their lives, just out briefly, and most of us are sensitive about those kinds of things. 

That said, you obviously care about your dogs and have improved their lives, and want to make them even better. Yay! 

I would recommend gating off a small room, like a bathroom or laundry room. Make sure it's sparse, as far as what they can destroy.....


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