Another gorgeous fall day. Willie and I get to move the lamb flock through the woods every morning. The lambs stay the day in the ‘orchard pasture,’ so called because it’s full of wild apple trees, and the ewe flock gets to forage in the big, open pasture at the top of the hill. They all chomp on fallen apples all the day long, (they know the sound of a fallen apple; they run toward the tree when they hear the ‘plunk’!)
It is wonderful to have real work for Will, he has blossomed this year especially since he’s had to split the lambs from the ewes and load animals into the truck. Rather than “practice,” this is real work and I think he knows it. I am far less concerned with him doing things exactly right than I am getting the job done, especially when splitting out the lambs or loading sheep. Of course, we ‘practice’ every morning when we move the lambs up the hill, and when we bring the flocks back down at the end of the day–right now Will is working on maintaining a steady pressure rather than pushing a little too hard and fast or stopping altogether–but there’s nothing like Will knowing that I am counting on him to make his own decisions to get a job done. Last week I began to ask him to leave me and the barn, run through the woods and find the sheep (who could be 3 or 4 hundred yards away, through woods and up and over hills) and bring them back down to me. He’s done it 4 out of 5 times, and I am not sure who is more proud!
Speaking of independence, I got an email recently from a Calling All Pets listener who was distressed to hear that Will spends some time in a crate. (He’s in one right now.) I am the first to say that crates can be, and are often abused, but I am absolutely convinced at the same time that crates can be used to a dog’s advantage. Will is old enough now to be left loose in the house, and I actually started doing that a few months ago. He doesn’t chew or go to the bathroom in the house, so why not? However, I put him back in his crate when I’m gone because he behaved so differently when I came home if he had been loose. He was hyper vigilant, leaping up at every sound, barking at the slightest noise etc. This is a dog who is on chinese herbs (Shen Calmer), cooling foods and who gets lots and lots of exercise. My belief is that Will is, at least, over simulated by being loose in the house and being able to look out the window and see cars, trucks go by on the county highway. I suspect, although I know some other behaviorists and scientists would disagree, that it is more than that. One explanation for Will’s change in behavior is that if he is loose, he perceives himself as being responsible for taking care of the house. I lean toward this explanation (or both, actually), but I am aware I am just making a guess.. a guess that many would argue attributes far too much cognitive ability to a dog.
I’m curious.. What do others think?
Meanwhile, here’s some photos of the morning…
Willie moves the lamb flock into the ‘orchard pasture’,their pasture for the day.
This is Dorothy, the noble elder of the ewe flock.
Sarah Regan Snavely says
Just a quick note — love your books, am loving your blog! Read them the moment they appear in my bloglines list. Thank you!
trisha says
Sarah:
What great reinforcement! Wish I could send you some apple butter. (Okay, the first batch turned out much better than the second. Doesn’t it always seem that way? You experiment, find a winner and then make it in spades and…… humm, not so good this time!
Thanks for writing Sarah, your comments are much appreciated.
Laurie Glencross says
I, too, am a big fan and can’t wait to read your latest book – play, what a great topic. Weather in Illinois is still hot but promises lots of sun this weekend.
I agree with your ideas about crating. My two older dogs are free in the house but my 2 year old rescue lab is crated when I work. I was leaving him loose but he always found something like a shoe or book to chew. After some problems with ‘accidents’ in his crate, he’s now settling in with a stuffed Kong for the few hours that I work.
Hmmm, maybe I should stuff it with apple butter??
When will you return to Champaign for another seminar? And when will another season of Calling All Pets begin?
Thanks!
Shirley says
I also find with my Lab-X that being in her crate while I am away keeps her calmer. I don’t know if she looks out the windows while I am gone, but she is very noise sensitive and tends to get worked up about noises. I wonder sometimes if being in the crate, she feels safe and not responsible for the homefront. Crates are only bad if the humans make them that way. All my dogs love their crates!!!
Ed Dickson says
Patricia,
I have to say I completely agree with you on your reasoning here. I have thought that for a long time knowing that I would be roasted in the scientific community for the thought. I know dogs take jobs given to them seriously. I know that dogs take some things in life seriously. Territory is one of those things. When left alone with a large territory (a house) to worry about, why wouldn’t they take that job seriously? Of course, not all dogs are the same and some will be more serious about it than others but it only makes sense to not stress a dog that will be serious about it by not giving them the responsibility!
Thanks for the blog, the books and inspiring a whole lot of people to want to understand animals. Keep including pictures of Will working on the farm! Nothing better than seeing a dog loving his task! Let me know when you want to come back to Cleveland for a seminar!
Ed
Crystal says
I’ve always heard that dogs are denning animals, and that they seek out enclosed spaces. My dog certainly does; her favorite place to sleep is under the bed. Crates simply take advantage of that denning instinct, and give them a place that is their own. Certainly my dog has to share the space under the bed with the cat.
My dog often asks to go in her crate, and perhaps most telling is this story: In January, my husband and I went on a week long vacation. While we were gone, the pup stayed at a family member’s house. Since we built a table to go over her crate (so as not to lose that precious floor space in our very small house), and since we have a lot of crap on that table, we sent her with her travel crate. When everyone arrived home, we thought she’d be excited to see us, her toys, and her kitties (she’s very good friends with one of them). Instead, the first thing she did was make a bee-line for her crate, and even though we left the door open, she refused to come out for a good six hours!
So, while I have no idea WHY my dog (or yours!) likes her crate, it would seem that they are a valuable tool to have when they are puppies, and a secure den for them when they’re older.
Jesse Maegan says
i think crates are an amazing training tool – as long as they’re used as such. when i was managing an animal shelter, i recommended that everyone who adopted a new dog get one and learn how to use it. i think that in many ways it gives a dog boundaries – it knows that the crate is his/her “space”…. i would never advocate a dog be left in a crate permanently, but dogs need training in order to establish boundaries.
when i first brought miles home from the shelter, i left him out once, and came home to garbage strewn all over my apartment. so, anytime i went out, he went in the crate with some toys and a treat or two, and when i got home, was immediately rewarded with praise for being so good.
his time in the crate lessened over his first two years with me, and now it’s a rare occasion thing. the door mostly sits open, and he just likes to lay in there and hang out.
Stephanie says
My Standard Poodle has similar behavior when left uncrated at night. If he’s in his crate, he’s quiet, content, and gets a great night’s sleep. If uncrated, he’s on alert and barks at every speck of dust that floats by outside in the moonlight. I also imagine that he barks at noises that only he can hear, but if he’s crated these things don’t bother him. When I’m gone, and at various other times during the day, he’s left in one room in the house with his Lab “sister” and cat “brother” and doesn’t seem to feel the need to alert me to everything that he sees or hears.
trisha says
Thanks to all of you for your comments. It’s so interesting to read of the similar experiences with dogs who seem
more comfortable in a crate than out. I know there are many who are the opposite (can dogs be claustraphobic? If so, how would we know?!), but dogs like Will and Stephanie’s Standard, Crystal’s dog, Shirley Lab-X and Laurie’s rescue all seem so much better off without the over stimulation that seems to go along with being loose.
Today is crazy crazy.. working on my APDT speeches (hope you’re coming!) and on the new book coming out from Dogwise soon (Tales of Two Species, a collection of my Bark columns). I’ll write more tomorrow, lots more news to impart.
(And Ed, thanks so much for asking me to Cleveland previously. (Two years ago? Three? Five? I’m terrible about time!). It was great to be there, hope things are going well. Keep up all the great work on using positive reinforcement.
Deborah says
I completely agree with you as well. My first dog was a high energy border collie, and we used responsible crating with him in addition to exercise and monitoring his food. I crate all my dogs, and they’re very well adjusted. Interestingly, I have a reactive Belgian Sheepdog now, who absolutely screamed in his crate in the van as we traveled and trained (he is an accomplished agility dog and we’re moving into tracking). Because his crate is right behind my seat, his increasingly bad vocal behavior put my nerves on edge. I bought a bark collar for him, and used it after I learned how to responsibly use an electronic collar for trianing field/hunting retrieving with my Golden Retriever. After one lesson, he knew his barking caused the correction, and it has completely eliminated his barking in the crate in the van. I don’t even need a dumby collar on him. Interestingly enough, he now lays quietly in the van, relaxed until it’s his turn to train. This was NEVER the case before. I’m now convinced the barking was his form of guarding the van and the space around it, which he viewed as his responsibility. Now that I have taken that responsibility away from him, he’s relaxed. I wish I would have done this years ago, because he’s a much more calm, happy dog in the van — and so am I!
Crystal says
I do wish I could go to the APDT conference! Unfortunately, my (social work) job doesn’t seem to think it’s related to the functions of my job! Ha 🙂
However! I am excited that I will be going to the seminar on aggressive dogs with you in Iowa in December!
Lisa says
When Lulu (the boston) was an only, she didn’t need to be crated. She voluntarily went upstairs to her nighttime soft crate (she never chewed either, sigh) and slept. Looking back, she always was in the crate when we arrived home, but we just figured it was a comfy spot, secluded and quiet.
FF to the arrival of Phoebe (another BT) and puppy Phoebe and now 2 year old Phoebe is the opposite. The house was her place once we were gone and she had select things she would destroy (we thought she was giving us a fashion statement about our decorating practices…). Early on, we crated Phoebe and left Lulu out. Mistake. That made Lulu very nervous, as though she was responsible for Phoebe’s well being/behavior. The clue was a nice little poop left in the house as though something scared the crap out of her -literally. This from a dog who can hold it 12 hours at a time and is about as much a neat-nik as a dog can be. So we crated them both and voila. It worked. They like crates. They go into the crate many times a day, sometimes to sleep, other times to see what’s up (like did I wash the blankets already).
Crates are one of those good things. If I had a crate for me, I think I might use it these days leading up to the election. Especially if it was stocked with chocolate and some good wine and no TV.
Dena Norton says
My English Springer Spaniel, Ford, has the run of the house. But he frequently goes into his crate in the living room to take a nap.
My previous Springer, Izzee, chose the area under the couch as her favorite den when she was a little puppy, and grunted her way under there for at least 2 months after she had grown too big to fit. She finally gave up, and used her crate, instead, but I think she always missed her favorite resting spot.
Judy says
Crate training is a valuable tool. When Westly (papillon) had a disc injury over a year ago he needed crate rest to heal. I was so glad all our dogs were carefully crate trained. If he had not rested quietly, undisturbed by our other 2 dogs, he might not have regained the full use of his back legs. He is fully recovered and back to normal. Our dogs also view their crates as safe havens when we are away from home and while traveling in our van. I think some people confuse judicious use of crating with dogs that live in very confined spaces for very long periods and therefore condemn all crate use.
Mary M says
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Christy says
I’m interested in the use of Shen Calmer and cooling foods. We’ve just started my dog on the herb combination and am doing ‘self-control’ work with her as well. I’d like to add some ‘cooling foods’ to her diet, and hope to get some suggestions. Thanks!
Christy
Kat says
I’m convinced that Ranger is one of those claustrophobic dogs. We tried crate training him in the beginning but he soon convinced us that it wasn’t for him. He would pace endlessly–two steps forward turn two steps back. This would begin the moment we put him in (using high value treats) and closed the door. Like most things we ask of him he was willing but the closing of the door was just too much. He now has an outdoor kennel of about 700 square feet that he loves. This is his safe place when he’s had too much. He has a dogloo doghouse in the kennel and an old worn couch. To the best of our knowledge he’s only ever used the dogloo to bury treats for later. Interestingly, he’s happy as a clam in the back of the car which isn’t much larger than his crate. The biggest difference I see between his crate and his space in the car is a higher ceiling and windows. When we’ve traveled with him to visit my folks on the other side of the state when he’s had enough he goes in the back of the car as his safe space. I suppose we could find a different style of crate, perhaps one that’s more like a cage than a den so he could see out and try that but the kennel works for us.
Cindy Adler says
I just started my rescue on Shen Calmer and a cooling raw diet. I was so pleased to see you using both as well. Just wondering how long it may take to see positive affects and hope you discuss both in greater detail on a future blog. I am sure we are all curious. Love your books and insights.
David says
Dr. McConnell, how long is too long to crate a dog? I am fostering a young, energetic doberman male who tears up the house when I’m gone at work. However, I’m gone 11 hours a day, sometimes more. I think that is too long to be locked up in a crate. The Rescue thinks otherwise.