Well, we are now at the end of our first week without the crate, and I have to say...I think we actually have progress! Because we got rid of the crate, the following has happened:1.) I am not stressed out and angry all the time
2.) Kioko is no longer skittish around me because I am not angry with her constantly
3.) Kioko has finally found a "place" in the house to call her own, and she readily settles in to nap, snack on a chew toy, or just "be" there. The crate was never going to be that place for her, and because she had no place, she didn't feel comfortable...and she never settled or napped or played with complete security inside our home before.
4.) We have had only one urine accident and two poop accidents in the last four days. Everything else has been a successful outside potty. This is having a HUGE effect. Because she's not going in the crate all the time (where we could not see her doing it or "catch" her in the act), she rarely had anything left for the positive feedback an outside potty would bring. Now...she's out there going in the appropriate spot and receiving treats and praise each time she goes. We've gone from a dog who would plant her feet and refuse to go out the front door without being carried to a dog who gets EXCITED when I open the door to take her out.
It's so wonderful! We love this little dog. Truly, we do. The whole family is (and has been from day one) willing to do whatever we need to to help her learn, but we were beginning to think she just wouldn't ever get there. Now I know that she can. I have hope back that one day our Kioko will be reliably house-trained...that she's not defective and that we are not bad dog parents.
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And that...brings me to the stuff that upset me today and inspired the title of this post...
I am SO glad we looked beyond the so-called expert opinions on the right way to train a dog and ditched that horrid box. I have no doubt that crate training works wonders for some dogs and that it CAN work for most dogs. It does NOT work for every dog. In fact, there is a whole category of puppies and dogs for whom crate training will most likely never work at all. But the dog people who publish books and articles and run puppy classes will never admit that to you.
I had a nerve hit today. A woman in one of my online beagle groups has a rescue beagle that she and her husband just adopted. This dog (we'll call her "Marge") is soiling her pen regularly, and the new owner was at a loss for what to do. As ALWAYS...the responses were a mix of the following:
1.) Your crate is too big...because NO DOG will eliminate where it sleeps if the crate is small enough.
2.) You're not taking her out often enough...because NO DOG will eliminate where it sleeps if you take them out often enough.
3.) She must be sick...because NO DOG will eliminate where it sleeps if the crate is the right size and you take them out often enough unless they are sick.
AAAAAAH!!!!!!!!
WHY? Why is no one out there talking about dogs like Kioko and Marge? I am very fortunate to have found a small and personal group of beagle people in another part of the internet where the members have supported me and bolstered my confidence throughout my ordeal with Kioko. But, you know what? That isn't enough. Not everyone with this issue is going to come over to our group and join up. Why aren't there books about how to train these dogs? Why aren't there puppy classes for shelter dog owners that address crate soiling? Why is the pat response from the dog community one of criticism of the owner? Marge's new owner had done EVERYTHING right. She was monitoring the times and amounts that Marge was drinking/eating. She had a clean, comfortable, and appropriately small space for Marge to "crate" in. Marge was checked out and given a clean bill of health from the family veterinarian (Marge is not an "only dog," either. The family has raised two other rescue dogs, as well). Marge just simply is not a candidate for crate training. She spent a lengthy period in her first home confined with no choice but to eliminate in her crate. Time spent without individual guidance during her time with the shelter just exascerbated this problem.
Dog owners who buy or adopt dogs like this are left alone and bewildered...wondering why they can't do it right...what they're doing wrong...devastated that they have this dog they want to love...but can't because they're too exhausted from all the poop and the stress. And all the dog community has to offer is, "well, you're doing something wrong...because ALL dogs will crate train." The simple truth is...no. Not all dogs will crate train. Some have crate stress. Some have lost the den instinct. Some just hate confined spaces. Whatever the case, if you end up with a dog that chronically soils his or her crate...you are not alone. Your dog is not a hopeless case, and you are not a bad owner.
Don't you worry.
Mrs. Nix, armed with her supremely uneducated-but never incorrect opinions, will get through this just fine. Kioko will too. Once we've succeeded, I will send all those dog experts a neatly-bundled pile of poo that,--finally-- I did NOT have to scrape, while weeping, from the bottom of my beagle's crate. And there you have it.
God bless the beagle owners who refuse to give up on their little hounds.
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