puppy scare....

[radfringe]

we had a bit of a scare yesterday morning - my partner had put Tovah in her crate while she took the greyhounds out to do their morning business

when she came back into the house - Tovah was screaming - Tovah had managed to hook her teeth around one of the horizontal bars on the crate and couldn't get unhooked. Tovah was ok, but there was nothing my partner could do at that time of the morning to "puppy-proof" the crate. So she found a large travel crate, gathered up some food, toys, a blankey and took Tovah to work with her.

She works at a small law firm, and it's not all that unusual for someone to bring in a cat, kitten or their dog because of a middle of the day vet visit or grooming appointment. Tovah was fine, and got lots of attention.

so last night we ran over to the lumber yard, bought some plywood and spent about 2 hours cutting, fitting and attaching the plywood to the inside of the crate to block off the bars. the inside of the crate is 4ft tall, we only put the plywood about 1/2 that height - high enough to block off the bars within teeth-range.

we put Tovah in there and left her for about 15-20 minutes... ohhh the pitiful cries, but she didn't get hooked on anything....

my partner will come home at noon today to check on her, and will do so for the remainder of the week. Worse case scenario is Tovah will go to work with her. It's my partner's last week, the law partnership is dissolving so she's out of a job.

anyone know of a crate with smaller openings between the wire mesh so she can't stick her head/mouth through and get hung up? will probably be a moot concern in a couple of weeks as Tovah grows bigger... but still, puppies can get themselves into the most unlikely trouble

[Mythsaje]

1. You might consider investing in one of those canvas

travel crates instead. :shrug: Not sure if it's an ideal solution, but it might work for the next few weeks.

We just got a new kitten about a month ago and we've had to go to great lengths to keep him safe from our dogs until he established the fact that he wasn't to be messed with. We lock him in a large dog crate during the day while we're gone and we separate the dogs so they don't get too riled up together anyway. One has epilepsy and he has to be separated from the most aggressive of our beasts so he doesn't get attacked in the midst of it. He stays in our bedroom with our min-pin and the other cat. The crate with the kitten is kept in the same room because they're the least likely to mess with the crate. One of our other dogs can open it from the outside and we'd rather THAT not happen.

Pets can be as much of a challenge sometimes as kids can...though my wife refuses to believe me when I say that. LOL

[radfringe]

3. found something called crate bumpers

large softsided pads that fit on the sides of the crate. I have some heavy duty vinyl upholstory material, might make a set of those. I know she'll chew on it, but it will take quite awhile to do serious damage to it..

the ones I found on-line only cover three sides, we'll need 4-sided one to also cover the door...

[xchrom]

2. kicking for tovah!

[malta blue]

4. Those darn pups!

I don't have any suggestions - I saw those crate bumpers online last night....I think I have to invest in a crate for Egypt. She darted out the door when I got home from work last night and I spend about 40 minutes running, crawling and falling though the woods chasing after that little devil.

She also decided that my sunroom was the perfect bathroom (even though she was supposed to be housetrained - but that;s no biggie) and found Little MB's flip flops to be decidedly appealing. So it is a crate for her....

Today she spends the day in a bathroom until I can pick up a crate. Wish me luck! :hi:

:hug: for you and Tovah. Do you think she can chew through the plywood? I had a cat door in my old house leading to the mudroom and the realtor stuck my dog in the mudroom during a showing once and forgot about her. Luna chewed the door right off...she knew she was not supposed to be in the mudroom and needed to get out. There was wood EVERYWHERE. I would double check to be sure she can get stuck like that.

Good Luck!!!!

[KatyaR]

5. Poor Tovah--she must have been really scared--not to mention you.

A couple of months after I adopted my Boston Terrier, Maggie, (she was about 4 at the time), I came home to find her meeting me at the door instead of being in her heavy-duty wire crate. The crate door was still locked, and I couldn't figure out how she had gotten out. Turns out she was able to pull the top away from the side and crawl out through the 4 or 5-inch space. She's 25 POUNDS! Scared the crap out of me--I was afraid she would get caught up and strangle herself or puncture her abdomen or something. So no more crate for her--she stays out now, and she does just fine. But with a puppy it's different, I know.

Good luck with your baby--she's beautiful.

[radfringe]

6. sigh of relief

she made it through first half of day AOK in the crate.. my partner ran home at lunch to check on her..

Tovah is fine, happily munching on a cookie.

hopefully the next couple of hours will go as well until I get home from work...

some signs of chewing on the wood - but tonight I'll make those pads and put them in the crate

[flvegan]

7. Pillows and zip ties or an infants playpen

Line the inside of the crate with older/unused pillows. Zip tie them on the outside through the surface of the fabric. Puppy bumpers.

We use one of those mesh and nylon playpens when we have pups. You can usually find a decent one at the Salvation army.

[radfringe]

8. I have some vinyl upholstory material

going to make the bumpers tonight...

fortunately or unfortunately (depending on how you look at it) someone will be home with Tovah next week - my partner's job ends this Friday, so she'll be joining the ranks of the unemployed.....unless another job she interviewed for earlier last week comes through...