# Crate, X Pen, or Both?



## buddhabear (Aug 24, 2010)

Hi everyone,

My husband and I brought home our Vizsla puppy Buddha a little over a week ago - he's 9 weeks old and absolutely adorable  We did quite a bit of research on the breed before we got him, and I've also really enjoyed reading the supportive posts on this forum! What a great resource for Vizsla owners.

Now for my first question: My husband and I both work (I'm a teacher so I have a good amount of days off but work regular hours during the school year) so Buddha will be by himself for 3 to 4 hours twice a day during the school year. I did arrange my schedule to come home midday to feed/walk/play with him. The past week I've been trying to get him used to the crate. He sleeps through the night in it no problem, will eat in there, and go in quickly if I put treats in there but DOES NOT like being left in there when I leave. He has never had an accident, but the several times I've left him he throws up and seems exhausted when I get home. However, when we've left him in his X-Pen (4 by 4 feet with 5 foot tall walls) he sleeps and seems much calmer. Should we keep conditioning him to stay in his crate during the day or should we let him stay in his X-Pen if he seems more comfortable? I realize eventually we may need to put a roof on it for his own safety. I know that V's can be prone to separation anxiety so I want to do what is best for him without worrying myself sick in the process!

I would greatly appreciate any advice! Thanks in advance.


----------



## fiona long (Feb 15, 2010)

i kept bailey in the crate during night and in a small space blocked off with a baby gate during day, i felt it was better for her not sure why now but i do remember her having a wee flaky getting locked in crate during day and she also seemed much calmer!


----------



## Mercutio (Jan 18, 2010)

If you are just trying to keep him safe and secure (and the rest of your house safe from chewing!) whilst you're out then I reckon the pen would be OK, especially if he seems happier and calmer in there. I assume you give him some toys / kongs / things to chew on whilst he's in either the crate or pen.

You might even find that he will stay in the pen even when he is big enough to get out. We have a small fence that our fully grown V could easily jump over (its about 4 foot high) but he never does - even when he is desperate to get to us or whatever is on the outside. He just thinks of it as a barrier. Having said that, other members of this forum have needed serious amounts of fencing to keep their dog in so I think we're just a bit lucky.


----------



## buddhabear (Aug 24, 2010)

We do leave him a bed to sleep on, a water dish, some chew toys and also a kong so he can stay occupied. When I've left him during the day in the crate I also left him a kong but he was gets much more upset. I just don't want him to develop separation anxiety!


----------



## Jupiter4Jackie (Nov 17, 2010)

We use both... We have the exercise pen attached to the crate and leave the crate open. The divider in the crate we used to attached on top of the crate's opening to prevent Henry from jumping on top of the crate and OVER the pen (we learned he can escape that way if you don't)... We don't keep the pen fully open... We keep it open enough to keep a pad/padholder in front of the crate. Works great he goes on the pad never in his crate (if gone 4-5 hours he will tear the pad)... Henry is 4 months.


----------



## Jupiter4Jackie (Nov 17, 2010)

Oh, at night he sleeps in his bed and wakes us up when he needs to go potty and we take him out. He holds it for 6 hours or so now!!!!!


----------



## CMPowers (Nov 22, 2010)

I have a 4 month old V and he stays in the crate for 3 - 4 hours at a time. My husband and I are both teachers and we have a dog walker that lets him out at 10 and at 1. They play with him for 45 minutes when they let him out and take him on a long walk. He does not have separation anxiety at all... he is happy as can be. He absolutely hated the crate when we first got it but now he will actually go into it at night. He doesn't go in it during the day still but that is because we have 4 other dog beds lying around the house and he would rather be lying right next to us (or on the couch or on our lap). I think you are fine with the crate... the x-pen is good too but my V is now jumping over baby gates at 4 months so you might want to get him used to the crate for the long term... even if you just start him in it for 1 or 2 hours at a time and then show him that you will be coming back .. ever time!


----------

