To Those Of You With Dogs...

[providerandmomof4]

Lately I've felt that my dogs are really becoming a source of a lot of headaches and extra work! One is a German Shepherd and the other is a small mixed lab breed. They are constantly barking, playing with each other, knocking into the kids, and tracking in dirt/mud. The hair is ridiculous...I'm constantly cleaning up after these dogs and now the little one has decided he wants to scale the outside fence, hence..no leaving him outside where I feel he should be during dc hours...Thinking of maybe chaining him up during the day because I can't afford a pin or dog run presently...Anyone have any suggestions? I know that my family would freak out if I mentioned getting rid of one (the little fence scaler )

[MrsSteinel'sHouse]

I have 3 dogs, wouldn't have been my choice. They are blocked so that they can't get into my childcare area. So, I have a gate that keeps them from the kitchen during childcare hours. They have a fenced in area that is seperate from where the kids would ever be. My kids interact with them. They are very good dogs but they are big... except for the beagle. It is just too much with dogs and kids together So that is how I handled it. Could your dogs be in part of your house?

[Nickel]

Honestly, I have 7 dogs and 2 cats. It is a lot of work keeping the dust and dog hair under control. i am up every morning vacuuming and dusting. BUT my dogs are only allowed in the living room, kitchen, and dining area. No bedrooms. My daycare area is also in the living room, kitchen, dining area, and a bedroom. And my dogs are large breed dogs. The smallest is 45 lbs and a mutt. I have a gsd/golden retreiver mix, siberian husy, lab/husky mixes, a beagle mix. So they bark and they bark LOUD!!!

What I do is crate them in my bedroom during the day. I have 3 large crates and 1 medium size crate. I actually emptied my walk in closet and moved the shelving out into my garage and I can fit three crates in there. The other crate is in the bedroom area. In the morning, I block off the kitchen so I can feed the dogs and let them out while I clean the living area. About 20 min before my first dck arrives I put them in the crates and turn on the radio. This way they can't hear the doorbell or the dcf. I then sweep and clean the kitchen/dining area. They are crated intill nap time. Once all the dck are sleeping in the nap room / bedroom, I close that door, once again close off the kitchen from the living area (I don't want to have to vaccuum again) and let them out into the yard. The get to stay outside, come in and drink water, and then go back into the crate. After the last dck leaves for the day, they come out and join the family.

I strongly advice against chainging out your dog. He can develop digging problems, barking problems, and a whole mess of separation anxiety and other issues. For me, I know my dogs would never bite someone, but I do know they are animals. So I don't allow them to mingle with each other. I would feel horrible if one of them stepped on or pushed over a dck. And I know that very well could happen

I also built a fence around my outside play area. The dogs and children are never outside at the same time, but it does keep the play area sanitary and I don't have to worry about someone accidentally stepping on poop! And it keeps the dogs from chewing up the toys. I love it and wish I had done it earlier!

I know that pens can be expensive, but you may be able to find something used on facebook swap groups or craigslist. I highly recommend getting the largest crate you can get for your size dog. If they are going to be spending hours in the crate, it needs to be large enough that the dog can stand straight up without hitting his head off the ceiling of the crate. It should also be long enough and wide enough for the dog to turn around and to lay down without being forced into a fetal position.

My dogs cause a lot of strife for my business. And I absolutely hated having all of them before I figured out this system. They would bark nonstop when ever someone would jsut walk by the house. and if the doorbell rang, forget it. So having them in theback of the house with the radio completely solved the barking issue. If your dogs aren't destructive, you could just keep them in a bathroom or bedroom during the day. But mine ARE destructive. They will chew up my carpet, try to dig out of the room and eat a million and one items before I would be able to stop them. They have ALL been crated since they were puppies and only one I would trust out of the crate. but I still put him away when my dck are here.

I hope that helps

[providerandmomof4]

I have 3 dogs, wouldn't have been my choice. They are blocked so that they can't get into my childcare area. So, I have a gate that keeps them from the kitchen during childcare hours. They have a fenced in area that is seperate from where the kids would ever be. My kids interact with them. They are very good dogs but they are big... except for the beagle. It is just too much with dogs and kids together So that is how I handled it. Could your dogs be in part of your house?

Thanks for the suggestions! I have tried the gate and my Shepherd just jumps it. He wants to be in the mix of things so bad. I've tried to keep them in the basement but invariably my son lets them out....you know though I haven't tried gating the stairway going up the stairs. I don't think they could jump the gate with the stairs going up? I'll try it. I also want to fence off part of the yard separate from where the kids play. I don't know...I told my dh that I have enough to worry about without throwing the dogs into the mix. He doesn't want to spend the money for extra fencing...cheap...cheap..cheap

[providerandmomof4]

Honestly, I have 7 dogs and 2 cats. It is a lot of work keeping the dust and dog hair under control. i am up every morning vacuuming and dusting. BUT my dogs are only allowed in the living room, kitchen, and dining area. No bedrooms. My daycare area is also in the living room, kitchen, dining area, and a bedroom. And my dogs are large breed dogs. The smallest is 45 lbs and a mutt. I have a gsd/golden retreiver mix, siberian husy, lab/husky mixes, a beagle mix. So they bark and they bark LOUD!!!

What I do is crate them in my bedroom during the day. I have 3 large crates and 1 medium size crate. I actually emptied my walk in closet and moved the shelving out into my garage and I can fit three crates in there. The other crate is in the bedroom area. In the morning, I block off the kitchen so I can feed the dogs and let them out while I clean the living area. About 20 min before my first dck arrives I put them in the crates and turn on the radio. This way they can't hear the doorbell or the dcf. I then sweep and clean the kitchen/dining area. They are crated intill nap time. Once all the dck are sleeping in the nap room / bedroom, I close that door, once again close off the kitchen from the living area (I don't want to have to vaccuum again) and let them out into the yard. The get to stay outside, come in and drink water, and then go back into the crate. After the last dck leaves for the day, they come out and join the family.

I strongly advice against chainging out your dog. He can develop digging problems, barking problems, and a whole mess of separation anxiety and other issues. For me, I know my dogs would never bite someone, but I do know they are animals. So I don't allow them to mingle with each other. I would feel horrible if one of them stepped on or pushed over a dck. And I know that very well could happen

I also built a fence around my outside play area. The dogs and children are never outside at the same time, but it does keep the play area sanitary and I don't have to worry about someone accidentally stepping on poop! And it keeps the dogs from chewing up the toys. I love it and wish I had done it earlier!

I know that pens can be expensive, but you may be able to find something used on facebook swap groups or craigslist. I highly recommend getting the largest crate you can get for your size dog. If they are going to be spending hours in the crate, it needs to be large enough that the dog can stand straight up without hitting his head off the ceiling of the crate. It should also be long enough and wide enough for the dog to turn around and to lay down without being forced into a fetal position.

My dogs cause a lot of strife for my business. And I absolutely hated having all of them before I figured out this system. They would bark nonstop when ever someone would jsut walk by the house. and if the doorbell rang, forget it. So having them in theback of the house with the radio completely solved the barking issue. If your dogs aren't destructive, you could just keep them in a bathroom or bedroom during the day. But mine ARE destructive. They will chew up my carpet, try to dig out of the room and eat a million and one items before I would be able to stop them. They have ALL been crated since they were puppies and only one I would trust out of the crate. but I still put him away when my dck are here.

I hope that helps

Oh my You really know what I mean..! I like the crate idea but I don't know if they would go for it since they haven't ever been in a crate...My Shepherd is 8yrs....now the other is only about 1yr, so maybe he'd go for it. I'll have to check into getting one at least for the pup....

[cheerfuldom]

I only have one small dog that is kennel trained. He goes in when the daycare kids go out and vice versa. I wouldnt keep a dog that was causing issues with my business....thats just me though. Go ahead and flame if you must but if it was getting out of control, I would consider rehoming.