Many on this list have had success with crating, however, the only time I crate is for transporting. As a baby and up to the time that he finally stopped chewing, I kept my Chi in an x pen. Its large enough to hold his tent (where he sleeps), food and water bowls, his litter box, and some toys. It has become his safe place, where he goes and is comfortable when small children are visiting or the cleaning lady comes. Now that he can be trusted, when I have to leave, he has free roam of the den but not the rest of the house. At night, he still sleeps in his tent, which is in the x pen. As I said it is his safe place and he has never shown anxiety (he is now 21 months old). Bless you for saving that little girl. Gloria In a message dated 9/7/2010 2:53:35 P.M. Central Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
Hi, my name is Kasia, I live in Houston, TX and I've just started fostering 18 mo chihuahua girl Tiki. She is HW+ and she will start her treatment in about a week. Keep your fingers crossed! She is a really nice girl, has already adjusted very well to my household (me, my husband and our 4.5 yo petite sheltie Spyker). I'm actually very surprised how well she is doing knowing that she comes from hoarding type environment (she even didn't know her own name - Rosa, she didn't know how to take treats from a hand etc). Just after few days she makes progress in leaps and bounds. We have two issues though: submissive/excitable urination and separation distress. I'm working with her on the issues (I'm a professional dog trainer/behavior counselor), but maybe there are some things that worked well for your chis as far as these problems are concerned? I use doggie diapers and panties as a temporary management solution (my husband gets really ticked about the peeing), but she sneaks out of them all the time, although the size seems to fit? I'm quite puzzled here. She can't be trusted around the house yet (she tries to climb on furniture and such), so for her own safety I keep her crated when I'm put and about. We've made a lot of progress with crate training, but she still suffers when I leave. The issue is that my sheltie is my service dog, so he goes with me almost everywhere (excluding some clients homes etc.). She does much better when he stays with her, even if she's crated. It doesn't surprise me because she is used to live with a pack of dogs. I've been thinking to get her one of these toys with a heartbeat sound - has any of you had some success with it? I'm home for most of the time, so it's not really bad for her, but I'm afraid that being so upset can be dangerous for her during her HW treatment. I feel for her, I know chis are meant to be companion dogs and I can see how she thrives when she is around me and my dog. Maybe a foster home with more doggie brothers and sisters would be more optimal for her, but nobody else ste pped up to rescue her (she was scheduled to be pts the afternoon I decided to take her home). So if anyone has been there and has some ideas how to ease the transition for her while I'm working with her I'd really appreciate (I've already incorporated or will use the well known solutions like DAP, flower essences, music etc). Thank you so much! Kasia Tiki the chi and Spyker the sheltie
