Weimaraner Addict

I am a new owner of a Weim, I researched the breed before I bought him from the breeders and I was aware of the seperation anxiety and loneliness that they can have. His name is Eli, and he's 6 months old. I started crate training with him, but he absolutley HATES it! I work 7-3 and he's only in the crate from those hours. Last Friday, he managed to escape his crate and destroyed my bedroom with poop, pee, and carpet, it was terrible. lol. I know its not his fault, but how do I get through to him that I will be coming back and theres no reason for him to go crazy everytime I step out? When hes in his crate he barks and howls relentlessly, he trys to claw his way through the crate doors which is wired. He has hurt his nose and cut his paw trying to escape. The barking isnt what concerns me as much as him hurting himself. I have tried everything from covering his crate up to giving him treats. I have worked with him by putting him in the crate walking out for 5 minutes then coming back and repeate the process with extended time. Nothing seems to help. My last resort would be taking him to the vet and maybe putting him on medication, but he's just a pup and I really feel that this problem can be resolved without medication. Any suggestions and help would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Zac Leka

Do you come back during lunch hour or anything to check on him/let him out to potty? 6 months seems pretty young to expect him to go from 7-3, that's still 8 hours...We set up a schedule when we got Ronix as a puppy, and are now repeating that same schedule with our new puppy. We never had accidents with Ronix during the day, and we have yet to have an accident with Vienna, the new pup. We basically would take our lunches 2-2 1/2 hours apart to go home and let the pup out. We stepped down to only one potty break once Ronix was about 5 months and he did great with that.

We also never crated Ronix during the day (lucky) but we are crating our Vienna until she is bigger. We put a kong in with her and she always climbs right in and usually doesn't even know we are leaving because she is happily occupied...could you try something like this? Maybe with a high quality treat/favorite snack?

I know others will have more suggestions soon, especially for the SA as I haven't dealt with that (yet)...

Good luck!

I'm not trying to pawn you off, but there are several threads on here about this type of issue along with many suggestions as to what to do. I would recommend you surfing the site. IMO-that is too long for a 6 month old puppy to be in the crate without being let out to potty and be exercised/stimulated. One of the biggest things that helped me before I put Britt in the crate was I made sure she was pooped with exercise before I put her in there. I had to be to work at 8 AM many mornings and that would mean I was in the neighborhood exercising her in the dark 6:00 AM hours. 7:00 AM is early and the exercise will begin even earlier for you, but that is what I suggest.

This is not Separation Anxiety. This is a 6 month old weimaraner puppy being crated too long with nothing to do in the meantime. I think even with treats and kongs and etc. you may still have a problem if there isn't sufficient exercise before you put him in there and a break sometime in the middle. Read up on all of the hints for successful crate training and practicing the NILF philosophy. If he sleeps in bed with you or gets on the furniture, you may need to stop this until you can get a handle on the crate behavior. Again-all my opinion.

I have posted this before
but I have had a lot of luck with daycare
She drains a great deal of energy while there.
You don't have to send them every day
just a couple times a week.

Welcome! I agree with the previous posts...8 hours is way too long in a crate for a six month old weim puppy. The behavior you are describing is a bored weim, not separation anxiety. It will be helpful for Eli to get out of the crate at least once during that 8 hour period...not sure if you are able to come home at lunch or hire a dog walker or get a friend/neighbor to come let him out, but one of these options would most likely greatly reduce the behaviors you are seeing. Dog daycare is also a great option as long as you can find a facility that you are comfortable with. I am an early-morning-in-the-dark-walker with my dog so that she gets the exercise she needs before I leave for work. Good luck and please post pictures of Eli!

Hey Zac. I wanted to see if you were having any luck with your weim?

This is a tough one. We crated our Weim when we first got him and the experienced the same thing. We would come home and the crate would be soaked with slobber and his nose all bloodied up. Luckily when we gave him run of the house he did very well and now we don't even have a crate up.

When we take him to my moms house (5 hours away) we crate him and our cocker and he does very well. Sometimes he does throw up (nerves) but nothing like when we crated him at home.

I know this didn't help much but the crating thing is hard. You might want to position the crate so he can look out of a window.