Crating Training Gunther

[SquishiePugs]

I'm lucky in that Gunther is very happy in his crate and does great in it overnight. There are times during the past 2 days where we couldn't keep an eye on him, and he'd happily sit in his crate or sleep while we were busy.

I am off of work for these two weeks to help get Gunther settled and Russell acquainted with his new brother (plus teach them to walk together, get on a good potty schedule, etc, etc!) Should I stick to a crating schedule even while I'm home to get Gunther familiar with how life will be while I'm at work? I go into the office Mon-Wed, so he will need to be crated those days while I am not home. His schedule would look like this:

6:30am Breakfast in crate then out for potty - out to play until both DH and I leave for work. When we leave, he goes to his crate.
10:00am Dog walker takes him out for potty and play time. Back to crate.
2:00pm Dog walker takes out both Russell and Gunther for potty. Back to crate.
5:30pm Home from work and out for potty - stays out for rest of evening until bed.
8:00pm Walk with Russell and Gunther for potty
10:30pm Last potty for the night. In crate for the night.

Now Thurs - Sun I am home, so he won't need to be crated while I am around. Would it make sense to start on this schedule during these two weeks to get him on a routine? In addition, Russell stays gated in the kitchen while unattended Mon-Wed. Should Gunther's crate also go in the kitchen so they have each other's company?

Sorry for all the questions!!

[Donnag]

Sounds like you've got a good schedule going. I would keep him on this for both Thursday and Friday then the weekend is a free for all,
this is what I did when I was training Viv.
I would also leave the crate in the kitchen with Russell, eventually you probably could leave him in the kitchen un-crated with Russell.