I would always go to the dog parks and people would ask me if Luna was crate trained, and I would feel super judged when I said "No..." Everyone acts like crating your dog is the only way to live your life, and if you don't you are just a horrible dog parent. Well let me tell you, it is easier said than done! Putting your dog in a crate was supposed to help potty train them, and keep them out of trouble. From the day we got her, we tried to put Luna in one of those fabric foldable crates with the zippers. Luna HATED that thing. She would cry and cry and cry; I think the experience was torturing Drew and I more than it was actually torturing the dog! We decided that the crate thing just wasn't our thing, so we let the poor tortured pup out of the "death chamber."
Months went by and little Luna was doing great. When Drew and I would go to work we would leave her in our living room area with a baby gate separating her from the bed rooms. She would sleep most of the day, never have an accident, play with her toys, and not get into too much trouble. Then when she was about 9 months old she started destroying all of her fabric toys (basically anything that wasn't a kong). Luna would rip these toys apart and then just swallow pieces of them whole. It got to the point where she would have trouble "pushing" the toy out of her bum, so obviously Mama has to pull it out of her (definitely not the funnest part of being a mom). Clearly this was not a very good practice, and we couldn't let it progress. Drew and I decided that it was her best health interest (and ours) to throw away any "fabric-y" toy that she could tear pieces off of.
The day we threw her toys away, we went to work like any other day, and I came to check on her on my lunch break. Except it wasn't a normal lunch break check up. I came home to a DESTROYED carpet. I panicked. I called Drew up, and sent him a picture of the carpet. A million and a half things were going through my head. How are we going to fix this? How much is it gonna cost? What are we going to do with Luna? Etc, etc, etc... *Cue meltdown* Drew tells me there's nothing we can do about it right now, and to just put a piece of furniture over it, but the thing is WE DON'T HAVE ANY FURNITURE BIG ENOUGH TO COVER THE DAMN THING! So I put a chest on top of the massacre hoping it would deter Luna from attacking it more. I go back to work for another 4 hours. I come home and what's there? MORE FREAKING DESTRUCTION! I couldn't believe it! how is that even possible?? That moment I put my fist down, enough is enough, Luna needs to be in a crate for her own health. Sorry, Charlie, we tried giving you freedom and clearly you can't handle it.
That night we buy a $190 metal crate (the XXL one that Drew could get in and turn around in). We are freaking out, the last time we got her a crate and tried to get her in it she would scream like we were killing her first born child in front of her (vivid, but accurate). Freaking out aside, we know we have to do this and we have no choice. We set up the crate and try to get her used to it by "baiting" her to go in by giving her treats. She was liking it. She would even go in there without us telling her! Luna loved it! We were sooooo relieved. What a huge turn around from the first time we tried to get her in that crate. I think that a lot of it has to do with her maturity. When we first tried it she was young and was already in shock from being away from her mama and siblings. But now she is more mature, and can handle it a bit more. I also think that it has to do with the type of crate we bought. This metal crate doesn't have any "blind spots," she can see right through in every angle. Needless to say, Luna is a happy girl having her own space to herself, and Mom and Dad are happy parents with a less destructive pup.
Moral of the story? If you want to save money on damages, crate your furry friend from the beginning. I know it sucks, but you really don't want to pay for medical bills, or carpet replacements. Speaking of carpet, you may be wondering what we did with that... We decided to just throw a rug ($35 from Walmart) over it. A good DIY carpet fixing :)
Months went by and little Luna was doing great. When Drew and I would go to work we would leave her in our living room area with a baby gate separating her from the bed rooms. She would sleep most of the day, never have an accident, play with her toys, and not get into too much trouble. Then when she was about 9 months old she started destroying all of her fabric toys (basically anything that wasn't a kong). Luna would rip these toys apart and then just swallow pieces of them whole. It got to the point where she would have trouble "pushing" the toy out of her bum, so obviously Mama has to pull it out of her (definitely not the funnest part of being a mom). Clearly this was not a very good practice, and we couldn't let it progress. Drew and I decided that it was her best health interest (and ours) to throw away any "fabric-y" toy that she could tear pieces off of.
The day we threw her toys away, we went to work like any other day, and I came to check on her on my lunch break. Except it wasn't a normal lunch break check up. I came home to a DESTROYED carpet. I panicked. I called Drew up, and sent him a picture of the carpet. A million and a half things were going through my head. How are we going to fix this? How much is it gonna cost? What are we going to do with Luna? Etc, etc, etc... *Cue meltdown* Drew tells me there's nothing we can do about it right now, and to just put a piece of furniture over it, but the thing is WE DON'T HAVE ANY FURNITURE BIG ENOUGH TO COVER THE DAMN THING! So I put a chest on top of the massacre hoping it would deter Luna from attacking it more. I go back to work for another 4 hours. I come home and what's there? MORE FREAKING DESTRUCTION! I couldn't believe it! how is that even possible?? That moment I put my fist down, enough is enough, Luna needs to be in a crate for her own health. Sorry, Charlie, we tried giving you freedom and clearly you can't handle it.
That night we buy a $190 metal crate (the XXL one that Drew could get in and turn around in). We are freaking out, the last time we got her a crate and tried to get her in it she would scream like we were killing her first born child in front of her (vivid, but accurate). Freaking out aside, we know we have to do this and we have no choice. We set up the crate and try to get her used to it by "baiting" her to go in by giving her treats. She was liking it. She would even go in there without us telling her! Luna loved it! We were sooooo relieved. What a huge turn around from the first time we tried to get her in that crate. I think that a lot of it has to do with her maturity. When we first tried it she was young and was already in shock from being away from her mama and siblings. But now she is more mature, and can handle it a bit more. I also think that it has to do with the type of crate we bought. This metal crate doesn't have any "blind spots," she can see right through in every angle. Needless to say, Luna is a happy girl having her own space to herself, and Mom and Dad are happy parents with a less destructive pup.
Moral of the story? If you want to save money on damages, crate your furry friend from the beginning. I know it sucks, but you really don't want to pay for medical bills, or carpet replacements. Speaking of carpet, you may be wondering what we did with that... We decided to just throw a rug ($35 from Walmart) over it. A good DIY carpet fixing :)
