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From what I understand, Cricket and her littermates were kept in a filthy horse trailer until they went to homes. They are tenacious, ranch-bred, cattle-working Australian Shepherds… and Cricket went to an in-town pet home with a super nice owner who should be proud of Cricket’s exceptional people-training techniques. 😀 At around 4 1/2 months, Cricket came to live with me for a month of training. She was a housebreaking nightmare, but with constant supervision and a good schedule, she was doing much better when she left. Her owner has an office job, so Cricket is in a crate during the day. I believe she lets her out on her lunch break. I don’t know if she pees in her crate regularly at home or not, but when her owner dropped her off before leaving for vacation, she did say she needed a bath because she’d peed in her crate that morning. I have not noticed a problem overnight or in the morning. During the day, I take her out almost as much as I would a pup half her age. Whether I’m in the room or not does not make a difference when it comes to peeing in the crate. I don’t know what brand of food she’s on, but I can assure you it is nothing good. She is healthy, no UTI or incontinence. She drinks more water than most dogs, but other than that, I’ve seen nothing unusual.
She’s also the worst I’ve had live with me when it comes to being quiet in the crate. Her owner let her out at the slightest whimper, but I believe it is anxiety in addition to being spoiled. She doesn’t bark or whine – it’s more like screeching and screaming. She was horrible, horrible, horrible about it when she first came to live with me, but by the time she left, she loved the crate and was super relaxed in there. I could pretty much leave and she’d be fine. This week, she has been pretty good for the most part, but if I leave (or step into the shower!) she starts screaming her head off. She will no longer run into her crate anytime I ask, either – it’s obvious she is never asked to go to her kennel unless she’s being left alone.
She really IS a good dog, she is just bred for a completely different lifestyle than the one she’s living. Again, I only have her for another day or two until her owner returns from vacation, but the issue of not keeping the crate clean due to being raised in filth is one I’m bound to run into again.
Rebekah
