Advice Please - too sedentary for my pup?

[Guest Milopup]

Hello All,

I need some advice as I am feeling major guilt about being too sedentary for my pup. I have a 9 1/2 month old male cairn pup and I live in the city. We wake up, take a walk, he runs around the apartment (he is stationed when he gets out of hand), and this is how we spend our day. We take about 6 walks a day, and sometimes go to the park. Is this just too sedentary? Because of my health condition, I cannot take him to the park everyday to run around, but we do walk a couple of blocks 6 times a day, with a couple of visits to the park a week. He seems okay, but is a barking fiend! He acts like everything and everyone is his business, and cannot stop barking.

Thanks in advance.

[bradl]

I think you should forgive yourself. Our dogs would knock me over to get to your place for six walks a day. Most Cairns would go on a hundred walks a day if offered, but that doesn't mean they actually need a hundred walks. Truly a 9.5 month pup has energy to burn, but in my personal opinion you are not 'cheating' him out of an active life and for an apartment dog are giving him lots of opportunites to 'check his P-mail' during the day. Everything and everyone IS a Cairn's business, so all that's normal for a youngster.

Here is an absolutely delightful tale of a fellow who took his dog on the 1.6 mile buffet every day. You may not approach a mile or two in your combined walks, but if you can throw a ball in your apartment, a Cairn is remarkably 'self-exercising.'

I say enjoy your boy!

[kayharley]

You sound like a wonderful and caring pet owner and I'm sure your Cairn is more than happy with his exercise schedule. I'm fortunate that I have a fenced in yard but my 2 girls are constantly barking at something ..... a fly, a moth, a neighbors doorbell (neighbor who lives 1/4 mile away) It's just goes with the territory of owning and loving a Cairn.

[Guest Milopup]

Thank you so much for your advice and encouragement. Could I share some more doubts/fears/guilt?

Mid morning, mid afternoon, and after dinner, I put the little pup in his crate for a nap. I do this because he seems to need to be in a quiet dark place for a bit to rest, and also so I can actually eat and do some stuff around the house! I cannot eat when he is out of his crate, nor can I do anything but prevent him from chewing up things he shouldn't be when he is out of his crate.

Whenever I put him in the crate he whines for about 10 mins before quieting down. Is this okay and normal? And is it okay to enforce a "separation" between the two of us a couple of times a day?

Thank you. :-)

[bradl]

Everything sounds normal to me. You might look into an exercise pen if you feel the crate time is excessive. We use an x-pen during the puppy months so the pup can't get into mischief, but also has room to play. I will say this -- when I hear you say you give him a time-out when you can't watch him properly, I think -- THANK YOU! If only more people would understand that puppies need constant attention, they would have far fewer problems, and far fewer puppies would be abandoned or given up.

I promise you your pup will calm down as the years go by and you will miss his wild puppy days

[Guest Milopup]

Bradl - you are so my hero!

Finding this forum and reading your (and the rest of the members') advice is keeping me sane. I admit to feeling like I should give up, and feel better that I am not being cruel and . I hear my neighbors (who have wonderful calm labs, retrievers, etc.) talk about how their dogs just laze around all day and sleep, and then can be left alone for hours at a time, and I just think I am too dumb to be a dog owner. And every time they give me dirty looks because my pup barks, I just either want to run and hide, or kick them for giving mean looks to my pup.

A couple of quick things (so so sorry for all the questions): is it okay to keep stationing for now, since he is still in the "hmmm, everything should be chewed as a way of discovery" stage? I do let him off leash for a couple of hours a day, but it really is for his own protection that I keep him on a 4-ft leash stationed in the middle of the living room. Also, when he whines, should I just let him do so (it breaks my heart, but I suffer through it for 10 to 15 mins and it usually stops, and then I tiptoe around the house for a couple of hours).

Thank you so so much. You have given me hope.

[CarCarDawn]

Hi! I think you are doing a wonderful job in raising your pup!!! I went through all of the same doubts and questions that you are experiencing - - -I think you learn as you go along.

Riley - - my cairn - - is now about 16 months old and has calmed down quite a bit - - - I leave him in the house alone without me actually IN it!!! - - and I come home to a reasonably organized home!!! Getting through the puppy stage with any dog is a challenge - - - with a cairn it is almost rewarding!!!!!!!!!!!!

The exercise you are giving him is more than adequate - - - I have found that Riley will play in SLEEP mode given the chance!!!!! Things will definitely improve as time goes on - - - - - GOOD LUCK!!!!

[Guest calami (Mike)]

Hi Milopup,

Like you, I am an older Cairn owner (mid 50's) and live in a small condo. Duffy gets out about 4 to 5 times per day. There is a nice grassy area right next to my condo so 3 of those times, we just go there so he can do is business and once or twice we take a stroll around the complex. Duffy also stays in his crate during our meals (we give him doggie treat when we put him in it) and after a few minutes of protesting, he quiets down. I too felt like I was not doing enough for him because he is so energetic and I am pretty much a coach potato, but I do give him a whole lot of love and affection and he returns it in kind. While exercise is important, bonding with our pups and giving them all the love we can to me is much more important. You are doing all the right things in bringing up your pup, so please don't reproach yourself. I don't anymore. Duffy is turning into a very well adjusted, loving dog and I know your little one will too! Keep up the good work!

Mike

[Eliz222]

We owned our first Cairn when we lived in an apartment. We would take Peebles out several times a day and on short walks. We threw a ball with her inside and werestled with her. She did just fine and lived a long full life!

[toomanypaws]

I think you're doing great! My cairns would love all of those walks everyday. I have 3 cairns, all females ages 3 yrs, 7 1/2 mths and almost 12 wks. For the majority of the day, the two older cairns are baby gated in the kitchen/breakfast area which is about 22 X 27. They have their basket of toys that they love to spread out everywhere and they love playing fetch. The puppy loves to join in and play but being she's only 4 1/2 lbs, she needs to be supervised so she's not trampled by accident. I have a baby port a crib set up in the family room for the puppy when she's not being supervised. We have a huge backyard that they love running a couple of times a day. For the times I just want them to go out and do their business, I have a small 10 X 10 fenced area for them off our side garage that I can run them from the kitchen through the side garage door easily. The puppy still has her own exercise pen in the yard too.

All of my cairns have crates which they are put in when I run errands. I only hear the puppy cry at first for a couple of minutes. Sometimes I do leave the 3 yr old out being she's past the chewing stage. I think it's good to give them quiet down time, otherwise I'd never get anything done around here. The puppy will still cry for me so I also have a big round rubbermaid container, kind of like a laundry basket but taller, that I can carry her around in from room to room.

Sometimes I feel like I get too obsessed with my cairns. I'll be going back to work p/t from 3 mornings and it's killing me to think they'll be crated for 5 hrs!

Maybe I'm turning into a prisoner to cairns.

[Guest Milopup]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I am definitely a slave to my cairn, as a result of coincidence and circumstance. I am on disability and cannot work, and am home most of the day. This combined with being very neurotic (first time "mom") makes me focus waaayyy too much nervous energy on my pup, and boy has he taken advantage of it.

Another question for y'all: my 9 1/2 month old lil' devil refuses to sleep. I still crate him for his naps (mid morning, mid afternoon, overnight), but I have to practically throw him in there and then endure him whining for between 10 min to 30 min before he settles down.

Any suggestions??

Thank you all. I cannot say enough how much hope you have given me about my cairn pup.

Now if only I can figure out how to actually be the alpha in my cairn-owner relationship.....

[toomanypaws]

Could it be that the nap schedule is more to your schedule than your cairns? My older 2 have little beds that they can get into anytime they want to nap. I don't put them in crates for their naps if I'm home. At night I keep to the same routine. My husband teases me when I turn the lights down low and tell them it's quiet down time. It worked for my daughter They are taken out one last time and then watch me pick all of their toys up and know it's time for bed, which is around 10:30-11:00. The two older ones never cry when in their crate unless they have to go out in the a.m. During the school year, they seem to sense when I'll be leaving w/ my daughter and will get in their crates on their own.

Maybe you could try a dog bed for the daytime naps. Could you possibly baby gate him in a confined area if you don't want him loose? It's raining here right now and all the cairns are fast asleep.