What a nightmare!

[Guest mcc0004]

At about 4:00 this morning I woke to the most horrible crying I've ever heard. At first I thought maybe Sam was just desperate to get out, then I realized he was in some sort of pain. I ran upstairs (Sam sleeps in his crate in my 15 yr old daughters room) as I ran in the room my daughter was down on the floor by the crate crying hysterically and Sam was just screeching. As I tried to calm her down I was jumping toward the poor baby....thinking all the while, can you call 911 for a dog? Where is the closest dog hospital??? Who will stay with my kids at 4:00am (husband is out of town..) I looked at the poor little guy and apperently he had been trying to chew on the bars of his crate door, he had turned his head side ways to get a better hold and somehow both his upper and lower row of teeth were stuck on different bars, so his mouth was pried open!! It only took a second to pry his little bottom jaw off, then the top was off instantly!

What a scare!! My daughter of course didn't want him going back in the crate, she's convinced if she's not home he'll do it again with worse results.

Any advice on how to make sure it never happens?? Was it a fluke?

Also, do you all crate train??? Sam is so tiny, I can't imagine not having a place to put him. He has a play yard for when we can't watch him, but we don't want him in the crate...

Thanks for listening...

[MikeC]

Cairns are really intelligent little creatures and Sam may have just scared himself enough not to do this again. You did not mention how old he is but if he is just a pup, as he gets bigger his jaws will most likely not fit between the bars. Both my guys are crate trained but I have never had this type of problem with them.

Mike

[CathyAnn]

Your post even made MY heart skip a beat!! I would have been terrified, too!! I am so glad that your little guy is ok!!

Reminds me of my Toto getting her ID tag caught in a heat vent one time when she was quite young. She dragged it around for at least 10-15 minutes before I saw her stuck. After that, everytime a toy went near a vent or even just passing by one, she was very, very leery. She would actually give the vents dirty looks!! In particular, the one she got hooked on.

Ditto on what Mike said.....my guess is he won't try it again!

Cathy

[rileysmum]

We aren't crate training our pup,I hadn't even heard of it untill I found this forum,it just isn't done much over here,we are paper training and have a small area(10 x 5 feet) blocked off in the lounge and this is where Rebel sleeps ect,it seems to be working finally

I can see the reasoning of crate training and it's very obvious that most people on here know more about cairns than me, and everyone loves their dogs like babies,but I didn't feel right about leaving him a crate if I had to go out for the day so went with paper training.

[Guest Darcy's Mom]

I am so sorry you had to experience that and I hope you gave your pup lots of love and kisses after you got him untangled from his crate.

Do you have a room that you can block off with baby gates? Maybe a kitchen with linoliun floor? We did that with all of our pups and even if they have an accident, it is easily cleaned up. I believe one of the other posters to this site uses her bathroom for her pup to stay in for the day.

We have never crated ours, just blocked off the kitchen area when no one was home. Darcy was paper trained in a week (unbelievable I know) and when our mixed JR/Scottie came along, she learned from Darcy. We still keep them pretty much in the kitchen and den area. We also let them stay outside in our backyard as it is fenced in.

Again, I hate that you had that scare. Maybe someone has had the same experience and can give you advice regarding crate training.

[bradl]

Whew! Great that you were there and saved the day for the little guy!

We've had things like that happen and it sure spikes your adrenaline. Since you mentioned it, now would be a good time for you - and anyone who hasn't already done so - to look up where the closest emergency vet hospitals are near you. If you don't know exactly and for certain-sure how to get there, add a drive-by to your weekend to-do list. Is there an odd driveway or turn you have to make? When you need to go, it will be in the middle of the night and dark, possibly rainy, and you will be very emotional and frightened - that's not a time you want to struggle to remember if it's this exit or maybe that other one. Do a test drive so it's in your memory bank.

We also make a card up and stick it to the refrigerator. It has the name of the clinic, the phone number, and the hours they are open. (Many are open ONLY at night). Add directions if you think you'll need them. We are blessed with a couple options and we list them all. Also, you may want to make up another card with your own vet's phone number, office hours, and on-call policy if any. We also list the name and phone number of our breeder as well as the name and phone number of a Dachshund breeder/former vet-tech who lives on our street. You can laugh at our paranoia but that kind of readily-accessible info is very reassuring to our pet-sitter when we've used one. Once we had a puppy choking to death (it was turning blue and the doggy Heimlich wasn't doing any good) and the Dachshund breeder/vet tech who lived in the neighborhood raced down the street and saved our pup's life. We were pretty happy we had jotted her number down on our "Emergency Contacts" list.

[Guest mcc0004]

Thanks for the advice...actually this morning when I got up, the first thing I did was look up the Vet hospital! Sam was at the vet yesterday for his first shots, but I know they aren't 24 hours. Hopefully I won't need it, but now I know!

I have a feeling Sam didn't go back in his crate after that last night!! Pretty sure he slept in my daughters bed the rest of the night!!

[Anna_525]

That is a great idea, Brad. For me, I found out where our emergency vet is the hard way - years ago I hit a stray dog although the dog is now fine.

What a scary incident. When you mentioned that his mouth was pried open, I had to cringe. Poor baby. I do agree with one of the posts that he may have scared himself not to do it again, but to be sure, you can also spray some bitter apple spray over the area that he was trying to chew. Alfie scared himself when he tried to knock down a pet gate that we propped up against the wall. It fell down with a bang but did not hit him. Now he won't go near it (we don't even have to lock the gate, he won't touch it).

Crate training is the best thing we did for Alfie, you don't want to deny yourself of its benefits!

[Eliz222]

When our two were tiny we used a carrier as a crate. It's made of hard plastic and has slits on the side and has a gate on the end. I think you can find them at Petsmart and I don't think they cost very much....let me see if I can find a link.

Here is a large one, but they make much smaller ones too.

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_det...D=1131059087785

[kayharley]

Oh....what a scary thing to happen. I can just imagine the whole scenerio and the panic you must have felt. So glad Sam is okay and you're okay.

If you're hesitant about having Sam in a closed door crate, an ex-pen is a wonderful way to contain a puppy especially when you're not around. You can put the crate inside it but leave the door open.

I am fortunate that my vets office is 5 minutes away and he lives above it. Although his phone number is in my memory, I also have it on my fridge just in case of panic. (Someone set my neighbors shed on fire not too long ago. I saw the flames out of my window, grabbed the phone to call 911 but started with 119 or was it 191....it was my daughter who said clearly and loudly "Mom, it's 911!")

Panic and adreneline can do wonders to ones brain.

I have an animal CPR info sheet on the door inside my utility closet along with the phone number for the pets poison control center...those guys are great.

The last thing I'd ever want to happen in a critical situation would be to become immobilized and not know what to do or who to call or where to go.

[bubba]

Good ideas Brad! Another number to add is the animal poison control line. I am at work right now and don't have it to add, but our emergency vet gave it to us when Cooper ate a tube of a prescription cream. They do charge $50 for the call, however, for some unknown lucky reason, they chose not to charge me. It was a price I would have gladly paid. Once we made it to the emergency vet, they said they were not familiar with what Cooper had ingested and would have to call them (and add it to the charge), but I told them I already had and what they said. They were surprised I was not charged as well.

I'm glad your puppy survived his/her first of many trying experiences!!!

pat.

[Guest rottndobie]

IMHO I think that was more of a fluke. I would not NOT crate train because of the possibility of something like this happening. The benefits far outweigh the negatives.

Question on the crate used - is it a fairly large one? I know that the larger sizes have wider bars on the door then the smaller ones. Perhaps you could get a smaller crate.

One other thought - they have softsided crates that have no bars. I got one for Shadow and it works perfectly. Something to consider...

[Scully'sMom]

This is what we use for Scully - we got it at PetSmart.

I am SO sorry that your little guy went through that. I'd bet that he won't do that again but I can understand how you could be scared not to put him in a crate. We didn't start with a crate until Scully was 7 months old so she was already potty-trained. We use it at nighttime for sleeping. If we go out, she's fine with a babygate across the kitchen area and she can go from the kitchen into the family room.

[CathyAnn]

We use the above type of crate for Piper, too. He loves his "box" as we call it....

Cathy

[toomanypaws]

What a scare that must have been! I'm just glad you were able to help.

I too use the kind of crates like Cathy Ann and Scully use. I have never had a problem w/ them because the bars are closer together. When each of mine were a pup, I had them in the smallest size and gradually moved them up as they grew. Even now that they're housetrained, my youngest still wants to sleep in hers (if she's not in bed w/ me ) and my other two just like knowing they have theirs close by to run to when there's a thunderstorm.

Mine are similiar to these:Cairncrates

[CathyAnn]

Beth....mine is the Vari-kennel in the "medium" size. I wish we had the "intermediate" size, though. Piper is a big boy and he seems a bit squished. He doesn't seem to mind as he goes in there to nap all the time. We keep it right in the kitchen which seems to be the busiest area.

Can I ask which size you are currently using??

Thanks,

Cathy

[toomanypaws]

Beth....mine is the Vari-kennel in the "medium" size.  I wish we had the "intermediate" size, though.  Piper is a big boy and he seems a bit squished.  He doesn't seem to mind as he goes in there to nap all the time.  We keep it right in the kitchen which seems to be the busiest area.

Can I ask which size you are currently using??

Thanks,

Cathy

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Cathy,

I can't remember my brand, but each size is a couple inches longer than Vari-kennel. Kiara is in the intermedite, Abbey is in the medium, and Hannah refuses to give up her small. Her small is for dogs 10 lbs and even tho she weighs a little more, she likes to curl up in a little ball and only takes up half the crate. I bought her a medium, but she doesn't want it.

[Guest mcc0004]

We have the same kennel. Its the smallest size for now. Since Sam is barely 3 lbs he seems to fit well in it.

I know there is alot of controversy about crate training. We have never chosen to do it with any of our dogs. But we have never had great success with our previous dogs either! We did alot of research and talked to alot of 'Pros' and just decided it was best. We also learned that starting right away was better then trying to force it later. I have no idea if thats right or not. Maybe we shouldn't be using the crate this early...however, it is working for us. Sam doesn't whine or cry anymore when he's put in. He goes right to sleep. He is never shut off in some room in his crate. He sleeps in the room with one of us.

Fortunatly, we haven't had the experience again...still scares the beejeeses out of me though.