The Kennel is My Friend!

Two-eyes did 58 minutes in his kennel this morning with no problems! We did approximately 5 periods of seperation. One was about 30 seconds of seperation, one was about 1 1/2 minutes (which was pushing the boundary of what he was comfortable with), and the rest were around 1 minute of seperation. He got a little nervous as I was in and out, in and out, and so I stayed with him a little longer and got working on some paperwork, meaning to give him a break from the seperation for a few minutes. Instead, he was so good, that I actually forgot he was in there, and he stayed in his kennel for about 30 minutes more than I had intended.

It's no longer an issue of fearing the kennel- he's quite comfortable in his kennel now. He has been eating his meals in his kennel, and I began to introduce a Kong to him there, which he's still discovering can be a source of fun. He's laying down quickly in his kennel, settling in and getting comfortable, and has no trouble with his 1 hour period in the kennel. The problem now is simply the seperation.

In the afternoon, we began again, hoping to lengthen the periods of seperation but spacing them out better with times that I was there. We started off with one minute, while I was in earshot but quiet, and then we did a couple of 2 minute periods of seperation (again while I was in earshot but quiet). Then we did 3 minutes, and I was in earshot but talking, and then 4 minutes, again while I was in earshot but talking. About 40 minutes in, we did a 4 minute period of seperation, while I was in earshot but quiet- when I came back, he was NAPPING!!!!

I went easy on him and we did a 1 minute period of seperation and then a 1.5 minute period. The next period of seperation was 7 minutes, as I got caught by a visitor who needed help (I was in earshot and talking, so that may have helped). When I came back, he was still relaxed and dozing. We did a 5 minute period of seperation almost right away, with no problems. 65 minutes after I put him in the kennel, I took him out, and returned him to his adoption kennel.

Great Job Two-eyes!!!! 65 minutes in the kennel with a total of about 28 minutes of alone time!