Kennel Troubles

The day we picked River up, his foster mom told us that she put him in a kennel at night, but warned us that he didn't like it. So we went and bought a kennel.

That first night with us, we wanted him to feel comfortable so we didn't put him in a kennel. River was happy to curl up underneath D's bedside table.

Monday, the first day away from him for 8 hours, we put him in a kennel in our bedroom.... or I should say I did because D leaves for work at 5:00am. River fought me the whole way in.

I made the mistake of coming home at lunch to let him out to go pee (mistake because of what happened not because I let him pee). When I had to put him back in the kennel, he freaked out and fought me harder than he did the first time. He didn't bark, he only cried a little, but you could tell he hated the kennel. I felt awful about doing it, but I pushed him in and went back to work.

That night when we were going to bed, we tried to call him into the bedroom. He knew that was were the kennel was, and wouldn't even come into the hallway. He was so scared to come to us he sat down by the front door and wouldn't move. I felt worse if that's possible.

We picked up a baby gate and kept River in the kitchen that night.

I threw the kennel into the basement... when River wasn't looking.

I guess crate training is out of the question. I just can't stand the guilt. From now on, he stays in the kitchen during the day. He doesn't hate me quite as much anymore.

Last night, he felt comfortable enough to come and sleep in the bedroom again, but we let him do it on his own terms. We put the baby gate up so it blocked the living room and closed all the other doors. This meant he could sleep in the kitchen or walk down the hallway to our bedroom.

Can you tell we are new at this?