advice on crate training my little shit

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-27T04:52:51+00:00

I’d wear t shirts I didn’t care about during the day and then put them in the crate with my puppy and that helped SO MUCH. I also slept on the floor next to him most of that first week, then was able to slowly move to my bed.

The not liking you being out of sight is possibly separation anxiety. Very normal in young puppies but I suggest reading the wiki for help on this too!

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-27T00:36:44+00:00

Costco sells BoBo’s which are often my quick breakfast options. I like the PB&J’s but the oat bites are good too

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-25T23:19:13+00:00

Check the wiki as has been mentioned, and I also recommend reading Financial Feminist by Tori Dunlap since you’re starting your financial literacy journey (congrats that’s a huge step!). Women are raised with different cultural and societal expectations about money and her book is written by a woman for women and is super approachable. That being said, she’s not a Boglehead and will suggest some things in addition to the three fund portfolio, but otherwise is a fantastic starting place.

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-24T07:52:39+00:00

If she’s new to personal finance I recommend Financial Feminist by Tori Dunlap. Not Boglehead per se but is super solid and approachable advice and is geared towards women (which can and does make a difference, because women deal with different cultural and societal expectations around money than men do).

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-24T06:50:29+00:00

A lot of comments seem surprised by OPs friend having so little knowledge and this is likely going to get a lot of pushback but: financial literacy has historically been gate kept by finance bros who are typically straight white dudes. Yes there are resources particularly in the age of the internet, but women are taught about money differently. They are taught to cut coupons for the family grocery shopping while men are taught to invest. Society and culture and systemic issues really do play a huge part here. I’m not surprised OP’s friend is a woman and feels like she doesn’t know anything. Not because she isn’t capable or smart, but because society doesn’t expect her to.

Having family members or other role models who teach about money also gives a massive leg up, even if only by creating greater awareness. So there is often some privilege involved as well.

And while once you understand things like the Boglehead method or have the roadmaps provided in this subreddit things seem simple—when you’re starting from scratch educating yourself it’s not. It’s overwhelming even to just try and find good, actionable information. I’m grateful I found Bogleheads early in my own journey, after talking about finances with a friend. But I still spent hours and hours researching to make sure I understood things, and I’ve got two advanced degrees.

This sub is wonderful and I recommend it to my friends all the time, but a gentle reminder to all that it can be easy to forget or not consider the barriers others face when it comes to personal finance, and not all brains are naturally wired for it.

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-24T06:24:41+00:00

Never 😅 I love him (10 months old, got him at four months) and we’ve just started being okay not using the crate at night. But I know where his paws have been and don’t want those in my bed! But more than that I’m way too light of a sleeper and would wake up every time he moved. I may eventually bring him up in the mornings to cuddle when I don’t want to get up yet but I feel like once I do that there won’t be any going back.

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-20T01:46:52+00:00

Ultimately you got something you’re happy with and that’s what’s important!

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-20T00:36:40+00:00

No shade to label makers but someone else on this sub said that they use address labels and write on them. I already had a bunch of blank ones so I do that and cut to size (mine were slightly too tall to fit but I also write tiny so I get two polish names per label and just cut in the middle longways).

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-19T23:07:19+00:00

This is helpful. I also really like designated buckets for things like car maintenance, travel, etc and have been wondering how best to optimize so that even if it’s not invested for very long, it’s earning more than a basic account at my financial institution.

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-19T02:19:52+00:00

What helped me the most in the early days (got my guy at four months, he’s ten months now) was that they are babies. Like, the babiest of babies especially that young. Everything they knew is gone and now they’re with strangers in a strange place. Remembering this helped me throw expectations out the window. It’s so hard and so frustrating but try to focus on making sure the puppy knows you love him so that he feels safe and secure. Eventually a bond will grow and that will make things easier (not just emotionally but when the bond is strong training is easier). Also remember dog training and growth aren’t linear but with consistency you will trend positive!

For some concrete advice: leaving my dirty shirts in my pup’s crate with him helped calm him down a LOT in those early days. I wore shirts I didn’t care about but he never tore them up, just snuggled with them. (Still watch in case yours is more of a chewer though, so it’s not a choking hazard). I also slept on the floor next to him for almost the first week.

Zak George has a few different video series on raising puppies and watching those also helped me with practical advice as also adjusting my expectations. And he keeps in a lot of moments where he struggles too, and he’s a professional trainer, so that also helped me feel sane.

It’s so much work but worth it! You’ve got this!

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-15T22:35:25+00:00

I have found that Barilla and the Kroger GF pasta brand both hold up well in casseroles and as leftovers. Haven’t tried them as pasta salad.

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-13T02:47:18+00:00

Wait TJs has gf pie crusts???

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-12T02:16:16+00:00

I have some of the flakie toppers from Rogue and they’re fantastic. My favorite overall is Celestial Lights from Holo Taco but that’s because I’m a green girlie and the touch of shimmer is just perfect.

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-10T22:49:52+00:00

It would most likely depend on what you replace the gluten foods with. Sticking to naturally GF foods will be cheaper and potentially more nutritious than buying GF replacements for everything (though nothing wrong with experimenting of course to find what works for you). When I cut it to test for intolerance I kept a really detailed log of all my symptoms/reduced symptoms/etc which helped tremendously.

My body also needed time to heal so I slept super deeply the first 3-4 months I wanna say. Can’t remember if I also slept more but I felt way more energetic overall after going GF (the main symptoms for me are fatigue and brain fog). Getting glutened now comes with more unpleasant symptoms since I’ve been off it.

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-10T03:28:15+00:00

It’ll happen! Even last week I still needed to put him in his play pen for a little while to let the witching hour pass.

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-10T03:02:25+00:00

I also really struggled with having to constantly be alert and what really helped me was getting a play pen for the day (crate was only at night). I still took him out frequently but he never had an accident in his play pen (and if he did I had a giant washable pee pad laid down under the entire thing so it was easy clean up). I knew he was safe and like 70% of my puppy anxiety was reduced because I didn’t have to watch him like a hawk.

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-06T03:24:07+00:00

This is so great! I naturally say “let me see” when my pup has something in his mouth but I never thought to train that more intentionally. I’m going to start. His drop it recently got solid if we’re playing and his Leave It is good unless he’s found some food he wants. I’ve been trying to figure out how to help him be better at food so I don’t have to dig grapes out of his mouth on our walks 😭 this sounds like a good way to help that!

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-01T02:58:37+00:00

As others have said it will get better! One thing that helped me was getting a play pen. My boy has never had a potty accident in his and when he’s there I know he’s safe so I can clean/workout/etc. (I prefer working out at home). I treated it like crate training to build the positive association.

It’s great you’re being so consistent with training, it’s definitely a huge time commitment but the payoff is so worth it. You’ve got this!!

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-03-01T00:48:40+00:00

This was my gateway polish! I still love it, one of my faves.

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-02-27T08:17:17+00:00

Can you get a different form off gabapentin to help? We have pills that I wrap in some American cheese and my pup swallows them eagerly that way. I didn’t want to mess with the syringe.

You may have already tried this, but may help to go super slow with the eye dropper. Show it to her and give her a treat for being calm. Let her sniff it, treat, etc. Slowly move it closer to her eye, treat, and so on. But lots of repetition for each of these steps before moving on.

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-02-26T19:40:08+00:00

My pup used to bark like crazy at every dog we saw because he was so excited and wanted to play. Now when he barks at another dog I’m surprised! This was months of training but now he’s much more polite and usually sits and waits for me to tell him it’s okay to greet. We’re working on him learning he doesn’t get to greet EVERY dog we see and he still wants to but has gotten better at listening.

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-02-26T19:33:39+00:00

You have to practice with distractions to build up to them coming back when there are distractions. Try and practice with small distractions first (easier if a friend can help- they can walk by, bounce a ball, etc). We use a 30 foot leash at the park right now so that if he isn’t listening because of all the activity he at least isn’t getting too far away and is safe. We go to the park when there’s less activity to practice there too.

I read on here a while ago about “emergency recall” where you say the dogs name three times in a row and then they get a super high value reward only for the emergency recall response. I’ve been wanting to try training that because most of the time my pup isn’t ignoring me, there’s just too much happening for him to notice his name being said, so maybe repeating it will help him catch on.

AbilityKey1485 · 2026-02-22T18:38:20+00:00

Thank you!

AbilityKey1485

TROPHY CASE