# Hoarding toys in crate - normal?



## Guster (Feb 8, 2009)

We brought Gus home last night from the breeder - he is 8 weeks old. So 24 hours in he's a model puppy - going potty as instructed, sleeping mostly through the night last night and even spending time in a house with 7 little kids, 7 adults and a 9 month old Bernese Mountain dog. 

He likes his crate which is great but he puts everything in there. We'll play with him and he'll take the toy away and put it in his crate. He doesn't mind when we take things out but he always puts them back in. Is this normal puppy behavior?


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

Putting the toys in the crate seems to mean he likes them, or that he understands the toys are his, like the crate is his place. As long as he has no objection to you "owning" the toys I doubt it is a problem.
BTW, he slept almost through the night and potties on command? Wow!


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Gosh, I wish my puppy had been that perfect at 8 weeks! You're a lucky duck.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

What a character. I would like to seem him do this. It seems very intelligent for an 8 week old.


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## Kohanagold (Nov 5, 2008)

Sure, why not? Now if only one could train the kids to put their toys away like that. LOL. 

Paige does the same thing. If it weren't for me climbing in there to clean it out, I'm not sure how she'd sleep in there. I dont know why they do it, and I personally think its kind of cute. My nephew thinks so too, because he will give her toys and tell her to put them in "her space" (he has a little area in our living room with his toys that we call "his space", so he figures that Paige's crate is "her space"). 

Your puppy sounds fantastic, and cute as a button! BJ


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## AndyFarmer (Jul 9, 2007)

Libby is 5 (or 6 or 7) and she hoards her toys...she always has. What's hers, is hers, inside or outside the crate.


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## Guster (Feb 8, 2009)

Thanks for the quick replies. Will try to enjoy his puppyhood without being too concerned about every little thing. I'm sure easier said than done


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## mdoats (Jun 7, 2007)

Rookie likes to have all his toys around him. He only has a few toys, but he always brings them to his mat/bed in the living room.


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## hgatesy (Feb 14, 2007)

Gus is a cutie! 
We once had a foster dog that would not only "hide" toys in her crate, but she would also steal and then hide random things around the house. Like the T.V remote, shampoo bottles, socks, etc. Anytime something was missing we would go check her kennel first. So if other stuff around your house starts missing you'll know where to start looking..


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## MurphyTeller (Sep 28, 2008)

Guster said:


> He likes his crate which is great but he puts everything in there. We'll play with him and he'll take the toy away and put it in his crate. He doesn't mind when we take things out but he always puts them back in. Is this normal puppy behavior?


All my dogs have done this from time to time - Though we don't have a lot of toys out for them to play with - I have a toy-killer and the other one gets upset (visably sad) when his stuff is ruined - so I try to extend the lifespans of woobies if I can. 

Murphy still brings favorite toys into his crate - never more than one at a time - the toy gets crate privledges shortly before he takes them out and murders them...hummm...maybe I've got a serial killer on my hands. Worth mentioning is that Murphy hasn't been crated in his home crate for well over a year - though it's still setup in the den for him - he sleeps in there often during the day while I'm at work with the door open.

Teller brings a lot of his toys into his crate - treats it a bit like his locker. Neither of my guys cares about resources - happily giving up their stuff to each other and pretty much anyone who thinks they want what they have - but neither dog goes into the other's crate. Perhaps this is Teller's protective instinct...."If I put Mr Otter in my crate, mean old Murphy won't chew his legs off"....nah!

As someone else said - as long as you're able to take the toys away when you want to its not an issue. With a baby puppy though I'd be careful which ones I let him sleep with - just in case there's a murder in the middle of the night....

Erica


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## NuttinButGoldens (Jan 10, 2009)

I can only hope I have this problem


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## NuttinButGoldens (Jan 10, 2009)

At this point, Ronin (The Siamese) has approximately 50 Pepsi Bottle Caps hidden in the house somewhere. We have no idea where they are, and I've looked hard!

He steals them, takes them to the bathtub (his favorite playground) and bats them around for a while, then they disappear. They don't go down the drain because it's grated.


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## ashamom (Jan 19, 2010)

Yup, so totally normal. My 8 week old Golden Girl absolutley loves her stuffed animal toys, and after we've finished playing with them she'll take them to her crate and lay right outside the door chewing. When she's had enough she'll always put her toys in her crate. I guess it's like her little toy box, so that she knows where her toys are always. Like your dog, Asha (my pup) doenst mind a bit if we remove a toy, but always puts it back in her crate at the end of the day. I take this as normal puppy behavior.
:


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## ashamom (Jan 19, 2010)

Oh, by the way, does anyone know how to stop biting? Asha does it all the time it's just getting terrible. We use 'uhuh' and claping, but don't know what to do as she doesn't get it. I sometimes clamp a hand round her jaws and shut them while growling, and then she stops for a while after I do this a few times, but she doesnt get the idea! Help??


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## Callee (Dec 31, 2009)

Don't know if its normal but it sure is cute


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

ashamom said:


> Oh, by the way, does anyone know how to stop biting? Asha does it all the time it's just getting terrible. We use 'uhuh' and claping, but don't know what to do as she doesn't get it. I sometimes clamp a hand round her jaws and shut them while growling, and then she stops for a while after I do this a few times, but she doesnt get the idea! Help??


I *hear* it's something they grow out of. Jack is just over 3 months and is improving but seems to get particularly bitey with us. He rarely does it with my 2.5 year old nieces who he plays with twice a week at my sister's house. He seems to know not to bite them somehow. We're working on it with him by saying "no biting" firmly and walking away from him, and it's slowly improving. Although last night he was being very sweet and I was holding him with his head on my shoulder (he hurt his foot earlier in the day and I was babying him  ) and all of a sudden I had a shark attack on my ear. There's really no predicting the crazies at this age. There are a lot of people going through the same problem on here so you're not alone!

ETA: the toy hoarding thing seems normal to me. Jack likes to take his toys from his toy basket to his bed. He keeps making trips until all his favorites are in there. Then the favorites of the favorites end up in his laundry room area where he is when we're gone....presumably so they'll be there in the morning for him to play with. It's pretty cute.


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## mm03gn (Sep 24, 2008)

I know this is an old thread - but it made me laugh! Bailey is the exact opposite...you'd better not clutter up her crate with toys or there will be hell to pay!! We always used to mess with her when she was a puppy and throw all of her toys in her crate...she would give us the evil stink eye, and then proceed to remove everything! She does not want to share her space with her toys!


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## grrrick (Sep 10, 2009)

He's adorable.

Bauer has the opposite problem. He still is not a fan of his crate. When we crate him, we put his two favorite toys in with him. We he let him out, he jumps out and greets us then immediately removes his toys from the crate one at a time. It looks like he's trying to rescue them.


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