I agree, we had a nest of red-tailed hawks that did a LOT of screaming to be fed. They continue until they learn to fly well and then they are gone......:-(

I see you're in IA. My advice is to Google red-shouldered hawks. They can be mistaken for Cooper's hawks or Sharpies due to the orange-barred chest. They are usually a very vocal hawk. They're not huge- just about red-tail size- but they will appear bigger than a Cooper's hawk and especially bigger than a Sharpie.

I have worked with lots of pups and their humans. I refer to pups as "a force to be reckoned with". Without a doubt, pups are my favorite. They know nothing, and are completely dependant on everything, including learning good behavior. I agree that pup needs tons of exercise. "A good dog, is a tired dog". Make this your motto. "A completely contented dog, will do absolutely nothing". Make this another motto. *The trick that lots of humans fail to realize is, when there is a "negative" behavior such as you are dealing with, it needs to be turned into a "positive" behavior. This can be achieved in many ways, depending on what the negative behavior is. *A negative behavior should be considered anything that you do not deem appropriate, and that will prevent pups eventual unsupervised freedom in about nine months. *Another trick when dealing with negatives: humans need to figure out how to make it a positive. Not all pups are the same. What works for one might not work for others, even of the same breed. *Another trick. The pup training process needs to be a gradual one. Trying to make things happen to quickly when altering behavior is a huge mistake many humans make, and they wind up getting nowhere because pup and the human get confused. Concentrating on the particular negative you posted, is just one of the many you will need to turn into a positive. That said. You have a very young pup. Consider that she was with litter mates until just a short time ago. She has bee pulled away from the comfort of a pack, and is all of a sudden thrust into this situation. She is quite simply, scared. To calm her, you need to make her crating experience a positive one. Forcing her into the crate (if you do this) is a huge mistake. She needs to go in on her own. The easiest way is to entice her with food, peanut butter is a great enticer, dogs crave it. Put a little bit on a chew toy, let her lick it, then gradually lead her into the crate. Use a command such as "go home" to get her used to going into the crate on her own. If she does not want to go in, use more peanut butter until she does. Stuffing a Kong with peanut butter and or liquid cheese and freezing it over night will keep her busy trying to get it out when she is crated and help the teething process. Mental exercise for pups is just as important than physical exercise. Pups love to be challenged mentally, it really does wear them out. *Practice the crating process. When you are home, play with her for a while, then crate her for about 15 minutes with a frozen Kong and cheese or peanut butter. Try putting an old sheet over the crate, leaving the front open so she can look out at you. If she chews the sheet, remove it. She could injure herself ingesting the stuff. *When you are practicing the crating process, and when she is quiet, go into another room where she cannot see you, then immediately come back and praise her using her name. GO NUTS with a high pitched voice (pups really respond to this) when you do the praise thing, do it like she is the best dog in the whole world. Gradually (by about 15 or 20 minutes) increase the time she is crated between play times. Gradually increase the time you are out of sight. All of this will show pup that you are there and not leaving. Leave a t.v. or radio on with soft music. Pups love this, it calms them and keeps them occupied when you are not home. In a nutshell, consider where you want your pup to be nine months from now. She should be house trained, done with chewing and over teething. What I refer to as "the big three". She should also be well on her way to earning your trust and her unsupervised freedom. Good luck! SG

Hi Nomorebluekitchen, Wow, have you had a rough time lately, that whole mess sucks. These construction problems appear to be everywhere and it makes me wonder why they aren't more regulated! I have a good friend who (at the same time she was going through a messy divorce) had one nightmare after another with an addition she did to help accomodate three kids she was adopting to add to her own four! She had the contractor from h*ll, who didn't know what he was doing especially in regards to code. He too couldn't tell time and did the opposite of whatever he promised. Everyday it was something new, in the end, he made several errors on the build that cost her a small fortune to correct and it pushed her way over budget. Eventually, she had enough and fired him but not before he had most of her money. To add to the misery, by that time this whole mess in the housing market had taken hold, and she couldn't get any more financing to finish the project with a new contractor. It's been a couple of years now but she, her 7 kids and her (new) husband have been able to finish most of the house on their own and yes...even their 9 year old learned how to help lay floors! I learned from her, that when it comes to people in this industry, do as much as possible on your own, trust is a commodity that's earned and even then, watch 'em like a hawk. Isn't there a way we can request a forum to be started that can be dedicated for these types of issues? Somewhere where members can go to convey positive and negative issues they've experienced with specific companies they're working with. I think it would be an invaluable resource for members of the forum, don't you? In the meantime, I hope this turns around for you, and you're able to come out of it ok. -- Lukki