Ok, I haven't been back on this board in a while so I will try and keep my synopsis brief.

My dog, is 9 months old now. We have gone through about 3 kennels. I started with a wire kennel when I first got her. She did ok in that while I was at work. Then she got a bit bigger and so I switched to a plastic kennel with the wire grating on the front. Well about 3 weeks ago, she finally ended up figuring out how to open the doors. My kennel is back in my bathroom closet where it is really dark. I keep the door closed and turn the fan on for some noise for her. Well, she figured out how to escape and had started pooping all over the floor. So I went and got another wire cage. This time, I wanted to put it own in the living room so that she could have that "safe place" in an area where she is used to people being in. Well, she again figured out how to open that one. So I have rigged it with some zip ties that won't allow her to get out until I get home. But I noticed last night that her snout was a bit red and I opened her mouth and she had cut and scratch marks where her teeth are. So it's obvious that while I was at work, she was biting and chewing to try and get her way out.

what the heck am I supposed to do? A 9 month old dog should NOT BE THIS ANXIOUS about being in a kennel! What is wrong with my dog?

Also, crating her at night worked for a while, but she continued to get up in the middle of the night and bark until I let her out to use the bathroom. If I didn't, she pee'd on herself in the night. So I started letting her sleep out in my room. She does better, but she still pees sometimes in the middle of the night. She won't wake me up to go outside. I try and not let her drink too much because if I let her have all she wants, she will pee all the time and all throughout the night.

I have a good vet.  She has a little puppy vaganitus but no problem with kidneys or anything bladder infection.

I am at a very tough spot. My dog has to learn how to calm down when I'm at work. I don't want her hurting herself or cutting her mouth all up trying to get out. She STILL barks like crazy when I put her in and she never goes willingly.

Please....any advice is greatly appreciated!

How long is she in the crate while you're at work? It sounds like it may be too long :/ If it's as long as it sounds it's probably too much boredom/confinement.

Loki is put in crate at night with leash. When he wakes up, it is straight outside to do his business and back in the crate. Seems he understands now that night time is for sleep and he can go potty outside, but that is it.

In addition to how long she is in create, does she get walks/exercise before and after work? Maybe a good long walk before you leave for work would help. On work days, I don't always walk Loki before work, but he gets to run in back yard and play with my other dog about 1/2 - 1 hour before I leave. I do about 10-15 minutes of training too. When I leave he is already asleep. I know on days I'm home, he sleeps for 6-8 hours during the time I'm away, so I assume when I go into the office for about 6 hours he is sleeping most of that time.

I work 8 hours. And Huskys sleep for so much of the day. She is fine when I get home, but going in and me leaving is terrible.

techigirl78 wrote:

Loki is put in crate at night with leash.  When he wakes up, it is straight outside to do his business and back in the crate.  Seems he understands now that night time is for sleep and he can go potty outside, but that is it.

In addition to how long she is in create, does she get walks/exercise before and after work?  Maybe a good long walk before you leave for work would help.  On work days, I don't always walk Loki  before work, but he gets to run in back yard and play with my other dog about 1/2 - 1 hour before I leave.  I do about 10-15 minutes of training too.  When I leave he is already asleep.  I know on days I'm home, he sleeps for 6-8 hours during the time I'm away, so I assume when I go into the office for about 6 hours he is sleeping most of that time.

I don't really play with her in the morning. When I get home, we play tug a war and run around big time. She is so funny when she gets going running super fast around the house or back yard.

I guess I just really don't understand the anxiety part of the kennel. I figured she would be used to it by now.

Feeding Loki in the crate for 1-2 weeks helped his issues. He still doesn't love his crate (sleeping in it by choice or anything). But when we say jail or bedtime, he does go into it. We also make him be quiet and sit before we let him out. He still yelps when we are at home, but as long as my other dog doesn't howl, they all settle down pretty quick.

I have a 8 month old, and what I did was get 2 crates , same size, one in my bedroom and one in living room. Dakota knows the one in bedroom is for sleep, when I turn the lights off and say bed time, she goes right into the kennel in the bedroom. Its right next to my bed, she knows Im going to bed, and its bedtime, she will ONLY go in that kennel for bed so she doesnt get anxious in it. she will wake me up to go outside in the night but then right back into the kennel. AT first she would wine, but I put a blanket over the front and that seemed to calm her, now no problems there!

Now the kennel in the living room was a whole other issue. I only put her in it when Im gone.The longest she would be in there alone is max 5 hrs, she was doing great at first, but soon started to freak out, pushing the liner of the crate out, howling and everything. What I did was put a water bowl in with her, a few safe toys she would play with alone (without me freaking out she would choke on something), leave the tv on for noise, and right as I was leaving I would give her a treat, (bully stick or something that would occupy her time for a bit), she started associating the kennel in the living room with getting a treat and would actually walk in the kennel while I was getting ready to leave haha . She know's Im leaving, but she knows she gets a treat, and she calmed down, I just started this and so far so good, no problems with her freaking out anymore.