It's been just about a month since we've adopted Storm, and tonight was the first time we had to leave the house with Ginger and Storm in their crates.

Since we've adopted him, he's gone in his crate on his own, and has gone to sleep. We've asked him to go in his crate and we've closed the door and he'll go to sleep. He has spent as much time as an hour in his crate just fine. But all this time we've been home, or we've only disappeared upstairs where we can hear if he rattles his crate.

There has been a couple of times where I have left the house but JD was upstairs and he (and Ginger) were in their crate, and after about 10-15 minutes, JD heard his rattle his crate, so he let them out. The only other time was when the cleaning lady came and they were in their crate for about 1.5-2 hours until he started to paw at his crate pad - at which time I let him out.

I made sure he receives affection and praise and treats when he's in his crate so he associates it as a pleasant place.

I've also put a sheet over his crate to make it more den like since he seems to like the half bathroom, closes the door part way to make it dark.

Tonight, I put them in their crate, and left. JD came home 45 minutes later....

Is this a sign of seperation anxiety?



He was panting, and Ginger was stressed. JD said Stormed paced the house as if he was looking for me. JD tried to calm him down, but Storm still seemed like he was looking for me. JD took them on a 30 minute walk he was still panting a little until I came home about 45 minutes later - and that's when he was finally back to breating normal, and seemed to be able to relax within 5-10 minutes of me walking in the door.

I would say yes. I also think you have been doing some of the things to work him into liking the crate but I think the fact that you work from home and he sees you all the time he has become used to you. Maybe you need to work on leaving the house more so he gets used to the fact that you will leave and come back? Did jd say if he acted this why while you have been gone for work or have you not been gone since you got storm, can't remember? I would say maybe try leaving him in the bathroom but he is a big guy and could do damanage if he does mess things up trying to get out.

Since we've adopted Storm, no, we have not both been gone at the same time while he's crated. We've gone upstairs and he's fine in his crate....and JD was upstairs when I put him in his crate and left and after about 10-15 minutes, JD came down to let him out because he was rattling his crate - I think maybe he was starting to stress at that point.

I don't have a ton of time to reply cause I have to get on the road, but I think you're doing more disservice to him by letting him out when he "rattles the crate" than you think. Don't do that. You're just teaching him that when he's restless, he can be let out, and then when he CAN'T be let out, he's getting upset. You're undoing all the positive association crate training that you have done by doing that.

I wouldn't call this SA yet. I think he's just telling you he doesn't like something. It could be he doesn't like you leaving, but clearly he needs to get over that. We thought Koda had SA when we first got him... turns out he was just telling us that he HATED having his bed in there. If he was going to be confined to such a small space, he wanted the cool, hard plastic bottom, not his heat conducting bed.

Try taking his bed out of the crate and just put him in there with a few toys. Step up the crate training and start doing some desensitization training with him (focusing around you Claudia, if you think his problems arise with you specifically).

SA can be acquired and cultivated, it's not necessarily something he came with, so I would nip this in the bud now before it gets worse.

Koda wrote:

I don't have a ton of time to reply cause I have to get on the road, but I think you're doing more disservice to him by letting him out when he "rattles the crate" than you think. Don't do that. You're just teaching him that when he's restless, he can be let out, and then when he CAN'T be let out, he's getting upset. You're undoing all the positive association crate training that you have done by doing that.

I wouldn't call this SA yet. I think he's just telling you he doesn't like something. It could be he doesn't like you leaving, but clearly he needs to get over that. We thought Koda had SA when we first got him... turns out he was just telling us that he HATED having his bed in there. If he was going to be confined to such a small space, he wanted the cool, hard plastic bottom, not his heat conducting bed.

I thought I might have been encouraging his behavior, but that was only 2x...all the other times, he was really good about going in, having the door closed, and him laying down and falling asleep. But all those times he's quiet in his crate, we're in the house, just upstairs where we're not visible. He'll even go in his crate by himself and lay down.

If/when he does gets restless in his crate, what can I try to calm him down?

Tonight, we did a little crate training.
I asked Storm to go in his crate and he got a treat.
I asked Storm to go in his crate and sit quietly and he got a treat.
I asked Storm to go in his crate and sit quietly and closed the door and got a treat.
I asked Storm to go in his crate and sit quietly and closed the door and then opened the door and did not have him come out until I said it was OK and he got a treat.

So we're working on getting him comfy in his crate and being able to leave the house without him stressing out....

So far so good...

Yesterday, I put Storm in his crate, and walked outside to get the mail, and he was fine. I left him in his crate while I was in the house, in the dining room talking on the phone, then I heard him start up with his bed again. So I hung up, and stopped him, and made him lay down for a couple of minutes before I let him out.

Later that night, I decided to take his bed out, thinking Storm may simply not like his bed like Koda. JD gave him his bone, and he gnawed on his bone in his crate for a little while. Then JD let him out. (I can't remember if the door was closed or not).

I put his bed by the front door which is one of 'his spots' to lay. This morning, while leashing up Ginger, getting ready for our morning walk, he started tearing up his bed again, and I stopped him. Pushed the bed aside, and leashed him up and off we went.

Maybe he doesn't like his bed? I bought another travel bed for our room at night, and he does not sleep on it either.

I'm getting him a Kong today and will start crate training him with chew toys while we're gone, and without a bed, so hard plastic in his crate.

I hope I'm training in the right direction.....

You're doing fine! Sometimes certain beds encourage destruction more than others. What type of bed is this? Koda will destroy any bed that isn't a foam one. He sees the other types of bed as just large stuffed toys for him to destroy

I guess the picture of his bed in the beginning of my post is too mutilated to tell - LOL!

But it WAS this kind of bed:

Yup. My guess is Storm is less enthused with its comfort and is more thinking, "HEY! Large stuffed toy to destroy!"

If you want to get him a bed, try these. We just got them for our two and they are IN LOVE. I have a 10% off coupon for overstock if you want to use it too

http://www.overstock.com/Pet-Supplies/Large-Memory-Foam-Dog-Bed-with-Microfiber-Cover/3053907/product.html

we got a memory foam bed for up in our room from costco and it was like $25-$30 Sierra has claimed it as hers, which is good cause that's who we got it for. in our crates they get the pet blankets from costco and they are folded up to take up half the floor, that way if they want to lay on it they can or push it into the corner if they don't want it. they have not eaten them yet....

I think I will go without a bed for now until we can get him trained to be OK in his crate while we're gone. I don't want to buy another bed only to have him tear it up again. (Thanks for the coupon offer!)

Once he's OK, then I look at memory foam beds for his crate.

Now, I gotta go shop for a Storm size Kong...

Two things:

Once Storm masters de-stuffing a normal Kong, you gotta try this kind:


Nikolai can finish off a normal (FROZEN, SOLID) Kong in about 15 minutes. This type lasts him about an hour.

Also, for a crate pad, you might want to check out http://primopads.com/. They stay cool, they're still padded/soft so it's easier on his joints, and they're virtually indestructible and guaranteed.

Just thought I'd share that our Dakota does not like any beds or blankets in his crate. In fact, anything that is left with him in his crate will be destroyed. But if we leave him loose in the house or gated in a bedroom he is a perfect angel. Seems with ours, even after all these years, he still is not content to just relax in the crate...he must destroy things if he's left in the crate for any length of time. For the past year I've been giving him free run of the house or gating him to a section of the house and he's been wonderful.

Huskyluv wrote:

Just thought I'd share that our Dakota does not like any beds or blankets in his crate. In fact, anything that is left with him in his crate will be destroyed. But if we leave him loose in the house or gated in a bedroom he is a perfect angel. Seems with ours, even after all these years, he still is not content to just relax in the crate...he must destroy things if he's left in the crate for any length of time. For the past year I've been giving him free run of the house or gating him to a section of the house and he's been wonderful.

Our Dakota's must have been separated at birth You could be describing my Koda here!

Thanks for sharing! I will look at the Kongs, and I think Storm may be one that is like Dakota and Koda - no bed in his crate...and maybe even like Dakota where Storm will destroy whatever he can when in his crate. I'm thinking he now looks at his crate bed as a stuff toy to de-fluff because he started at it when it was at the front door.

We took G&S to get baths at Petsmart last night and when he was drying in the crate, he managed to reach the info sheet on the outside of the crate and rip it up.

I'm thinking he does not like it in a crate when the door is closed because that's the only time he's starts to fidget...of course, he'll go in his crate, lay down and sleep but it's on his own and with the door open.

We tried again with Storm in his crate - he has no bed in it anymore, but he did have a sheet over his crate to cover the top and sides. We left for an hour and we left him with a bone.

When we came back, he was laying down calm, and we didn't let him out unless he remained calm.

He managed to pull the sheet into his crate and tore it up. Not as bad as his bed, but he tore 2 corners.

If we're at home, and I leave his crate open, he'll go in it by himself and go to sleep.

If we're at home, and I put him in his crate and close the door, he's OK.

Maybe that's what I'll have to keep doing for now....and then leave for 10 minutes, and come back, and keep doing this in increments of 10 minutes until we can work up.....

Ours doesn't like his crate covered either. We tried the sheet over the crate thing in the past as well (based on peoples' suggestions) and we ended up with ripped sheets that he pulled into the crate and destroyed. Ours does best with nothing in or on the crate except a toy and chew.

Huskyluv wrote:

Ours doesn't like his crate covered either. We tried the sheet over the crate thing in the past as well (based on peoples' suggestions) and we ended up with ripped sheets that he pulled into the crate and destroyed. Ours does best with nothing in or on the crate except a toy and chew.

That'll be what we try next. Since hubby is working from home on Wednesday, we're going pretend to leave the house for 15-20 minutes, and peek through the window to see what Storm does in that time.

Huskyluv wrote:

Ours doesn't like his crate covered either. We tried the sheet over the crate thing in the past as well (based on peoples' suggestions) and we ended up with ripped sheets that he pulled into the crate and destroyed. Ours does best with nothing in or on the crate except a toy and chew.

Yup. Our Koda is exactly the same

My Meka is almost 6 months and she is great in the house, and will go in her crate everytime she comes in from outside. She will lie there will i make supper and just hang out. But when i go to work... she loses her mind. she can move the crate around the kitchen, she pants so bad she is completly wet, and to top it off she poops in there too. So itreied leaving her out with the other dogs.. well lets say, she enjoyed the carpet on my stairs. I have tried the calming stuff the vet gave me, that did nothing at all for her. So now i just puther in and hopefully she works herself out of this. I walk her every night, play with her all the time, and the neighbours think i am crazy because i chase her around the back yard to where her out!! She sleeps beside my bed all night on a pillow and never moves. The last two days i have left a nosey fan on and has not made a mess yet! could it be that she hears stuff and gets herself worked up?

Sonya-Lyn wrote:

The last two days i have left a nosey fan on and has not made a mess yet! could it be that she hears stuff and gets herself worked up?

It's possible! There's really never a way to tell. The noise is definitely a calming factor for some dogs. That's why many people recommend leaving the radio on or the television on during the day.

Is the fan blowing on her? If this just started recently, it's possible that she was overheating, leading to the panting/sweating and stress induced elimination in the crate.

In any case, I'm glad it's helping! And keep us posted

Koda wrote:

....The noise is definitely a calming factor for some dogs. That's why many people recommend leaving the radio on or the television on during the day.

Hmm...forgot about this one! When we've left the house, it was quiet....

I remember Eddie talking about taking a week, i think it was, to "stalk" his dogs in the house. He would leave, peep through the windows, and would rush though the door, loudly, when he caught them doing something they shouldn't be doing! It seemed to work for him. You mentioned doing something like that...did it work for you?

Good luck. You are doing everything to encourage good behavior from him. Hopefully, he gets it soon!