Crate Training and My Fun and Games

[Gaz_1989 9,539]

Please only read on if you are very bored or dont have much going on in your life at the moment, this post became quite long...

 

I am really surprised at how effective a crate can be. I used one for my terrier when I first got her and she took to it straight away. Never emptying herself in there, even when left 8-2 while I went to work. And she was as quiet as a mouse when in there, never made a sound. She would go in of her own accord and curl up. I thought that I had just got a good one and she had maybe been crate trained before by previous owner.

 

However I’ve recently had a few issues with my lurcher and resorted to crating her at night. Which I thought was going to cause massive issues.

 

She is a very mard bitch and cries for me if I go to the shop. If there was a room full of people offering her food and I was in the room without food, she would be sat on my feet and not want to leave me. I spent the first few months trying to really establish a solid bond with her, fetching her in from her kennel more often than I usually would with any other dog, just to bond with her. Take her out in the car with me, to wickes or B&Q just to spend as much time as possible with her, so maybe I have made her mardy without meaning to.

 

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I was off work sick with a bug, it was a really bad one and knocked me sideways, I had 4 days off work and then the following week worked from home, all in all I was at home for about 15-16 days straight, for which I had her in the house sat at my side while I worked (on my laptop). At first I just had her in during the day, then after a few days after she had been in all day I felt a bit unfair putting her in her freezing cold kennel at 10pm when she had been in the warmth all day.

 

Inevitably the time came (last week) to return to work, so I decided to try and let her become a house dog full time, after all I do like having her around more. So I left her in the kitchen, closed all the doors and went to work 9-3, came home and she had destroyed everything she could, anything she could get off the worktops she had dragged off and shredded, dining table chewed, chairs chewed, floor scratched, door frame chewed away, door scratched etc. She had pretty much fretted all day. Now she is fine at night when we go to bed, she curls up on her bed, she might cry for 5 minutes when we first turn the lights off and go to bed but nothing much. There is never any funny business like this.

 

So on day 2 I moved her into the hall way, only a small area 4’ x 4’ square, closed the 3 doors and left her to it. I might add there is a stair gate at the top of the stairs which she could jump but NEVER has. There is a stair gate between kitchen and living room and she never enters the living room without my say so and never jumps the gate. She is very good at respecting the house boundaries.

 

On returning home there was much less destruction, door chewed slightly but not a lot, but there wasn’t a lot to damage even if she wanted to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On day 3, the inevitable happened; she jumped the stair gate and rummaged through all 3 bedrooms and the bathroom, shredded a few of my daughters teddys and clothes, ripped everything out of the windows and a pair of curtains etc. So on day 4 she was back in the kennel, as expected she was howling like mad. I went to work for 2 hours, popped back to check on her and she was still howling like a wolf. The neighbours said she hadn’t stopped howling for the whole time I was gone. This was yesterday.

 

So last night, last resort, I fetched a crate in from the garage. Now she has been kennelled her whole life and never even seen a crate as far as im aware. At first she was reluctant to go in, I fed her in there and then physically put her back in a few times, leaving the door open so she can come and go.

 

Within an hour she was coming and going on her own and settling in there really well, I let her out to empty herself at 9pm and then closed the crate door for the night. She didn’t make a peep all night. This morning she’s been for a good walk and had a turkey neck and ive left her crated for the day. Hopefully she’s not been howling, im sure the neighbours will let me know tonight.

 

Im not really sure what the point of this post was to be honest, just wanted to share my experiences with people and let them know that crates can and do work well.

 

The only down side is that it is a big ugly thing in the kitchen, Im thinking about building something around it so that its like a corner cupboard with a worktop on it, or maybe putting it under the stairs and taking the door off. Im not sure yet.

 

 

One thing I cant work out is why a dog would prefer to be locked in a crate for 8 hours than in a 14’ x 4’ kennel and run with fresh air, birds tweeting, room to stretch her legs and empty herself?

 

This was her last night looking like she feels very sorry for herself…

 

[lapin2008 1,587]

I have had almost exactly the same when i have been at home for long periods of time either working from home or off ill and spent long periods with the dogs up in my office. If the crate being in the kitchen full time is viable and doesnt get under your feet too much and you want her in the house leave her there but they are cumbersome so I would try get her back outside.

 

One of mine howled the place down when i first put him back out and the neighbors had all been sharpening their pitch forks! I used one of those remote electric collars till he learnt to pipe down. So i could nuke him from inside the house if he started, then when he got used to being quiet with us in the house i would get in the car drive 100 yards down the road and if he started nuke him. It took about a week to sort it. He hasnt howled in a while but I still put the collar on him when I know he will be in there for a few hours even though i probably havent charged the collar for the past year

[Sadie 55]

Classic separation anxiety being locked away from the pack i.e you. The cage or crate is working because he shes is having no choice and is a lot more restricted. As long as you feed them in the crate at the start they see it as a good place and one to retreat to when they want alone time.

[littlefish 587]

Glad it is working for you.......it's a lot cheaper than refurbishing your house! Mine do spend time in the crates and are very settled - I put blankets over the top and sides to make them more like dens. My dogs get fed in them as well - so the crates are good places to be. Anyone looking cheap cages look on 'doghealth' site.

http://www.doghealth.co.uk/collections/cages-crates/products/silver-dog-cages

[hutch6 550]

Top tip from littlefish - I chucked an old duvet cover over my crate when I was fostering so the only opn bit was the front. Why does this work? Well think of it this way, if you were to be left alone in a new place would you rather be left in a large open expanse with weird shadows, strange lighting, loads of stuff to take your frustrations out on or would you rather be in a smaller area with only one direction to defend and worry about?

 

I once tried this once, because I am sad and want to get inside my dog's head, and it bored me to tears after about 40mins. Go to an empty bedroom, make sure there are no entertainment things like TVs, radios, anything to read and you are not allowed to look out of the window. Now just see how long it takes for you to get bored, it won't take very long at all. Now imagine that every day for numerous hours a day and you quickly get the idea of why dogs go bananas when you leave them with endless opportunities to get into mischief.

 

There is a very good book by Patricia McConnell called "I'll be back soon" which takes you through separation anxienty in dogs in a good level of detail. The best thing to teach a dog to try an aliviate the symptoms is "Stay" as getting to the point where you can say "stay" and leave the room out of sight to the dog for an extended time period (5mins) teaches the dog self reliance and also that you'll be back in a bit so there is nothing to panic about.

 

A change in routine really throws a dog out too as they get used to the set times of walks, feed, toilet breaks etc so they can relax knowing they will get walked, fed and a toilet break.

[skycat 6,174]

The main reasons that most dogs like being in crates in the house are 1) they feel they are living in the main pack den, your house: so a much more secure place to be than stuck outside in a kennel, and 2) being shut in a small space like a crate can make them feel even more secure as they physically cannot rampage about chewing and winding themselves up into a state at being left on their own. It's a bit like a kid which goes over the top and then can't settle down until it falls asleep: all the time it is racing about and getting hysterical that emotion and movement perpetuates the feeling that action/hysteria is good. A bit like an overwound watch which can't unwind.