Hi everyone, I think I have a problem brewing with Maisie and her crate. As you may know she is not a fan of her crate and this is not getting any better, in fact it's getting worse. She has always been good at going to bed at night and would happily go in the crate, but over the last few weeks she has been refusing to go in willingly and has had to be coaxed in, which has resulted in whining and barking for a while after going to bed. Also, my early morning wake-up calls are back and she will not settle after 5am until I let her out (usually about 6am at the moment ) and then she just wants to sit with me and falls asleep until 7am. I'm not feeding her or even communicating with her, she just seems to want company. I let her bark for about an hour from 5am, which is beginning to get to both me and my husband, yawn! This morning I had to go out for an hour....I got ready to go out without her seeing me and went to the kitchen to get a kong from the freezer to go in her crate, as soon as she saw that the kong and I said "in your bed" she shot out of the backdoor and refused to come back! I got hold of her and tried to gently put her in her crate but she refused to go in and I had to push her in in the end. I left her crying When I came back she hadn't really touched the kong and she was very over excited. She quickly finished her kong in the garden and the fell asleep. This is really worrying me as I have been working hard on leaving her for short times during the day and it's just not getting any better. I wonder if she really hates her crate and if I should just bite the bullet and leave her in the utility room or kitchen with just a bed? I really don't know what to do, as I've followed lots of advice, read everything I can and I seem to have covered everything! What to do? :-\
Re: Crate problem brewing When I go to work in the morning, I always make sure I play with Harley for at least half hour before I go. I used to put the kong in her crate at different times - when I'm just about to go out the door or before I get my bag and shoes ready or whilst I'm getting ready. This helped and the was no routine so she never got 'anxious ' or anything when I went out. A few months ago I started putting Harley in the kitchen when I go to work, I put her bed and a few toys and water in there with her. I have a webcam so I can check on her whilst I'm out. She seems to be much happier in the kitchen - she never really liked the crate from day 1. As for the early mornings, I put Harley up with us from the age of 4 months as I couldn't cope with the restless nights. She now reluctantly gets up at 7.30am for a wee etc, then goes back to bed with my daughter when I go to work. She often sleeps til 10-11am. Weekends, usually around 10.30-11am I know not everyone wants their dogs upstairs (I was one of them), but I am glad I did
Re: Crate problem brewing Oh dear, it does seem like you've got a bit of an issue here with the crate First off I would say don't force her in as this is only going to make the problem worse. Try to entice her in with extra special treats - maybe invest in something really tasty and make that her 'crate only' treats if you can find something she will go wild for. I suppose there are two things you could do in this situation - the first would be re crate training her. Start again at the basics such as feeding all her meals in there, putting treats in there for her to discover on her own, basically just building up all positive associations with the crate. The second would be to say 'stuff it' and just do away with it all together. It sounds like she is quite stressed in her crate - when you say she doesn't eat her kongs in there anymore that's a sure sign of stress when a dog won't eat. Can you think if anything has happened whilst she's been in her crate that might have scared her and could be the reason she's not liking it anymore?
Re: Crate problem brewing Thanks Naya, sounds like bliss, I've forgotten about lie ins!!! When you took her into your bedroom, did you crate her or did she have a bed? Also, do you think being left in the kitchen at 4.5 months is too soon, when she is used to be left in the crate? I try and make sure there is no routine to me leaving her, but it makes no difference :
Re: Crate problem brewing Well, tricky. It does sound like she doesn't like her crate - so somewhere along the line her crate training has broken down. Maybe something has scared her when she has been in the crate, perhaps when you weren't there. If it's safe to leave her out, I'd leave her out and repeat the whole crate training process from step one - including the part about no noise in the crate. Having crate trained my boy late, I do think being comfortable in a crate - and being left without getting into a state - is a necessary skill for a dog so I would try to crack it (but not force her in if she is unhappy about going). Maybe also investigate whether it's the crate or you leaving that's the problem. Even if that's just you going to bed.
Re: Crate problem brewing Hi Lauren! I don't think anything has scared her, she has really hasn't liked her crate since day one. Both your ideas sound good, but I'm inclined to go with number 2! I'm just a bit worried that she still so young and that a change my cause her to be even more unsettled?
Re: Crate problem brewing Harley's bed was moved to our bedroom and she wasn't allowed on the bed until 3 months ago hubby picked her up and put her on the bed to have cuddles and fell asleep with her still on the bed.....now, she starts off on our bed for 10-15 mins, then either gets on her bed or goes into the ensuite. She occasionally comes up again in the morning, but not very much. I think it's about what you want and be consistent with what you allow - OH's like to ignore rules and make their own up.....I'm now a lot firmer on that I left Harley in the kitchen at 6.5 months old and she was fine. Does the crate fit in the kitchen? If so, you could leave the crate door open so she can go in if she wants. Good luck x
Re: Crate problem brewing They adapt quickly to any changes. Plus if she is that unhappy in the crate you might find she settled just fine without it. I would maybe leave it in with her but just don't shut the door and set up a bed outside it for a while to see what she does. Also just get her used to it gradually and she should be ok. I actually think Penny likes her crate even more now that she's not confine in it and can come and go as she wants with a bed in there and one in the kitchen. 9 times out of 10 I come home and find her curled up in there when she never really chooses to go in of her own accord normally.
Re: Crate problem brewing Thanks Julie......lots to think about! I can leave her safely in either the kitchen or utility room, so I'll just have to see how she reacts to not being in the crate.
Re: Crate problem brewing Thanks everyone, what would I do without you all! So I think tonight I'm going to leave the crate door open and put her bed, that she has in the kitchen, in the utility room as well and see what happens.
Re: Crate problem brewing Ash (12weeks) hates his crate and won't settle but happily sleeps in a playpen. We can hear him on the baby monitor around 5am playing with whatever soft toy we put in at night. He doesn't whine till around 7am now. I hope it works out for you. Do let us know how it goes. I'm thinking of moving Ash into the kitchen eventually. Carnie x
Re: Crate problem brewing Hmmm, huge thunder and lightening storm been going on here for hours...I don't think tonight is a good night to try without the crate!!! :
Re: Crate problem brewing [quote author=Penny+Me link=topic=7011.msg95536#msg95536 date=1405690502] They adapt quickly to any changes. Plus if she is that unhappy in the crate you might find she settled just fine without it. I would maybe leave it in with her but just don't shut the door and set up a bed outside it for a while to see what she does. Also just get her used to it gradually and she should be ok. [/quote] I would do as Lauren suggests and try her without the crate, just leaving it with the door open. Even though there's a thunderstorm tonight I'd still try her without the crate. If the crate is not seen by her as a safe haven it won't offer any comfort anyway. The other option is having her in the crate in your bedroom. I personally believe that dogs should sleep near their people, but that is just my opinion
Re: Crate problem brewing [quote author=Oberon link=topic=7011.msg95623#msg95623 date=1405723086] [quote author=Penny+Me link=topic=7011.msg95536#msg95536 date=1405690502] The other option is having her in the crate in your bedroom. I personally believe that dogs should sleep near their people, but that is just my opinion [/quote] I tend to agree with you, Rachel. I don't want Simba on my bed with us, although I know plenty of people don't have a problem with it. But he snuggles down just fine on his bed next to ours, and it all goes very well. Previous dog slept under the bed, but Simba's a little too big for that
Re: Crate problem brewing Gosh and what a thunderstorm that was last night!!! It was Penny's first thunderstorm out of her crate and I wondered what she would be like but I didn't hear a peep out of her. Thankfully she's always been ok with loud noises. Just wondering how you got on last night Debs? Did you decide to leave her out?
Re: Crate problem brewing Morning Lauren! Well, we decided that as the storm was so bad not to leave her out of the crate....and of course we didn't heat a peep from her!! She went in her crate no problem as well :, but has been up since 5 again and then fell asleep on me! Same pattern as before. Operation decrate is going to be put into effect, strangely though I feel really nervous about it after the start we had with Maisie and getting her to sleep through the night! I know, I need to "man-up"!!!!
Re: Crate problem brewing It's ok to be worried about it - I was at first, especially the first time we left her all day while we were at work. I had visions of her running around, clawing the walls, taking stuff off the kitchen counter, distressed because she thought we had abandoned her... Came home and she was curled up in her crate and didn't stir until we opened the baby gate and went to say hello to her! I think she will surprise you. At least you have the weekend to start getting her used to it for short periods - we started with an hour or so while we did the food shopping.
Re: Crate problem brewing Morning all! So, last night I left Maisie in the utility room (where she usually sleeps) in her crate but with the door open and a soft bed by the side of the crate and went to bed. There was silence for about 20 minutes and then the crying,whining, barking and scratching at the door started and continued until about 2am. At 5.30am she went out for a poop/wee came back in at sat in her bed, but looked so forlorn and scared (ears back). At this point I caved in as I knew I was in for another hour of barking and would be up from 6, so decided to take her up stairs and put her on the spare bed, so as not to disturb OH. She immediately closed her eyes and went to sleep until 7.30. The good news is that a) she didn't wreck the utility room b) I got a couple of hours much needed sleep ! ;D The bad news is I gave in......that's the first time since we brought her home that I have given in : As there was no chewing of cupboard doors, etc, I think the crate is going! Thanks for all your fantastic advice as always.
