Doodle Hates Her Kennel

[Becky]

Hi everyone,

Come Friday we will have had Sunny for three weeks and she'll be 11 weeks old, so she's just a little snipper.  And she's just great!  We couldn't be happier with her personality and she's so fluffy I could just die!!  But the problem is, she absolutely HATES her kennel!

We used a piece of plywood with zip ties to partition it in half since it's quite large and she's so small.  We also have a drape over three sides of it and don't put any fabric or bedding in it, at least until she's certain of not having an accident.  I'm a stay at home Mom so most of the time there's someone here with her, but occasionally we do have to go out into the world, so into the kennel she goes.  The longest time she's been in there is three hours.  Up till yesterday she cries but it hasn't been too bad.  We'll sneak up to the front door to see how she's doing and we'll hear her crying, even after a few hours.  

Well, yesterday we got home and she was out, the door was still shut so it was a bit of a mystery.  Until I looked closer.  She had used her mouth and bent two of the wire bars and actually snapped one off at the joint and there was a tuft of fur where she had squeezed herself out!  This hole couldn't have been more that five or six inches across.   And what if that wire had punctured her and she'd spent hours bleeding and in pain!  My husband used a bunch of zip ties and criss crossed the hole shut, but the thought of sticking her back in there kind of freaks me out.

She's so mellow, sweet and loving, very low key kind of girl. I don't want to give her some sort of stress trauma and I certainly don't want her to injure herself!  But she has to have a secure place to be when we're not around.  With four kids I cannot guarantee that there isn't a random sock or Lego man lying around to be swallowed.

Please!  I could really use some advice.  I've put her favorite stuffed goose in there for comfort as well as a Bully Stick and frozen Kong with PB for her to have something to do, but nothing seems to help.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Neither of mine used a crate.  I know it is recommended, but as a puppy Beau had giardia and I did not want to have to deal with that in a crate.  Also, he was just too hot in a crate and it did not matter whether their was a mat or not. When we had to leave him alone, we baby gated off the bathroom area and put his crate (with its door open) in there.  I never found him in the crate, he preferred to sleep on the cool tile and still does - he is almost 4 now.  You could also possibly use an x-pen which would keep her confined.  I would be concerned with ply wood in a crate as a barrier because if she gets bored, she might chew it and get wood pieces off which could also cause tummy issues.  It won't be long and she will be reliable alone.  Hang in there.  I am sure others will chime in here. 

[Becky]

Yikes!  Good point about the plywood!

Our house is not air conditioned but there's a big ceiling fan in the room above her kennel.  We do have a very small bathroom in the coolest part of the house.  Maybe we'll try using that.  Thanks for the idea.

[Stella]

Susan Garrett's Crate Games DVD is a great tool for teaching your dog to love their crate :)

[Becky]

Thank you!  I'll check her out.

[Janet & Jaxson]

When Jaxson was little we fed him all his meals in his crate.  Just a suggestion.  Good luck!

[Becky]

We will give that a try.  It also has the added bonus of keeping the 15 month old from paddling in the water dish.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

I would use a small baby gate, rather than closing door.  That way they do not feel as confined.  Years ago I bought the superyard XT and I have used it on many occasions for puppies, etc.

Some ideas:

[Diane and Alma]

Alma never liked her crate either.  Although she would never chew her way out, she would become submissive (lay on her back) and pee on herself.  We decided to use gates - keeping her first in the kitchen and then eventually extending her environment when we felt she wouldn't cause a problem.  We left a gate in our hallway so she couldn't get into the kid's rooms or the bonus room filled with lego's.  She is now 7 and has free reign of the house except the laundry room - just as a precaution.  (My kids are 16 and 17 so the lego's are no longer strewn about.)  If you do decide to keep using a crate, perhaps you should look into the cargo/plastic type.  Good luck.

[Becky]

That would work with the layout of our house.  We may just have to go that route if she can't adjust.

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

Curious- you mentioned that the longest she has been in there is 3 hours... where does she sleep at night?

[Becky]

We have a dog bed next to our bed upstairs and we keep our door closed so she doesn't have free roam of the house.  She's a terrific sleeper!  The first night she whimpered a bit so I just slept with my hand on her back.  Ever since she just follows us, curls up on her bed and goes right to sleep.  She's quite jealous that the cats get to sleep on the bed though!

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

One suggestion- if you really want her to get used to staying in a kennel while you are gone, I'd have her sleep in it, too. That way she doesn't associate going in there with you always leaving.

Winnie was never a huge fan of her kennel. Once she was potty trained we started leaving the kennel door open at night (it was in our room) and she never wanted to go in there. When we were gone during the day, we gated off the kitchen and put her kennel in there with the door open. Again, she never went in. Since she wasn't a "chewer," we decided to ditch the kennel and give her run of the house at 6 months.