CRATE HELP! Seperation Anxiety?

[Lindsay n Archie]

My puppy- 11.5 weeks, HATES his crate.  Although we are starting to think he hates being alone altogether. He wont be outside alone (we tried just to see) and will follow us around the house wherever we go (at this point however we are always watching his every move anyways).... BUT the problem is the crate. I have to FORCE him in there. He tries escaping every way possible. I put really fun treats and different kona toys in there, but he pushes it to the other side (there is a divider in there) and wont even touch it. Both my boyfriend and I work during the day, and I go home at lunch to take him out.  At night, he is a little better, he sleeps in it right next to our bed. He will bark at night for a few minutes and then go to sleep. But i think its because we are right there. During the day though, I have to shove him in.  I know this probably isnt the best, but I have to get to work. I dont know what to do. I just got back from lunch and it was even worse.  He literally barks the ENTIRE day. He did lick the Kona toy, but didnt chew it, just licked the end pumpkin off  it not even the middle.  Im assuming this really is not normal.... Should I make it bigger, move the divider? He pees outside, but only because we take him out all the time. He sort of goes to the back door when he has to go, or sniffs around and we take him out. So i dont know if I make the crate too big he will pee in it. He obviously would injure himself if we let him around the house all day, so that isnt an option either. And he can jump/ climb gates, so leaving him in the kitchen with gates isnt an option either.  I could put him in an empty bedroom , which has carpet, so I dont think he would learn to be potty trained.... And i think its not just the crate, but when he is away from us. ANY suggestions would be so helpful.. Has anyone had any experiences like this before?

[Star and Goldie]

Yes this sounds exactly like what I experienced with Goldie. It was exhausting and I didn't think it would ever get better but it did.

Do you have a crate cover? That really makes a huge difference, especially when dealing with crate and separation anxiety. I have a black crate cover so it stays dark and cozy in there for her.

I also removed the divider all together. Now, this goes against the norm and what most people would advise but I was at a point where I was willing to try ANYTHING. I removed the divider, put in a water resistant bed and I change the toys up often that I put in there- a couple plush toys and nylabones (I change out the nylabones so she never has the same ones 2 days in a row).

Once I removed the divider it made all the difference in the world. I think the divider made her feel more caged. While it may be best to keep them in a small area for potty training reasons, when dealing with crate anxiety it seemed the small area made them even more anxious.

You can also help teach that the crate is a fun safe place by leaving the door open while you're home and putting treats in there- rewarding the good behavior of going in the crate.

I also leave the tv on while I'm at work. This is also a great idea because it keeps her hearing the same sounds she hears when I'm home... Disney Junior ;)

What you are experiencing is not abnormal but just know that it does get better! Once I made the changes for Goldie it was less than a week when she started loving her crate.

Good luck!!

[Lindsay n Archie]

So nice to know that I am not the only one. It seriously breaks my heart hearing him bark when i leave AND get home, knowing he has been doing it the entire time.... I think I will remove the divider. Do you think for night time too? How old was Goldie when you removed it? I will try the blanket over it. A little nervous he will chew on it. I leave the tv on the music channel- little classic rock for the pup =) maybe I will put it on HGTV =) something he might be alittle more familiar with! Thanks!

[Star and Goldie]

I removed the divider all together, both day and night. I do think that covering the crate will do wonders. If he doesn't have as hard of a time at night it's probably because it's dark at night so he doesn't necessarily see the cage look. Goldie chewed on the blanket for a few days because she could pull it in a little but no harm done. Goldie was 11 weeks old when I removed the divider and by 12 weeks we had no crate more crate issues!

[Rebecca bratter]

I'm glad I'm not the only one either, seems like quite a few of this have the crate issue.  I get so jealous when people tell me their dogs love their crate and go in voluntarily, this has never been the case with us.  Madiba hates being alone, just hates it, I cannot crate her when we leave the house, she will almost chew her paw off to get out and she gets extremely distressed.  I know this isn't right but for peace of mind, we let her free range when we leave.  We never leave her alone more than 2 hours.  She is 4.5 months and has never had an accident when she is out roaming.  We live in a 2 bedroom apartment and she considers our bedroom her den.  When we leave she apparently drags all of her toys in their and goes to sleep on our clothes, usually the dirty ones.  When we return she emerges from the bedroom and does her little crazy dance because she is so happy to see us.  I'm still learning but I am struggling with the separation anxiety and its nice to have others to share this experience with and learn from each other. 

[Lindsay n Archie]

Did she have any accidents in her crate once you removed the divider? Is she potty trained now?

[Star and Goldie]

I think she may have had 1 or 2small  accidents at most but nothing major. I put in the water resistant bed just in case because I was fully expecting to have to clean it out every day. I was pleasantly surprised when that was not the case.Yes she is completely potty trained now.

[Jennifer]

Our doodle HATED the crate too. He barked incessantly whenever he was in it. He would freak out so much that he would get the plastic floor out of it. We'd come home and it would be half way across the room. Nothing I tried seemed to make a bit of a difference (kong filled treats, cover, music, treats everytime he went in it etc...). I pretended to leave once to see if he calmed down after we left but was shocked at what I witnessed. He carried on the entire time, he attempted to bite every corner of the door to get out. He was relentless, it broke my heart.

For us, once we could trust that he wouldn't potty in the house we began testing him while we were gone and leaving him out of the crate. We have never had any issues with him ruining anything while we're gone. I'm confident he sits in the window the whole time waiting for our return. We stopped using the crate by 5 months if I remember correctly.

Now he only seems to freak out when we get home. As soon as he see's us he starts barking and carrying on. It's nice to feel the love though. Oh boy is he happy to see us.

 

 

 

[Lindsay n Archie]

Thanks! It is so heartbreaking. Ugh torture.  Did you let your doodle free range of the house at 5 months or a particular area?  This is unrelated- but at 5 months how often did you take him outside. Would he be on a schedule or just go to the door when he had to go out?  We are trying the bell ringing thing.  Not working yet! But the door he uses is downstairs, so once we give him free range of the house, if he has to go, he will have to ring the bell OR we will have to take him out on a regular schedule. Ah i dont know! 

I think I will feed him dinner in his crate tonight (not closed) to see if he will even go in it. =/ Thanks for your advice!

[Jodi Riseberg]

I am having similar issue just recently.  Ozzy is 4 1/2 months and sleeps great in crate from 11-5:30- a few barks at 11PM and then nothing.  However, when I go to work and try to put him in the crate he freaks out.  Our crate has a zipper and escaped twice- I am going to try and gate off small den where the crate is but I think he will still freak as I really think he just wants to be in the SAME room or area with the family.  It's hard as my 3 kids are home alot now and I work part time- he literally sleeps most of the time and I almost think he would just sleep on the floor waiting for our return but feel like he is way to young to be left wandering the downstairs of our house.  He can't get upstairs, but rest of house is open floor plan so really difficult to gate off area.  I am so anxious about it.  I hope he at least still likes the crate at night and am praying a gate in small den works but I fear he will bite or jump over gate!  Any suggestions????  Thank you!!!

[Jodi Riseberg]

It is endearing as they just want to be with you- but so stressful when you have to go to work!  I think gate may cause anxiety too but might try that next and then I guess free roaming of house- isn't there like a video camera you can buy and there is an app on iphone or something where you can watch them????

[Jodi Riseberg]

Lastly- has anyone heard about a drop cam?  Wondering if video taped while out- would give me piece of mind- could test for 15 minutes first and then increase time away and see if pup is just snoozing which I think he would be!

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

I use this to keep an eye on things while I'm gone.  It works pretty well for what it is.

http://www.vuezone.com/