Barking in crate when mom is watching

[Stacy]

Can we troubleshoot another new issue I'm having? I'm going to ask the trainers too, but we always have such good ideas here.

Maggie started this scent work class. I think it's going to be fun. But it's one dog out in the training area at a time and the rest are crated in full sight, across the room against the wall. I put her in a plastic crate because that's what she uses at home. 

She's at complete attention, standing at the crate door watching me. And I'm sitting in a chair at full attention watching her. And I'm sure she can feel my stress, but I already know this isn't going to go well. She starts barking. Not all the time, but intermittently. And it's loud, distracting, and embarrassing, and no one else's dog is barking. So I go over and sit next to the crate. It doesn't seem to change the frequency of barking. So I opened the door and practically sat inside the crate with her. That did stop her barking, but not really what I want to do every week. 

She's crate trained at home. I crate her when I work. It's not her favorite thing, but she goes in and as far as I know she doesn't bark in there. I check on her intermittently and she's not barking. She isn't barking when I leave or when I get home. She won't take treats inside the crate at all. So I can't just get her something to chew on while she waits. And recently she has just started going in and hanging out in Willow's wire crate in the kitchen. That may just be to get some peace from the puppy, but with the door open she goes in and lays down and looks very relaxed. 

So what do we do? I can try a wire crate. I don't know if I should just ignore her and hope we don't get kicked out of the club before she stops. Or stay out of the room until it's our turn or... there's got to be a trick. How do I get her to just relax and wait? I'm not leaving. She's completely fine. 

[Deborah Brown]

We go to a lot of similar classes so I see this happen with many dogs.  I suggest you cover the crate.  Bring a light blanket from home that smells familiar.  If she can't see you, she most likely will settle down.

[Stacy]

We'll give that a try. It's easy enough to do. I do think that if I wasn't so anxious about it she probably wouldn't worry as much.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is probably not the answer you are looking for, but I think that all performance sports don't work for all dogs. I know nose work would not be a good choice for Jasper, because he would be very unhappy with all the down time. He needs something with more frequent movement and more activity, something faster paced. He would be shrieking in the crate in that nose work class. 

I have been told by more than one person that nose work is a good choice for dogs who are uncomfortable around other dogs, and even around strange people, because they do work one on one with their handler with no interaction with other dogs and not many people, distractions, crowds, etc. That doesn't mean that well-adjusted dogs who are fine with other dogs and strange people can't be great at nose work, but it does mean that in any nose work class or event, you are going to have a whole lot of dogs who are perfectly happy in a crate where nobody can get at them, lol. We took one beginner class and two different dogs wanted to kill Jasper when he tried to meet them. 

I think you have to ask yourself if this is something you really, really really want to do with Maggie. Maybe it's just not her thing. If you do want to continue, I think people who are deeply involved and successful in nose work would be your best resources for handling this.

We have a member here, Gina (here's her profile) whose dogs have advanced multiple titles in nose work and who is teaching it or studying to teach it, to other instructors. She's a pro, and I'm sure she would be happy to help you. I'm just not sure she is going to see this discussion. I could message her if you'd like. 

[Deborah Brown]

Awww, Karen, don't discourage her! Nosework is a great sport.  I've never met a dog who didn't love it. God gave them those wonderful noses and they love to use them.  It can take awhile to acclimate to a training environment.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm not trying to be discouraging, I'm really not. But there are a lot of different performance sports dogs can excel in and love. The main thing to me, first and foremost, is that you are both having fun. 

I don't think that in this case it is an issue of acclimating to a training environment, because Maggie and Stacy have participated in a lot of training classes and training environments I think it may be that this one particular activity is not the right one for this particular team. :)

Jasper did not love the one nose work class he took and I'm pretty sure he would not have loved it if we'd continued. And I was bored out of my mind. I think I might let him use his nose at Barnhunt. At least there, he can run around. :)

[Stacy]

Plus rats have got to be exciting! 

[Deborah Brown]

I didn't know Stacy's history.  Inexplicably, this question just popped up in my email so I checked in.  I agree that not every sport is for every dog and/or person.

My dogs were not impressed with Barn Hunt.  If the rats were lose it would be a different story.  They would love the chase.  But just smelling them was boring.  ;)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jasper is going to kill something before the summer is gone. (If it ever gets here, lol) I have never had a dog with a higher prey drive. He is convinced that if he could just stretch himself up a tiny bit taller, he could catch one of the birds that flies over the yard. He's also trying to learn how to climb trees. 

It will be interesting to see if he likes Barn Hunt or not. It might be frustrating for him if he can't actually eat the rat. :D

[Stacy]

These girls, mostly Maggie, would really like to catch a squirrel. So far they are not fast enough. I don't know what I will do if they actually catch one. Scream a lot, most likely. They don't seem as interested in the birds. They will run and make them fly away but they don't seem like they're trying to catch it. Cats are another thing that they would like to catch. There was one in the backyard one day and they chased it up the electric pole. There was another one, or maybe the same one standing on top of my fence the other day. Is it weird that I think the cat was trying to catch a squirrel? The dogs didn't see it that time, so there wasn't any drama, but I was waiting for it. 

The opossums always worry me. They show up when I let them out in the dark, especially when I get home late after work. Last fall they scared one into fainting and were kind of tossing it around. It left after I got them back inside so I don't think they hurt it. But I wish the opossums would just be smart enough to pick one of the yards without dogs. 

I think she would get really excited about barn hunt. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Clancy, Charlie, and even Ned will be glad to complete Jasper's instruction on catching and killing critters.  While we live in a completely urban environment, we have been brought gifts of lizards, birds, possums, and wild kittens.  They are expert ground squirrel chasers too as well as chicken and African Grey Parrot stalkers.  They aim to please.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jasper says he hopes to someday match your boys' accomplishments. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And I have found a place not too far away that does lure coursing, and will accept any breed! That could be right up his alley!