KENNEL DESTORIER

Mydogs

I am so worried that she will hurt herself and I am disappointed too.  I took in a rescue thinking it was a good thing,

I understand why you're frustrated but I don't understand why you feel disappointed.  Dogs from shelters/rescues often come with behavior problems that require some extra effort on the part of the new owner.  Rescuing a dog is a good thing but to paraphrase something I read recently; don't put on your hero hat simply because you rescued a dog. 

There is never any guarantee when it comes to dogs.  Dogs from shelters, rescues, street strays and dogs from responsible breeders can all have or develop behaviours that are challenging.  Comparing your new dog to your old dog isn't fair to Freida.  She needs you to learn how to help her adjust to the crate while you're gone or to find another solution that works for her and for you.   

There's a great booklet written by Patricia McConnell called "I'll Be Home Soon". You can order it from her website or from Dogwise.  It's less than $10.00.  There can't be any reason why you can't get this and follow the protocol. There is no magic.  There is no easy fix that you can do in a few hours. 

 I don't know if Freida has full blown separation anxiety.  I do think it's very possible that this is a component of why she is destroying crates when left home.  I agree that crating her for 7 hours isn't cruel.  I suggest you might try letting her have some freedom while you're gone.  Start with short trips.  You don't trust her loose but she may be fine. Many dogs with SA are worse in a crate.  Most dogs lay around and nap during the day. Dog proof your home.  Make sure she's got access to water and toys to chew on but not to things you don't want her to chew.  Yep, it takes some work and effort on your part. 

Yes, I have dealt with what you're going through and I educated myself on how to help my dogs. I'm a dog nut.  Reading and learning about dog behavior is something I love.  There is a wealth of information available from behavior experts. Most of it is for people who need help with their dogs.  Relying on an internet forum is only going to slow down your progress if that is your only resource for advice.  If you'd like more book recommendations I'll be happy to provide them. 

 Hang in there.  It can get better and you will feel a lot of satisfaction for saving a dog who needed that extra effort from a loving, committed person.

Oh Jackie thank you for your reply.  Believe me I do not own a Hero Hat, and I don't think of it that way and I am not looking for a pat on the back.  I chose to give a home to a dog that needed one rather than place an order for a dog from a breeder.

Freida has my heart (and I miss Pella, because I know she would have helped Freida adjust, she would have known what to do, she would have helped me with Freida). 

Freida is only in her kennel when we are gone. She is not in it at night, she is well behaved, but we have another dog, so I need to give some time to leaving them both alone and loose.  Freida doesn't know her size yet.

I will get the book you recommended, I love to research these things and even though I posted on the forum, I look to the forum for alittle guidance from others (like yourself) as to what they did to get through things.

Right now I feel better about this, she is a good dog, very loving and smart.  She needs to learn that she can't have it all right away. 

I had asked my DH if he gave her his jacket when he left for work this morning to comfort her, and he told me no.  But when I got home it was in her kennel, she pulled it through the bars off the chair next to the kennel.  Amazing.

Thanks again for your comments and suggestions. Onward and upward for me.

Mydogs

Onward and upward for me.

That's the spirit.  I know how discouraging it can be at times. 

 Believe me I know. lol  My dog Belle destroyed a very expensive crate the second day when I left her for a few hours.  She tore up countless books, pooped in several places, peed in both bedrooms and managed to open the sliding glass door (bad latching mechanism) and tracked mud all over the entire house. Did I mention that she tore down the blinds and chewed them up?  My husband got home before me and thought we'd been burglarized. 

 Now Belle can be left alone all day without any problems. Is she a perfect dog?  Nope, far from it but I'm far from being a perfect human.  Right now she's barking at me (yes, I've worked and worked on this. lol) to take them outside to play.  I'll ignore her until she's quiet.  She's also a sweet loving dog that I wouldn't trade for anything. :) 

The most challenging dogs are the ones that have taught me the most. 

That's so sweet that Freida wanted your husband's jacket for comfort.  Dogs are amazing.

Another book that really resonated with me is by Jean Donaldson.  It's called Culture Clash.  It gives so much insight into why dogs do what they do and why we often misunderstand their motives.

 Does she have to be in a crate?  What is your floor plan like -- is it possible to pen her in the kitchen, so she has room to move around, set out some puppy pads, a bed, toys?  You may have to newspaper the entire area if she is not potty trained yet.  Make sure you clear the counters, so that you don't start her with counter surfing behaviors!

 I've had 7 rescues in 5 years, some came from homes, others from the pound, one is a puppy mill rescue.  I do not crate, at all, ever.  It just doesn't work for us.  I've used play pens, X-pens, and gated off the kitchen when they weren't ready for run of the house, but never have I contained them.  Puppy mill rescues can NOT be crated, at all, ever, rest of their life.  But that is just one of my 7.

 

 

 

My dogs are crated when we are at work, and one of them, Chip, is scared of thunder. He has systematically demolished his crate in order to escape from it. We have done everything from cable tying the walls of the crate to adding extra clamps to the latches. He still finds a way out, which is why his snout currently looks like he was attacked by a badger. Sometimes, if I know the weather will be bad, I will crate him with his buddy Tar. Sometimes that helps, but not always. So while I have no advice for you, I do feel your pain.

Thank you Freedom and Marlania as well.

Freida is completely house broke, but at 6 months she is too young to be left loose in the house. (although right not the kennel isn't a happy place for her either.

But I am going to try and put our other dog(Abby) in a kennel set up next to Freida's and see if that makes a difference. Something changed, because she was doing so good in her kennel from the start, I think she is now thinking she just doesn't need to be in there.

I will keep youposted on how it goes. Thanks again guys.

ok, so today I put Abby in a kennel next to Freida's kennel, and she was fine!

Is this fair to Abby to kennel her after 5 years of being free to roam the house?

Now this, I think I can help you with. I have 5 dogs. My oldest (Brown) passed away recently at 14, and my now oldest (Grey, 12) were our only two for several years. These two were never crated until maybe 2 years ago while all the others were, and they adapted just fine. No one put up a stink, and Grey loves his crate. I think a couple of things made this transition easier. For one, all of the dogs were crated next to each other in my air-conditioned garage. Secondly, I feed them in their crates so when I say "kennel," they run one another over to get there. Even when it's not feeding time and I have to crate them for whatever reason, I toss them a few kibbles, and they look at me like "What the hell?!" if I forget. So in their world, kennel=food, and they'll do anything for food.

I don't think it's unfair to Abby to crate her.  I crate all my dogs at various times and for various reasons.  They've all been rewarded for getting in their crates and as marlania described, they rush to get in their crates and get their treat.  I'm glad you seem to have worked out a solution and I hope Freida decides that things are fine in the crate with Abby next to her. :)

Mydogs

Is this fair to Abby to kennel her after 5 years of being free to roam the house?

In honesty "fair" is pretty much a human concept. Most of them adapt very well to a "this is what we're going to do *now*" type of thing.

Like Marlania my crates are all together next to each other -- it creates more of a "den" atmosphere and will actually help the two of them bond.

True but funny story: for many years we had a cockatiel named Hootie. Hootie's big cage sat on top of the biggest crate (Luna's). One night we had a nasty propane leak -- fire dept. called, trucks, firemen, hoses all over the place while they tried to burn off the propane until the gas compoany could get there.

Of course we had to leave the house - and it was raining. So David and I sat down near the road -- I had the three dogs on leash and David sat Hootie's cage down next to me. Suddenly we had Luna on one side, Foxy on the next side, and Billy on the 3rd exposed side of Hootie's cage. There was so much going on that all I cared was that the dogs weren't bothing Hootie, but I figured they wouldn't

One of the firemen cut just a wee bit too close to Hootie's cage and received a warning growl from 2 of the 3 dogs and a bark from the 3rd. One of the firemen punched his buddy in the arm and said "Lookit that!! That bird has his buddies protecting all sides of his cage! And that's pretty danged funny considering two of the three dogs are hunting-type dogs. You'd best watch yourself -- that's the best protected Cockatiel in the County!!" Hootie had simply become part of the 'pack' because his cage was with theirs. There was no worry at all that one of the dogs would bother Hootie. Like the man said ... they'd each taken a side of his cage and were protecting part of their own from the men in the big coats. The dogs never had to deal with Hootie being free in their presence -- always crated

"pack" -- it's a wonderful word.

Callie, good story.

It all makes perfect sense now, kennel near each other,creates bonding.... pack created  (maybe I can get my DH to sit on top of the kennels and he will get his spot too in th pack,LOL)

I know this sounds wierd, but I already notice they get along better, and Freida isn't so wired when she gets out of her kennel now - but she still jumps like a pogo stick at me for 10 minutes, then settles down.

Thank you forum members - I think this is a closed case for me.  (and to think a few days ago, I was at wits end over this, in tears, and looking at buying a 500.00 kennel for her)

Marilynn

Just wanted to post this, paid 95.00 to get a tooth pulled the rest of the way out, it appears Freida up rooted one while pulling on the kennel on Wednesday.  I noticed she wasn't chewing much these last days and took a peek in her mouth, och! That had to hurt.

No,meds, vet said it should heal fine on it's own.