i need info on how to help a 3 year old bitch that has problems with her crate, either in the house or in the van, she guards it terribly he is not a guarding breeding but a herding dog, she has had a couple of homes and now needs to be rehomed due to this problem any ideas how you would go about retraining her to be comfortable with people and other dogs moving around her area , i have not decided if i am going to take her yet but i know the owner is getting desperate so i really would like to help, i am not sure how to help though, she won't let you open her cage when she is in it she flies at the door teeth etc brilliant with other dogs,children,adults only probs cage i know do not let her in the cage at home sorted but the dogs travel in the cages in the van and i need to get her out at shows etc, plus she is going to have a job when she comes here,agility,flyball,obedience any ideas please i do not really want to muzzle her in the cage as i am thinking she is stressed enough so before i make a final decision as i do not want to say yes and then realise i can't cope and she has to be rehomed again i know the owner of her does not want her to go into rescue kennels and i really like her i know i should not say i don't want her because of this problem just want to make sure i can help her thought i would ask any ideas on hear anybody had the same problem and solved it , i do not want a quick solution as have rescues already that came with probs and they sorted well as much as they can be .

I don't think there is a quick fix for this. I think it is hard to give advice without seeing the dog in situ. I would really advise some professional help.

This is a guess but it sounds like a kind of resource guarding born of stress/anxiety and she feels safe enough in that small space to show it. However, there could be other reasons. Broadly, I would suspect it is about making her feel secure and probably using something like clicker training and target training to get her used to going in and out of a crate willingly.

I assume she is spayed and that this is not a variation on hormonal nesting behaviour that has got out of hand?
When people sound really worried, as you do, I would always suggest getting a proper assesssment and advice as it would be so easy to get it wrong on here at a distance.

What a lovely person you are to be thinking of helping this little dog,i wish you all the luck in the world.

As an intrim untill you get this sorted could you tie a longish strap on the catch so you can open the cage without her feeling quite so threatened, Open it from a distance so to speak. Maybe once the door is open she will come out willingly.
Aileen

Good idea Merlot.

Can her crate (or bed) be placed inside a pen?  If so you may be able to leave the door to her crate ajar and work on her exits (or walking away from her bed) without fear of injury or escalation.  Using Merlot's distance opening idea will be great for the pen too.   Incidentally how is she if left behind a baby gate rather than a crate?

I think an experienced behaviourist would be able to offer help as there are obviously some serious issues here and timing is going to be critical BUT I wonder if there are exercises you could work on that might help:

Sending her onto a mat and recalling from that spot, walking straight through crates with both doors open (no bed in there), general door manners for gates and normal household doors etc.  It doesn't feel like it will be an insurmountable problem but might just need some lateral thinking and bit of help.  I wish you luck and well done for thinking of taking her :)

I would strongly suggest you read "Mine" A practical guide to resource guarding in dogs" by Jean Donaldson.  In it there is a step by step guide to resolving this sort of problem. 

Tohme,

Yes, while I am pretty sure the girl can be turned round it is important to figure out exactly what is going on and why in order to ensure that the problem is not made worse by the wrong intervention. I do think a behaviourist would be best in this case. 

Definitely hard to give advice over the internet without seeing the dog in question but I did some work with someone who's own dog used to bite them and draw blood if they went near him in his bed (and on other occasions)...we worked on this and a couple months down the line anyone can stroke him in his bed with no problems.  I would say it's a case of calling someone in that can actually assess the dog and see the problem first hand.  But it is lovely of you to think of taking her in and I hope all works out.

I have no help to offer in the case of crate training, other than has already been said. However, I do have a thought. Would it be possible to attach her to a car harness and just have her strapped in on a seat? Even just as an alternative while you are teaching her to crate. As I said, just a thought

thanks for the answers everyone, with regard to the seat belt she will be travelling in a van with 7 other dogs the van only has two seats and there would be no room for her there,so a cage is the only option there , i am going to see her over the weekend and see what she is like i have also contacted a behaviourist and they are very willing to help me out as she has had three like this last year alone so hopefully she will be ok

she sounds a little like my dog who will not let anyone in the kitchen except me, my husband son and daughter (on occassions she has had difficulty getting in) it doesn't matter that she knows visitors well, she just has a fit when they come in and it starts as soon as she hears visitors voices. she will run up to them and bite (yes bite and sound aggressive) hold of their feet/shoes so they dont move. once she has done this and the other dogs settle she is fine with that person but if they leave the room to go to the toilet etc and return within just a few minutes she does it all again. My daughters boyfriend is here a lot and my step son but she wont let them in. As i said once they are in and she has finished being angry at them they can stroke her and she will sit with them. She does a lot of tongue flicking/licking her nose repeatedly afterwards.

Now she has been like this from a very early age (i have bred her) and showing had to be given up because she hated the table and judge touching her, I have had two behaviourists and tried numerous calming aids, pills and potions, thundershirt spaying etc but nothing has really helped and now we just have to manage her by putting her out when people come in until everything has settled down then she comes out and is fine. she is 5 and I think I will never cure her problem but learn to accept it and ease it for her and us.

I really think some dogs, like some people, have a certain thing missing or chemical inbalance and it doesnt matter what we try we are never going to cure the problem completely but just cope with the problem and make it better for the dog by reducing/ removing the trigger. Its a hard call sometimes and I am constantly questioning myself on why I cant solve my dogs problem but know I never will. She is not good when out on walks either with other dogs & people but with lots of treats and hard work i have made it slightly better.

With this dog you are thinking about it is worth the behaviourist  visit because this perhaps hasnt been investigated before and could be solved or managed over time, if all these options had been gone through before then i would think carefully about taking her on esp as it might upset your other dogs.

Has she been thoroughly checked out physically?  Soli would guard beds and sofas nastily when she first got here - mostly a trust thing but a huge chunk of it was pain from pelvic misalignment.  Took a chiropractor to sort it out, but it helped a heck of a lot.  In the years after, she would regress to guarding when her arthritis started and then flared up because she was worried about us hurting her feet.

I'm just wondering if in the crate, she relaxes in her own space and is then stiff when it comes to leaving so gets wound up and wants to keep everyone away just in case?