All,

I need some help and at wits end. I adopted a 5 year old catahoula/rot mix from the shelter about a month ago. During the first week the dog would sleep through the night in his crate. Now he wimpers with heavy breathing and restlessness all night, everynight. When I leave for work i have to bolt shut the crate(i made holes for master locks) so he wont escape the crate and destroy the carpeting like he already has. I went to a dog trainer and have been working with him inregards to leadership. He has never had an accident in his crate or the house and is a wonderful dog other than the crate issue.

What do i do? One problem is I do not have any prior history on him in regards to how he was trained, abused, etc.

Todd

Hello and welcome to the Forum Todd.

How long is the dog IN the crate for? It sounds like , from your post , as though he is in it all night and quite a bit during the day too

Melody :)

hes in the crate the longest at night...say 11-12pm till 7am or so. When we leave for work its around 8am and we come home for lunch. So during the day its no more than 4-5(lately 2 hours at most during the day) hours along per stretch.

Todd

So he is crated for about 6-7 hours at night , has an hour out and is then crated again for 4-5 (or 2) hours ..then a break , then again for 4-5 (or 2)?

That is far too long IMHO :( For a fit and healthy adult dog to be crated for that long it is not surprising you are experiencing some behavioural problems. He needs to interact with people , the family , to be out in the garden for a play WITH people , so be out on walks and runs ...he is probably looking on the crate as a cage rather than a place of refuge and safety

Did your trainer ask about the crating at all?

Melody :)