we put skye in her dog cage today and went out only for about 45 mins and when we came back she was still barking!  does anyone else have trouble like this we only put her in of a night and when we go out!

I have never used crates, but I understand that keeping the door open for her all day, with a bed, a nice chewy put in it, feed her in it with the door open etc, and make it part of her furniture, her den, somewhere nice to go. Her bed. Shutting the door maybe for just a few moments gently, when she falls asleep every so often, so in a few weeks this becomes a nice and safe place to be, is the way of training her.

At the moment it sounds like a punishment place she has to be shut in when you go away....... If someone did that to me, I would bark too!!! :-)

Hi,

A bit more information will help people advise you better.  How old is she?  How long has she been with you? How long has she been using a crate?  How long is she used to being in the crate?  Has she always barked whilst in the crate?  What is her daily routine exercise wise?  Does she bark when in at night or just when you go out?  Does she get any treats to jkeep her occupied when you out and will she eat them?  Sorry to ask so many questions but there are lots of reasons why dogs will bark in a crate or when left.

> but I understand that keeping the door open for her all day, with a bed, a nice chewy put in it, feed her in it with the door open etc, and make it part of her furniture, her den, somewhere nice to go. Her bed. Shutting the door maybe for just a few moments gently, when she falls asleep every so often, so in a few weeks this becomes a nice and safe place to be, is the way of training her.
>

tio hated his crate for the first few nights as a pup, now because we pretty much did this i can't keep him out of the thing! its a nightmare actually lol he hides in their with the bone i got from the butcher so it's hard to watch him with it...

Good points Karen, easily missed on an email and vital for good information....should have asked myself instead of watching Andy Murray att the same time LOL! Slapped legs for me!!!!!

she 12 months , old she has been with us 3 months but her previous owner also crated her, she doesnt bark at night only when we go out and yes i do leave her a nice chewy toy and her treat food and water shes only just started doing this, her daily rountine she is walked and 3 times a day but she thinks that she has to go everywhere with us she knows if i put my shoes on that im going out lol

It sounds like she is still frightened that she might be moved on again. :-( Dogs can take some time getting used to their new homes. you know that she is staying, but she doesn't.

I think I would go back to basics with her. You know, start by putting her in the cage for a few minutes with you in another room. Come back in and ignore her until she is quiet. You can then build the time, and her confidence, up.

It does sound like maybe she's feeling a little insecure but now after settling for a few months that she's got the confidence to be vocal about the fact that she doesn't like being left.  She's still a baby really and that was quite a big change for her to go through at 9 months.

I would suggest getting her a DAP collar, which can give a feeling of calm and contentment to dogs and pups.  They can be really useful in stressful situations.  It sounbds like it's not the crate particularly she's worried about but more being left in the crate.  You didn't say, will she eat the treats when you go out of does she save them for when you get back?

I would build up time she's left slowly.  Leave the crate door open during the day and give her meals in the crate and extra special yummy treats.  Maybe put up a baby/animal gate at home so that she can see you but get used to not following you every where.  Start off with just maybe scattering some trats on the floor shutting the baby gate and letting her spend a couple of minutes hoovering up the treats and then open the baby gate again.  The gradually build up the time and then go back with the time a bit and build up to you being out of the room.  Always do it with some yummy treats scattered or a stuffed kong or a treat ball.

The purpose of this is to help her gain confidence on being on her own and making a positive association with it.  It's understandable that if she is used to following you around every where that she gets stressed when she can't.  I'm not suggesting she be spending lots of time away from you when you are at home just that she spends some time getting used to being happy on her own to help her build up her confidence.

Build up slowly, the purpose of doing it slowly is that she doesn't get to a point where she stressed enough to feel the need to bark the place down and that she can experience feeling calm and relaxed when on her own.  Good luck.

I think that if your dog only goes in the crate at night and if you go out she may have come to associate the crate with being left.  As someone else has said perhaps she now feels confident enough to tell you!!

There are a lot of good suggestions on here and you will probably find using all of them will de-sensitise your dog but here are a few others you might try.
  If you go out; never say goodbye to your dog and do not say hello or greet until you've been home a little while - your dog shouldn't be able to tell the difference between you at home in another room or out of the house.  Also gives you time to unpack shopping etc without a bouncing dog!
  Whilst crate training, pop the dog in at regular times - whether you need to or not.  Even 10 minutes here or there makes a difference
  Pop your dog in and leave thru the front door, walk straight round and come in the back - all the time ignoring.  If she is still barking just wait in the room til she pauses then let her out - still ignoring.  Repeat as many times as necessary over a week or two
  If the crate is in a room where you regularly do activities such as loading the washing machine - pop her in when you're sorting the laundry and let her out again when you've finished
  If you have special treats that you like to give, or chew activities, let her do some of these whilst in the crate then take the toy away when she comes out - she'll soon learn that the crate is her 'camp'.  We trained our pup to always eat his bigger treats, pigs ears etc in his crate so that we could be sure our other dog wouldn't steal them - he still carries any trophy off to bed!

Don't assume the crate is necessarily the problem.  We now have two dogs that are thoroughly comfortable with their crates - it's their bed after all.  The doors are open most of the time but shut if we are out or in bed.  They are so used to the routine that if I put lipstick and perfume on, pick up my car keys, or otherwise look like I'm off out, both boys just wander off to their crates, from wherever they are in the house.  They also trot straight in at bedtime BUT my youngest will still howl like an orphan if I take the older dog for a walk on his own!!  Nothing to do with the crate and everything to do with the indignation of being excluded...