Hello again! I'm sure if you've read my other posts you know about Della my 11 week old GSD! I wanted to ask about this crate behavior. Quite frankly, she LOVES her crate. She moaned the first few nights she was in it, but now she can't get enough! During play sometimes she'll run with her toy into the crate, lay down, and gobble it a bit in there. I leave the crate door open and try to create positive experiences with the crate. Is this "over doing" it, or is this good behavior, in your opinion?

IMHO I think it is just fine if she likes her crate. It is probably to her like a bedroom is to us. Its her personal space and she feels safe and comfy in there. I dont think it hurts her in anyway to have her own space. My little bitch, Duchess, is crated in an entry and she will not allow the cats to even step onto the tile. She also runs to her 'room' when playing and such. So I wouldnt worry about it.
QT

I think it's great. You've obviously done a good job of making it her little safe place, and it will pay dividends when she gets older and you need to confine her for various reasons. Hope this shows those that have doubts about crates and kennels that it is a good thing to get them used to it, and a little pain early on is well worth the effort.

Brilliant! Harvey lurves his crate. It's always open and he is always sleeping in it. I switched them around a few weeks ago so the door of his cage was facing the other way. Half an hour after I had done it, I found Harvey sat where the door used to be, staring at the side!

This weekend, my sister was looking after the dogs as well as a friends dog. She had gone to sleep in the cage - the dog, not my sister <g> - and Harvey didn't see her. He put two paws in the cage, noticed Holly (got a little complicated with my Holly too) stood there, whimpered and backed out. He doesn't like sharing <g>

Helen

Helen,
It might not be a "sharing" thing, but more of a "she's cranky and I don't want to disturb her" issue. Neither of my girls like being walked on by the other and will let the offender know (very quietly, so I don't hear) by growling :Rolleyes: I usually have to shove one over to make room so no one gets pissy about the whole situation :)

LOL, you're probably right. She certainly made sure he respected her. She's a really lovely dog - labxspringer bred for work. Fantastic worker and fantastic temperemant. I didn't like handing her back!

Helen