Having Some Troubles With Sa

[Guest jvandover]

Let me preface this by explaining - There are 4 adults that live in my house. There is almost always someone home, whether they are asleep or not (we have very different schedules).

 

We have had Lovie for 2 weeks now and for the most part she has settled in great. We have no accidents (other then the first hour we first brought her in, and one mistake I chalk up to me not understanding her communication), she is outgoing, unafraid to be handled in any way, and in general good. For the first few days, we would leave her alone (in her crate) for increasing periods (15min, 30min, 90 min etc) We wouldn't make a big deal of coming or going, and I had no real problems getting her in her crate. after about a week, we left once without putting her in her crate, for 10 min. We came back, no problems. The next day we were gone for a bit longer, and the next day about an hour and a half to 2 hours, again no problem.

 

Well, earlier this week she was "alone" (there was 2 people home, but they were sleeping) for about 90 min in the morning, and she chewed up/broke some of the blinds on our living room window. I realized I maybe gave her too much leeway too fast, and decided to start crating her when we left again. Well, she really fights going into her crate, I never physically force her into it, I try to get her to go in of her own accord. It should be noted that during the day the crate door is open and she lies in there sometimes. Again today she was alone for literally 5 minutes while I went out back to fix something on our gate, and she chewed up some blinds in my bedroom. She only behaves like this when she perceives she is alone (both times people were home, sleeping) if anyone is awake in the house, she is fine, lays around, plays, and chews her toys.

 

I am not sure what to try, as I really think I should crate her when she is alone, but am not sure how to get her into her crate. A big stumbling block is that she is NOT food motivated. She often doesn't care about food. I have found a variety of snacks she "likes" but sometimes she just doesn't care about them. Even things like peanut butter. I can put a Kong full of treats and peanut butter right next to her and sometimes she will eat, others not. And if it is in her crate she doesn't care for it at all.

[seeh2o]

Rather than crating her, you might try muzzling her. Carl cannot be crated as he hates it and he has had a lot of problems with SA. I started muzzling him and it helped a lot. Use a big greyhound basket muzzle, not the kind they use when trimming nails at the groomers or at the vet's office, etc. GEM is rescue group in MI that sells them on line, there are others who sell them, too. Good luck!

[Guest momofevie]

Can you babygate her into one room with a peanut butter kong when you leave? You might even want to muzzle her (she'll still be able to enjoy her kong through the muzzle), too. Sometimes the crate is too confining for them, but having the run of the house is too much freedom.

 

Guessing she knows that someone's home, too, which may complicate things. Will she stay in the bedroom with one of them?

[Guest LindsaySF]

You can try free reign with a muzzle, or babygating her into a very dog proof room.

 

Have you done any alone training?

[Guest jvandover]

You can try free reign with a muzzle, or babygating her into a very dog proof room.

 

Have you done any alone training?

 

 

Only what I mentioned in the first post. Leaving her alone for increasing periods of time. I thought she was okay, she went for a week with no issues.

 

As for the muzzle, I could try that, my only concern is that I think she is breaking the blinds in part by pulling/jumping on them. Some of them are just snapped, no chew marks.

 

She only has interest in a Kong for a short while. She doesn't even try to eat everything out of it. She licks out what she can get with her tongue, and then leaves it. I don't know what else I can try with a Kong.

 

I also don't know how to get her to go into the crate. It seems she views it as a punishment now, because she used to lounge around in it, and today I went upstairs and saw her lying on the carpet next to the crate, instead of in it.

[Guest jvandover]

You can try free reign with a muzzle, or babygating her into a very dog proof room.

 

Have you done any alone training?

 

 

Only what I mentioned in the first post. Leaving her alone for increasing periods of time. I thought she was okay, she went for a week with no issues.

 

As for the muzzle, I could try that, my only concern is that I think she is breaking the blinds in part by pulling/jumping on them. Some of them are just snapped, no chew marks.

 

She only has interest in a Kong for a short while. She doesn't even try to eat everything out of it. She licks out what she can get with her tongue, and then leaves it. I don't know what else I can try with a Kong.

 

I also don't know how to get her to go into the crate. It seems she views it as a punishment now, because she used to lounge around in it, and today I went upstairs and saw her lying on the carpet next to the crate, instead of in it.

 

So when I went upstairs a little later I saw she had finally gone into the crate on her own (there were treats in there) after about 3 hours. So at least she isn't 100% scared of the crate.

 

I can try and muzzle her, it is definitely worth a try, I would just rather crate her. I am still struggling to figure out why she suddenly won't go near the crate, and how to get her into it.

 

How do you train a dog that doesn't care about food?

[Guest LindsaySF]

Do you feed her her meals in the crate?

[Guest jvandover]

Do you feed her her meals in the crate?

 

No. She eats in the kitchen. I pretty much can only get her in the crate by leading her in there, with a little oomph, by her leash. A lot of her behavior has been different the past few days. She doesn't chase a tennis ball when I take her out to the court anymore, she just wanders. Maybe it's all part of her adjusting, and I just didn't know what to expect.

 

Will feeding her in her crate help her? And if so, do I put her bowl IN her crate?