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Leaving New Dog Out Of Crate


Guest StanleyR

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Guest StanleyR

We have been putting our newer grey, Delilah, in a crate when we leave the house. My husband and I are home often so this only happens about every other day for a few hours at a time. Stanley, who we have had for 2 years, is free in the house.

 

Yesterday, I noticed drops of blood around her crate when we returned. She has obviously been chewing on the bars. We leave her with kongs and bones and treats to keep her busy but it doesn't seem to help.

 

She is house broken so I'd like to consider leaving her free in the house when we leave. However, there are a few issues.

 

1. She tends to chew on things when she is anxious. We left her free once for an hour and she destroyed some random things around the house (nothing valuable).

2. I am not a 100% comfortable leaving her and Stan alone. There has been some growling and barking on his end over attention and space.

 

Does anyone have a similar issue? Any suggestions?

 

I have considered putting up a baby gate and putting Stan in one room and Delilah in the other. This doesn't solve her chewing issue.

 

I have also thought about leaving them both muzzled and not using a baby gate. This way she can't chew and Stan couldn't do her harm. They hate their muzzles and I feel bad about doing this. I especially feel bad for Stan as he has been fine alone for some time without being crated or muzzled.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

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I'd try leaving them both muzzled -- see how they do for a 10 minute outing, then 20 minutes, then you're probably good to go. As you know, if you muzzle one, you must muzzle both. They mostly hate their muzzles when there's somebody there to watch them with them on -- trust me on that :lol . As you all get used to one another, chances are she'll get over the chewing and eventually you'll be able to just baby gate them into adjoining rooms without the muzzles.

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Guest gecko_foot

We have been putting our newer grey, Delilah, in a crate when we leave the house. My husband and I are home often so this only happens about every other day for a few hours at a time. Stanley, who we have had for 2 years, is free in the house.

 

Yesterday, I noticed drops of blood around her crate when we returned. She has obviously been chewing on the bars. We leave her with kongs and bones and treats to keep her busy but it doesn't seem to help.

 

She is house broken so I'd like to consider leaving her free in the house when we leave. However, there are a few issues.

 

1. She tends to chew on things when she is anxious. We left her free once for an hour and she destroyed some random things around the house (nothing valuable).

2. I am not a 100% comfortable leaving her and Stan alone. There has been some growling and barking on his end over attention and space.

 

Does anyone have a similar issue? Any suggestions?

 

I have considered putting up a baby gate and putting Stan in one room and Delilah in the other. This doesn't solve her chewing issue.

 

I have also thought about leaving them both muzzled and not using a baby gate. This way she can't chew and Stan couldn't do her harm. They hate their muzzles and I feel bad about doing this. I especially feel bad for Stan as he has been fine alone for some time without being crated or muzzled.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

My grey Tumnus also tends to gnaw on things when he's left alone. Unfortunately, I can't leave him outside of the crate as he makes a much bigger fuss when left out...which makes for some unhappy neighbors. While he didn't gnaw his crate to the point of drawing blood, he did wear down his incisors and the inner sides of his canines. I immediately started muzzling him in his crate - starting when I was there and then leaving him alone with the muzzle on.

 

As always, Batmom has good advice. If Delilah is really uncomfortable with the muzzle on, you can try smearing peanut butter on the inside of the muzzle to make wearing it a more positive experience.

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Guest NeverSayNever

Is your other greyhound(s) in sight of new greyhound at all times? If the loose greyhounds are free to move to other rooms, this can cause a lot of anxiety for the confined hound.

 

Is she finishing her treats and Kongs? How are you stuffing the Kongs? Want to make sure you are truly leaving her with 20-30 minutes of activity and not something that is done in 1 minute. Freezing can help. Rawhide "chips" and bully sticks can last awhile. Tug-A-Jug is another good one.

 

Also practice crating everyday while you are home. Again, giving new hound fun food activities to work on while you are in another room.

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Guest Jubilee251

Babygate them separately AND muzzle her. She may hate her muzzle and act like a drama queen (mine do the same!), but it doesn't hurt her and will save your furniture/clothes/walls/etc.

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Guest MyBoys

I might try baby gating her in a room that she is safe for short periods at first to see how she does with that, maybe a room where she can see your other grey. If you are worried about her jumping the gate use 2 gates, one on top of the other.

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Guest mirthlesstroll

Another vote for the muzzle. I have 3 that I muzzle anytime I leave the house. Jett has SA and will eat my house without the muzzle, Trent has just turned 3, and will eat my house because he's 3. Melody is 11 1/2 and a b!t*% - self explanitory.

They used to put up a fuss, but now they don't even bother to pick their heads up to get the muzzles on. :rolleyes:

Edited by mirthlesstroll
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Guest 4dogscrazy

I just graduated two of mine from their crates, so now I have four dogs loose in the house when we leave. The hounds all wear muzzles, the only one who hates it is Jesse. He is a huge drama king, but I don't care, he has to wear the muzzle, plain and simple. I would be horrified if I came home and they had gotten into a fight. And with four, there is a good chance of that happening at some point. I do use baby gates to keep them out of a few rooms, but they are all loose together. I haven't had any problems at all using that system, and my SA dog has calmed down considerably since I started doing it this way. Good luck and congrats on your new dog!

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Guest FastDogsOwnMe

I don't even have a crate in my house anymore... gave the last one away recently. I just muzzle them... even new fosters. I do gate REALLY new fosters into a separate part of the same room, but that's more for prevention of marking.

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Guest StanleyR

Thanks so much for all the responses! I am going to try muzzling them both and leaving them for short periods of time. If I find they are dealing with it, maybe there will be no need for a baby gate. It seems that for many of you, muzzles are a permanent thing. I would like to consider eventually leaving them both home without one. Is this foolish? I just don't know how to judge that they would be ready for this. They go in the backyard and move around the house without our direct supervision. I suppose I could never be 100% sure nothing would happen.

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Guest FastDogsOwnMe

Muzzles are not life long here routinely. I use them at the dog park, at racing/coursing events, and when all are alone together- in my house that's probably two hours total every week (alone) and a few hours per week at the park/beach. If it's just my dogs out running, the muzzles come off.

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Guest lasharp1209

It seems that for many of you, muzzles are a permanent thing. I would like to consider eventually leaving them both home without one. Is this foolish?

 

Someone posted pictures a while back of their greys who got into it while out in the yard together (I think) - The title of the post was "This is why they give us those muzzles." You might dig it up and read through some of those posts. That is what convinced me that if we were to ever have more than one grey in the house, I would muzzle them both for sure.

 

I'm sure not everyone with multiple dogs muzzles everyone, but I personally prefer to take the "better safe than sorry" approach. If an accident happened and I could have easily prevented it, I would feel horrible.

 

Be forewarned that they'll make a big scene about having to wear the muzzles. Betcha it stops a few minutes after you leave the house though and they go back to bed :P

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Guest 4dogscrazy

Yes muzzles are permanant here. I also muzzle in the yard, unless they are under my direct supervison and I am actually out there playing with them. However, mine have been together quite a while, and I know who my problem children are and what triggers them. For instance, Tempe will turn on Fancy if the neighbor dog comes to the fence. Some dogs just do that. I have heard of a two dog family on here, where the new one turned on the old one when the neighbor dog was yapping at them through the fence (misdirected or redirected aggression it's called). I never heard what happened, but I'm pretty sure she thought she had to get rid of the new one. One note: Tempe just started doing this within the last year, and I've had her for two, she just started doing it one day! I also always muzzle in the mornings, since they are full of energy and ripping around the yard. Even the lab gets muzzled in the yard so she is used to wearing her muzzle for other events, like riding in the car or a playdate at the kennel. We got to a point where they were playing too rough, and just had to muzzle to keep them from injuring each other in the yard. Any nips in the yard will get you muzzles also. I have a no tolerance policy for nipping at each other. Keep in mind I have four, but with two the same thing could happen. I would always muzzle a new dog with the older dog in the yard for quite some time, until their play style is showing and all territorial problems are worked out. After a while, you should be able to tell if muzzles are necessary, but keep in mind they can get into it at any time. Two of mine got into a big fight in the house, thankfully no blood was drawn, but it was the scariest few minutes of my life...a sound I hope to never hear again!

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I have two. I don't muzzle. But I know my two very well. I don't leave food available and neither are interested in toys especially or have space issues.

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Guest StanleyR

Thank you, I looked up the topic "This is why they give us Muzzles." It's a scary thing and reminds me to be extra careful. I guess I didn't fully understand what I was getting into with a 2nd dog. I knew there would be some challenges, but when I adopted Delilah I had dreams of her and Stan racing in the yard and playing ball together. Now I feel I have to be constantly on edge when they are active. Hopefully this will be become less stressful the longer they are together. But can anyone really be fully relaxed when there is alway potential for a fight?

I previously posted about Stan biting another dog about a year ago over food.(We are now very careful about feeding them and having food laying around). He has also jumped over me to growl and bark at Delilah. Thankfully Stan only runs around if he's playing fetch. Since he has growled at Delilah, she seems to stay on the deck while he plays. I'm guessing she knows it's not a good idea to run with him. But I feel bad that she doesn't want to play, even when we put Stan inside. Again, I suppose I must give it time.

 

I will muzzle them alone in the house and in the car. Thank you all again for all the input and advice.

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Guest 4dogscrazy

Don't feel bad or stress too much, the muzzles are supposed to help reduce your stress! And boy do I understand what you mean when you say you didn't realize what you were getting into when you got two, that happened to me when I got the third hound! Jesse really upset my household in the beginning. HE is the reason they are muzzled in the yard, when I had two they never fought or bit each other. Tempe never turned on Fancy either. I used to crate them when I wasn't home so that never factored in back then. When I added him in the mix, I had to crate the two youngest at night because they fought over beds too! It was crazy here for a little bit, although there was no real malice between them, just some jockeying for positions. Things have settled, and part of that is my no tolerance laws. :) But the muzzles have helped so much in the yard especially, and my SA girl is so much better now that she is no longer crated or gated into a room.

 

A suggestion? She may feel more confident for playing and doing zoomies in the yard if he is muzzled too. He has obviously put her in her place, but she should come out of her shell more as they start to become more comfortable with each other. You are doing the right thing feeding them separately, I am just now feeding all of them in the same room at the same time. Watched like a hawk of course! Jess has been here a year, and the other two, for two. We are still a young pack also, just know that things will get better in time.

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