Sudden Aversion To The Crate

[Guest cindy]

We have had Broadway for a year now and he has always been good about crating up. Right before we leave the house we will turn on the radio and get him a treat (either a biscuit or stuffed kong) and tell him "time to crate up" and he goes right on in. Sometimes before we tell him to. But for the last week or so when it's time to crate up he will run upstairs like he's afraid. We'll have to take him by the collar and lead him/push him in to the crate. As we are walking out the door he stares at us, where previously he would be busy working on his kong. He isn't overly excited when we return, just mildly excited but settles quickly. He has had some pee accidents in the crate before, but surprisingly none on the days he is reluctant to crate.

Does anyone have any advice?

 

Cindy

[GeorgeofNE]

Many hounds decide they've had enough after a while. Most people don't use a crate long term--it's a temporary thing for housebreaking and settling in. Some dogs LOVE their crates, and continue to sleep in them (with the door open) for years and years. Some folks with multiple hounds use crates long term for safety. But a single dog who is already housebroken? I would just stop using it and let him enjoy his retirement since apparently he no longer considers the crate a comfort zone.

 

[Guest IrskasMom]

Is your Boy distractive or has mega SA ??? If neither , why does he have to be in a Crate??? My Boy came home and spend one Day in a Crate ,that is it.Maybe you can Babygate him in a secure easy Cleanup Place ,like Kitchen ( But Dogproof it )and see what happens . He might be the best Dog ever

 

I just saw where you live! Very close by .

Edited April 11, 2011 by IrskasMom

[45MPHK9]

Why are you crating your dog?

[PrairieProf]

I can't help but wonder if something scary happened while he was in the crate while you were out. After a year, "getting tired of the crate" doesn't seem that likely an explanation to me.

 

I still crate my hound I've had for 2.5 years when I go out -- she seems more secure there and doesn't get into trouble (chewing things!) as she sometimes does when antsy or bored and uncrated. So I understand if you want to keep using it -- I'm not saying you need to, but I thought you should hear from someone who's pro-crate and whose dog really likes her crate (goes in of her own accord when she sees me getting ready to leave, generally doesn't come out for quite a while after I get home and open the door). I also travel with her a fair bit and the crate makes it much easier to leave her feeling secure in a new place.

 

I haven't had this problem so I don't have any experience to offer, but my thought would be to start from the beginning as if you were getting a brand new dog used to a crate -- luring him in with high value treats for just a minute with the door open, closing it for a very short time with a great treat and then opening it again, etc. In other words, seeing if you can lay down a new positive association to the crate to replace whatever has produced a negative one.

Edited April 11, 2011 by PrairieProf

[Time4ANap]

Have a feeling he's just tired of the crate. The same thing happened with Rocket after a while. We leave him out 24/7 whether we are here or not.

 

We have continued to leave the crate in place with the door open, but it is now referred to as his "Tanning Booth," since it is where he catches sunbeams in the morning. We leave the door open and he does hang out in there sometimes. It also allows us to still crate him when needed, usually when there is a service person going in and out to their truck or other times when someone is working in the house and we need him out from under foot.

[Guest sheila]

my advice is to stop crating him. I have had 6 greyhounds in my home. I had a crate for my first one and he was in it for about 30 minutes when I decided, 'this is stupid' and I let him out. I returned the crate the next day and used store credit for dog beds.

I'm not totally against crates for dogs that seem to want or need it. I've just never had one of those dogs. If the dog doesn't feel comfortable in the crate I vote for leaving the crate up with the door open as an 'optional' thing and if he doesn't use it after a bit I would take it down.

[Guest mrs]

I have always crated my dogs, but one of my greyhounds used the crate for about 8 months, and then I had to push her into it. I decided to try her out of it and she was wonderful, and I never crated her again. Maybe it was her way of telling me "I've had enough of this!" She has since passed on and I now have another grey that I do crate. Each dog is different. You may want to try your grey out of the crate while you leave for five minutes and see how he does. If he does well, then increase the time you leave him out of it until you can completely trust him.

[krissy]

We just quit crating Summit. We now gate him into the bedroom. No more problems. If you don't have to crate him, the solution might be to just not.

[Guest mbfilby]

We have one crate set up that is used as a bed. We will crate a dog from time to time if there is a need for it (people coming and going, work going on, etc). Everyone LOVES sleeping in the crate but no-one likes being crated any more.

 

Like Georgeofne said, most greys tire of being crated pretty quickly after getting the run of the house. If there is no good reason to crate, I would just leave it open as a comfy safe spot..

[Guest NJgrey]

Agree with the others. Either something unpleasant happened in the crate or he just decided he'd rather not be in there. I'd leave the crate out with the door open and start by baby-gating him in one or two rooms (depending on how your home layout works). If he does well there, give him more space. Build that up gradually.

 

Ours started out in the crate until after a month she did something similar - jumped up on the couch and gave me a look that just kinda told me she was done with that. We baby-gated for a while and she did well, until she learned to open the baby gate. So now she gets the whole house, except for a couple rooms that are sealed off with closed doors.

 

If he's a good boy when you're gone then just let him be. It's a leap of faith at first but works out just fine.

[Jiffer]

Whenever mine have reached that stage, it's been graduation day. For some, it was only a few weeks of crating, for others, it was months and months.. in Uber's case, it was 3 years! He's our very special nut.

[Guest cindy]

Thanks everyone for all the advice! We have started baby gating Broadway in the kitchen and he seems fine with that. The first time (yesterday) he did cry after I left, but no puddles or anything when I came home. Today my husband left him for a short time and then for a longer time and he was good.

 

I guess we were just crating him out of habit. Our first hound Bullet (no longer with us) was always crated when we left the house and he never protested, so when we got Broadway we just continued that pattern.

 

But every hound is different, as we are still learning even after a year with our second one!

[Bill419]

I have 5 dogs, 4 greyhounds and 1 medium size mix and I don't even own a crate. I've never had a problem. I dislike the idea of confining them.