Guest davijr84 Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 We adopted our first grey in the beginning of August and crated him for about a month and a half, with no issues. Once we observed him enough around our small dog and two cats and saw that there didn't look like there'd be any issues with them all, we began giving him some more freedom from the crate- at night we'd leave it open, and we also started leaving it open when we went to work for the day (my wife and I both work M-F 8:30-5). For a week, I came home at lunch every day to make sure he was ok, and all was well. He seems to like sitting in his crate, as many times when we were home he'd lay around in his crate. So a couple weeks ago, I decided to take down the crate and let him have free reign. Well, this past week and a half has been a nightmare- almost every day I came home to a pee stain on the floor in the upstairs hall, and twice he pooped up there. I did make the mistake of yelling at him out of frustration, which I felt terrible for afterward, and that seemed to upset him (I know I shouldn't have done this!). So on Friday night, after having pooped on the floor the previous night, we decided to set up his crate (in the reading room, not in the living room where we previously put it) and crated him while we went to my parent's house for a few hours. Well, we came home, and he pooped inside the cage (not quite diarrhea, but very loose, as it was everywhere). We noticed the rest of the night that he had diarrhea/loose stool. We moved the cage back to it's original spot in the living room, and he immediately went back to normal. The last few days we've fed him rice and pumpkin, and slowly added some of his regular kibble back in. But since we put the cage back where it was, he's been absolutely fine, just as he was before we took down the crate. Could this be some sort of attachment/separation anxiety from the crate?? Should we just live with him having the crate moving forward? I don't like having to crate my animals, but if that's what he wants, should we even try to ease him away from it? Any thoughts/comments? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_daerr Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Should we just live with him having the crate moving forward? Yes! If it gives him a sense of comfort and security, by all means, let him have it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cristar Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Definitely let him have his crate - boy, if you only knew how lucky you are that he loves his crate space - some of us that have gone through horrible SA are pretty envious!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest davijr84 Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Ha, thanks guys! We have no issue with keeping his crate, if it makes him happy, then that's all that matters. I would LOVE to move it out of my living room and into our reading room. The reading room is just a better spot for us, plus it has plenty of light with a double window and double sliding door right there, so he can see right out and have plenty of bright light coming thru. He didn't seem to embrace the crate when we had it in the reading area for half of the day, any suggestions on how we can transition the crate to a new location? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cristar Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 He's only been there a couple of months and that's a pretty short time. Right now his crate in it's initial place is still giving him security - it was his 'place' right from the start, his safe area. Give him some more time and then try it again. As he settles in and gets more secure with the comings and goings of the household, he'll probably accept it being moved to another room. Put a bed for him in the reading room and see if he'll just come in on his own while your in there and lay down by you - kind of let him get a comfortable feeling about being in there, then I'd try it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest davijr84 Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 He's only been there a couple of months and that's a pretty short time. Right now his crate in it's initial place is still giving him security - it was his 'place' right from the start, his safe area. Give him some more time and then try it again. As he settles in and gets more secure with the comings and goings of the household, he'll probably accept it being moved to another room. Put a bed for him in the reading room and see if he'll just come in on his own while your in there and lay down by you - kind of let him get a comfortable feeling about being in there, then I'd try it again. Thanks! I'll give this a try. We have a bed in there, but he has yet to lay on it while it's in there. We don't spend much time in there at all, so we'll have to start hanging out in there so he'll get used to being in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPDoggie Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Maybe move the crate some time that you could then hang out in the reading room for a while, and hope that he will hang out there with you. Then move it back to the LR, and do this a few times... I bet with a slow-moving of the crate, he will get used to it in a new location. Quote Amy and Tim in Beverly, MA, with Chase and Always missing Kingsley (Drama King) and Ruby (KB's Bee Bopper). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KickReturn Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 This is all quite fine - he needs his crate. Being able to crate a dog is a nice option to have. I don't have that option, my boy would die if crated. You have had this dog for a mere blink of an eye. As his confidence grows over the next year or two he may no longer want or need his crate. Just make sure you always have a comfortable bed in every area where you would like him to spend time. A bit of advice: please, please do not raise your voice to a Grey. Some are so sensitive it can leave a near permanent emotional dent and trust can take many months to rebuild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeofNE Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Glad you figured it out so quickly! My prior dog had several SA (not a Greyhound) and was crated daily for 2 years. When I assumed he had outgrown his need for the crate, I put it away and he went absolutely nuts! It took several months for me to get him used to the idea of no crate. First I stopped locking the door, and propped it closed with a stuffy. Then I got rid of the stuffy. Then I stopped closing the door. Then I folded it up and leaned it against the wall where he could see it. FINALLY I was able to put it under the bed! I disagree with the need to baby Greyhounds. I most certainly do NOT have a comfy bed in every possibly place. It's my home too. And we're all human. Very few dogs are so emotionally fragile that they'll have permanent damage if you lose your temper from time to time and raise your voice. Shouting at a dog for having an accident is never a good idea, but don't beat yourself up over it. He'll get over it. He's NOT a person. Dogs don't hold grudges. Quote Susan, Hamish, Mister Bigglesworth and Nikita Stanislav. Missing Ming, George, and Buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest davijr84 Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 Thanks everyone for the advice!! He's been back to normal all week and we're going to leave things as they are for now. I was pretty upset at myself for yelling at him, and my wife was not happy with me about it, either lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest houndog990 Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 what about borrowing a second crate for the reading room? i am not a big fan of crating dogs all the time either, but my girl likes to sleep in one occasionally, i just leave the door open for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianamac Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 I understand completely, we've had Boo for almost a year and half and we crate him every time we leave the house. He has no signs of SA in his crate whatsoever (we recorded him), but twice we tried leaving him uncrated when we left for about 5-10 mins each time and both times came back to pee on the floor... and he NEVER has accidents. Guess he just feels most secure in his crate, so we've adopted the attitude of: if it ain't broke, why fix it. If you want to have the crate in the reading room instead, maybe try one of these things: Slowly move the crate towards the reading room bit by bit each day. If he gets stressed again at any point during this process, take a step backwards to the last spot the crate was, and slowly progress until the crate is in the reading room. Depending on the layout of your house, this may mean the crate is in some funny spots--like a hallway--for a few days Or, you could try leaving it where it is for now and covering it with a blanket/sheet or crate cover. Let him settle into his newly covered crate. Then try moving it to the reading room with the cover on, and see if that works. It's possible the living room surrounding visuals are part of the 'comfort zone' feeling of his crate, which is why he didn't enjoy being in the reading room. If he learns to enjoy a crate cover whilst in his comfort zone, it should make it possible to move the crate to another room without stressing him too much. Good luck! Quote Bri and Mike with Boo Radley (Williejohnwalker), Bubba (Carlos Danger), and the feline friends foes, Loois and Amir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kalzanetti Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 Sounds like it is his comfort blanket. Good luck, hope things continue to go smoothly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jbbuzby Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 Definitely let him have his crate - boy, if you only knew how lucky you are that he loves his crate space - some of us that have gone through horrible SA are pretty envious!! FOR SURE. If your dog likes their crate, even if it's seemingly inconvenient to you now, you can prevent most behavior problems with it! My grey with SA would physically injure himself when confined to a crate or gate...he just doesn't do well being confined. I WISH he could be crated though, to keep him off the furniture, Keep him from having accidents on the carpet, keep him from counter surfing, and keep him from chewing things (all these things occur when we're not around. They are infrequent, but we have to be sure to not leave anything out and to keep a box on the couch...it's annoying). So be thankful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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