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Yummy Baseboard And Crate Aversion


Guest MurphysMom

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Guest MurphysMom

My DH was moving furniture into our home yesterday while I was at work, and since the doors to outside needed to be wide open, Murphy had to be put away. In a moment of forgetfulness (we'd talked about not doing this because of what I'd read about greyhounds needing to see what's happening around them) DH shut Murphy in the bedroom while he was gone. He wasn't away long (20 minutes?) but when he got back Murphy had added some "character" to the baseboard and door frame of our bedroom. It's really not that bad at ALL, just two small chunks and a couple teeth marks. I don't think it's separation anxiety, because she doesn't piddle or chew or cry when we leave her.

 

But according to DH she's been a bit more difficult to guide into her crate recently. He says she hops up onto the bed instead and behaves hesitantly until he can coax her in the crate. Any tips on preventing crate-hating? Murphy is not really food motivated, has no interest in the Kong, and she's only crated about 1-2 hours a day, 3-4 days out of the week. She will eventually get the run of the house (our short trials have all gone perfectly) but I don't want her to hate her crate, in case we need to use it for whatever reason in the future.

 

Also, any tips for repairing baseboards with tooth marks and small chunks missing? lol

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Feed her in her crate, give her special treats in the crate (real cheese, real chicken, etc.), give her chew toys in there while you are around, watching. Stay in the same room with her so she doesn't associate every time going into the crate with being left alone.

 

Baseboard - wood putty should do it, I think?


This reminds me of my old boy, Turbo. He was out of his crate after about 3 months and had run of the house. One day, he went into my bedroom and knocked over the laundry basket, shutting the door in the process. When I came home, there were some tooth marks at the bottom of the door, but then I think he just gave up and took a nap. :lol


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I use Polyfill, push into the marks with your finger and try to leave some excess a little higher than the baseboard, wait 24 hours, and sand. You could leave it (if it's white on white) or repaint over it if necessary.

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Guest MurphysMom

This reminds me of my old boy, Turbo. He was out of his crate after about 3 months and had run of the house. One day, he went into my bedroom and knocked over the laundry basket, shutting the door in the process. When I came home, there were some tooth marks at the bottom of the door, but then I think he just gave up and took a nap. :lol

Oh my goodness! :rofl silly Turbo! That made me smile!

 

Thanks for the tips and advice, I really appreciate it! I'll have to pick up some Polyfill :)

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Nope, sorry. There is a good chance your dog is done with her crate. Be extremely careful about ever leaving her unsupervised in a crate. If she gets upset, get her out of there fast. Even though retired racers spent a good deal of time in crates, many upon retirement will not tolerate a crate. If they panic they can destroy themselves trying to escape. Please be careful.

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I have a dog who would kill himself to escape being locked in a cage. It's not worth it to have him try to dig or squeeze his way out. I'd never put my dog in a situation where he needed to be stuffed back into a crate. There's always another solution.

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Guest MurphysMom

Just to be clear, we aren't "stuffing" her into her crate. What she does is jump up onto the bed and hunker down while we say "kennel." Then she gives in and goes in her crate without us physically pushing her into it. At night she trots right in and naps in it. During the day she hangs out in it. We just don't shut it often anymore. We left her out of her crate yesterday alone in the house from 8am to 3pm and she did perfectly, so I think that's what we'll be doing from now on! She's never tried to dig or push her way out of her crate, never panicked, never cried... I think it's more that she's testing just how much she really has to listen to us.

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Guest MurphysMom

Thanks! To me, it came across that there was some concern I was forcing Murphy into something she hated or was scared of, and I wanted it to be apparent that that's not what is happening or would ever happen. That's all!

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