Nose Gets Stuck in Crate

[Gadzeus]

We are new Greyhound parents.  We use a crate for our Greyhound when no one is at home.  He has gotten his nose caught between the wires of the crate twice. When this happens he is very scared and screams.  It is awful.  Luckily, someone was home when it happened, about to leave or just came in.  He was not hurt because we got him free quickly enough.  Does anyone know of a brand of crate we can buy where the holes are too small for a Greyhound nose or large enough that his nose won't get caught?  Thank you.

[racindog]

Where on the crate is it being caught? The vertical bars on the side or between the crate door and the crate body? If he is getting it stuck between the door and the crate he is trying to escape and you are right it is exceedingly dangerous.  I had a hound one time get his head through and then got his neck/windpipe stuck stuck between the door and the crate. By the grace of God my mom happened to walk in and save him. That problem can be resolved by upgrading to a better crate. If he is doing it to his wire one he will do it to some of the other equivalent crates too. IMO the answer would be to just upgrade to a Gunner. Then he will be super safe even when traveling (it is the only crate that has passed the U.S. crash tests). They seem kind of pricey at first but they are guaranteed for LIFE so you will never have to buy another one.  And they will also be as safe as possible whether crated at home or traveling. If he is trying to escape it he doesn't sound like that bad of a "case" to me. Dogs with genuine issues will mangle and get out of those wire crates pretty easy so he would have been out by now. Sounds like he was just being mischieveous to me. Still you are in a fix until you resolve this because it is terribly dangerous and can't be allowed to happen again. Lucky he didn't seriously hurt himself already. You can get a cheaper different kind of crate than a Gunner but what usually happens with such dogs is they just go after the new crate in a different way by chewing on it and exploiting its weaknesses. I don't know of a cheaper crate that will safely contain him. I do have every confidence in the Gunner kennels however. I have 3 of them. They safely contain even police dogs. If you travel at all with your dog you should look at the crash tests and what happens with other kennels in a crash. Even the $1200 Variocage failed miserably.  There is a section on their web page where you can see pics of some of the crashes Gunner has protected the dogs in. It is amazing. https://gunner.com/pages/testimonials

 

Here is a link to the most recent crate safety tests. Check out the vids on the wire crates. Its shocking. The study website has many recent crash test videos for carriers and different pet safety restraints. Good info.

https://www.centerforpetsafety.org/test-results/crates/2015-crate-study-results/

 

[cleptogrey]

if your not into spending as much then look into midwest airline crates. also compare what what on amazon. 

[greysmom]

I'm also unsure how this could happen unless he's actively trying to get out???

If this is the case you may need to rethink crating him all together.  Some greys do just fine in crates post adoption, and some really do not.  Unless he been destructive in the past he *may not* need to be crated at this point.  If he is destructive, consider using a plastic basket muzzle instead.

If he's just being a dork and getting his nose caught while sleeping or something, many people use baby crib bumpers to line the inside of crates to pad it a bit.  Be careful with this option if your dog is prone to nesting his bedding though.

[sobesmom]

I'm quite sure he can get his nose out.  Why is he crated when there is someone home to hear this?  Reduce/Eliminate crating. 

Sorry if this sounds harsh - but crating is a transition tool to help our dogs transition be house pets.  Some greys need them long term -most DO NOT.    

[PatricksMom]

Agreed, is there a particular reason why he needs to be crated? Some dogs do, but not all.

[kronckew]

15 hours ago, PatricksMom said:

Agreed, is there a particular reason why he needs to be crated? Some dogs do, but not all.

Yes, try leaving the door to the crate open & see what happens. If OK archive the crate.