Barking when putting in crate.

[sourcemav]

So I take out my neighbors Grey a couple days a week.  Sometimes when I'm putting her back in the crate she will go right into the crate, turn around and quite aggressively it feels give me two quick barks when I'm latching the locks.  It really scares the crap out of me.  Should I be concerned?  Is this normal? Why does she do that?  We have ZERO issues besides that. 

[Time4ANap]

Trying to score a treat? 

[HeyRunDog]

You could ask your neighbours if she does the same with them and do they put her in the crate and give her a treat?

[racindog]

Dogs can be "funny" when in their crates. Always be on guard with them in their crates. Its just a dog thing.  As long as there are no issues the best thing would be to simply ignore it.  Its kind of like biting and barking etc-its just something some dogs do. In fact some will get aggressive-thats why I said be on guard with dogs around their crates. Working dogs can be positively violent about it(called kennel guard) but it is no problem and no issue-just something they sometimes do.  It is a molehill so don't make a mountain out of it

 

[greysmom]

Remember that barking and growling are simply forms of communication for dogs.  Your perception of that as "aggressive" is just that - how *you* see it, not how the dog actually means it.

I would say that you may not being doing something in her crating routine quite like she is expecting, and she's letting you know.  I second talking with the owners to see if she does it with them, and perhaps have them describe their crating routine for you.  If you are doing it in the correct order, try some REALLY YUMMY treat to give her after she's crated to reinforce that going in the crate for you is a good thing.  A treat that has very high value (like roasted chicken or cheese or whatever the owners use), that can be eaten in a few chews, that you use *only* for this purpose.

[sourcemav]

Thanks everyone!! The owner says she rarely does that same thing when being put in the crate.  She also suggested the treat idea when she first gets in the crate.  It just sounds aggressive to me.  Probably because it's scary.  It happens right as she's turning around after entering the crate, door shutting, me reaching for the latch.  The few times it has happened it follows this exact pattern.  Kinda interesting, but startling! lol.  Thanks again everyone!

[Legendaryfrank]

 

To add to greysmom's points, Starry will bark at me when he's "talking" with me sometimes. Starry has never been a quiet grey, he definitelyhappy to bark to talk back to you or to give you a heads up.

Sometimes if the day has been dragging, when I ask him if he's HUNGRY or ready for DINNER (capitalized the words that make him go off), Starry will bark back at me, almost as if he's saying YES! YES! It's quite a scary sounding deep bark as well but I've gotten used to it. By no means is it an aggressive bark, like I mentioned more so as a response to me asking him a question. Perhaps your neighbors grey is just sad they're being but back in the crate and letting you know?

Also like what racindog said, if there isn't any problem otherwise, this could just be a quirky thing that dog does in particular.

Edited August 24, 2021 by Legendaryfrank