Extreme behavior in crate-Help!

[Deisel Baby]

My husband and I just adopted a 15 month old boxer. He came from a home where he was crated all day and all night, the previous family knew they weren't giving him the proper attention and gave him to us. He has minimal training so we don't feel comfortable leaving him in our house while we are at work without being in the crate. He whines constantly; when one of us leaves the room, goes to the bathroom, etc. The whining and yelping gets extreme when he is put in his crate. Hours of crying and the worst noises I've ever heard. He has begun throwing himself at the walls of the crate and we are very scared that he will seriously hurt himself.
We have tried moving the crate into our bedroom and are considering having him roam free at night and then just using the crate while we are at work. Our goal is to not crate him at all but we aren't there yet, we don't want him to be destructive in our house while we are gone. We are worried he has been traumatized by the crate and we are out of ideas!
We took him to the vet today and I asked if it is possible that he has separation anxiety. The vet said to keep using the crate and try to give him more distractions in the crate, treats, etc. I have a feeling this goes much deeper than him being bored.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this with a dog this age?? We are open to any suggestions at this point.

 

[cooper22]

That sounds like a tough situation, but if you can exercise him and get him as tired as possible before going in the crate that might help. Tired dog = sleeping dog. Also try a kong or other high value treats so he is distracted. If you have more time you could do a few minutes in the crate at at time and then slowly work him up to longer and longer time without going crazy, but that isn't going to fix the immediate problem. Best of luck. That was great of you to adopt him from a bad situation.

 

[Caney Creek]

I agree with the advice above about extra exercise and special treats in the crate. Also, while you're at home with him, try doing everything possible with him IN the crate. When playing, toss toys in there for him to retrieve and give him tons of praise when he enters the crate. Feed his meals in the crate, and even put his water dish in the crate so that he must go in it to drink (as long as this doesn't get too messy). Of course you'll need to remove it when you leave him in there but while you're home he will have a reason to go in the crate and hopefully will begin to associate it with more positive things.

What kind of crate is it that you have? In my experiences dogs seem to prefer wire crates over the plastic travel crates, maybe because the wire ones are more spacious or less "closed in," but every dog is different so that may not even be an issue for some. Just a thought.

Thank you so much for adopting this guy, sounds like he really needed to get out of his prior situation. Hang in there, it will get better!

 

[Althea]

Ugh. Separation anxiety. That is tough but not insurmountable. I suggest contacting a behaviorist, or even a reputable local training facility and have someone work with you on it. It's a mental issue with dogs, and I had one that never got over it. Eventually we were able to trust her outside of her crate, so it wasn't a big deal.

You may not be able to use the crate as he'll injure himself over time. We used to come home to blood and torn toe pads. But here's a website that offers some ideas. Separation Anxiety : The Humane Society of the United States See if any of that might help. Google to see what else you can find, maybe?

I'm so glad you rescued this poor guy. See what works...you'll find the right solution.

 

[Deisel Baby]

Thank you all very much for your advice. We tried using the kong with peanut butter last night and it seemed to distract him for a good hour but then the crying started again. We are using a wire crate and do put toys in there but have caught on to the idea of using the peanut butter kong as his special crate toy. We are going to take him to a behaviorist and obedience training ASAP, hopefully that will help.
We do give him lots of exercise, so much that he ends up falling asleep before bedtime. We have made attempts to keep him awake until it's time for bed but sometimes he is so tired that it is useless, and we would like to relax too!

Does anyone have any advice about the anxiety when my husband and I are home? He gets so upset whenever one of us is not in his sight, whether it be that we are in the bathroom or just in different rooms from each other.

I am such an animal lover and can't stand to see him upset for any reason so this has all been very tough on me. We hope it gets better soon!

 

[silly24boxer]

What about tying him to the end of your bed and give him a big fluffy pillow or just shut your bedroom door and tell him to lay on the pillow. That way you are there to direct him and just crate him while at work. Start using the crate as a positive thing. Feed him his food in there with the door open. Keep using toys and kongs also. He will get the idea that the crate is a safe place but it will take awhile.

 

[Madea]

1. I am so glad that he found you. Someone that is going to give him the love and attention, he so deserves.

2. Try taking him in the bedroom with you at night as stated eariler. I have never put Tyson in his crate at night time. If he gets up we can hear him because of his collar. I am so looking forward to the day that i dont have to crate him at all.

Just be patient and it will work out.

 

[maxandtonka]

Yes my boxer was the same way!

My brindle boxer did the same thing and still does if I lock him up or confine him. Do you know if your boxer is destructive or can be left out alone without destroying anything? after years of trying everything I finally decided to try Tonka in little intervals out on his own with my older Boxer and after weeks of him not doing anything while I was gone I just started leaving him out all the time. Now I am usually gone for 8 hours 4 days a week while I am at work and he is great! It has been 4 years of him being left out now. However, if Tonka gets locked up in a bedroom or laundry room by accident he freaks out! Of course it took me years to realize he was fine as long as he wasn't confined! If leaving him out isn't an option then leaving treats, a kong, tv on or music while you are gone may help? Also I have a CD I purchased called through a dog's ears that has been tested on dogs and seems to work on my boxers that helps relax them! I use it when I am studying and need them to calm down, but I have heard it works great for separation anxiety. Also I use DAP plug ins in my home to calm the dogs down. Good luck

 

[Deisel Baby]

Thank you all again for the support and kind words!

We tried leaving him outside of the crate last night and he did great!! He went right into the crate and went right to sleep and stayed in the bedroom all night with us. I think it was an excellent sign and we all slept so much better!! Although, this morning when I tried to put him into the crate so I could go to work he had probably his worst temper tantrum yet. He seemed to have "found his voice" and was barking away (we've never heard him bark before) and slamming into the sides of the crate. It is really tough to find out if he would be okay outside of the crate since it is the middle of the work week. We are going to experiment this weekend and try leaving him out for smaller intervals of time and work our way up to being out while we are at work. Perhaps he is the same as Tonka and just doesn't like being confined (and who can really blame him?).

 

[Althea]

That is awesome! thank you for updating us! Let us know how he does this weekend.