Licking Crate?

[FreyasMom]

Hi All,
Freya is almost 2 now and when we leave her in her crate when we are not home, she will lick her crate and since she licks it so much it rusts. She has gone through quite a few now. We leave her only her bone that she is not able to break apart and she gets walked in the morning for a minimum of 30 min before we leave for work. The longest she is in there before we come home to let her out is 4.5-5 hrs, then after lunch she gets to stay out cause we will be back home in about 3 hrs. We don't leave her out in the mornings as she tends to have accidents if out more than 4 hrs but won't if she is crated. We have tried that bitter apple stuff and it does not seem to work. I am guessing she is doing this cause she is bored. Thing is, when I work from home 2 days a week, all she does is sleep. Any suggestions? I hate to have her keep licking it, the rust cant be good, thus why we keep getting new crates. I would just like to get her to stop. Thanks!

 

[TwoDogs]

Sometimes a behavior in a certain environment can start because of one thing (boredom, stress, etc.) and then become habit--no longer triggered by the boredom, etc. but instead triggered by the circumstance itself. This might be why she licks only the crate and doesn't go around in search of things to lick when she is left alone out of the crate. It could be that it is the actual being in the crate that is now the trigger for the habit. She might have done it so often now that that is just what she does when crated.

If there is no other signs that she is anxious about being left alone (otherwise rests comfortably in her crate when you are gone, and relaxes and also sleeps comfortably when left alone loose in the house) then I would try switching to a plastic crate and putting it in a different location and turning it so that the back of the crate faces the direction you leave and the crate door faces a wall (she'll be less apt to lay facing the crate door if it faces a boring wall and therefore less apt to start licking it as she does her metal crate). It might be enough of a change of the environment that it breaks the licking cycle. I would also leave her with a frozen, stuffed Kong so that if she is inclined to lick something, it would be that rather than the crate.

 

[FreyasMom]

Thank you, I will try that, great idea