New Foster Dog- Crate Training Help!

[AnnShh]

Hey guys,

We have a new foster dog- a 1 y/o Walker Hound, named Walker (how creative haha). The rescue group we foster for picked him up from another shelter a couple weeks ago. He is SO skinny and we're working to get weight on him. Otherwise, he is incredibly sweet, really outgoing and curious. He's a big oaf though...He's big and clumsy with his feet lol.

Anyways, he has a bit of separation anxiety, so we crate him when we're not home. When in the crate he howls constantly... this isn't a problem when we're out of the house, but will be after I leave for school on the 16th. Right now he sleeps in my room at night on his dog bed, but when I go to school he'll have to sleep in the crate.

So what's the best way to get him used to it? He'll go in and is quiet if I'm right there with him, but as soon as I am out of sight the howling starts. I've been putting him in there when I'm in the shower and waiting until he's quiet to let him out, we've given him rawhides and a kong for while he's in there, I leave the radio on, etc. With our previous dogs they've always gotten used to the crate fairly quickly... I think with him it's going to take more time b/c of his separation anxiety. Any tips are appreciated!

 

[shubbles]

Would you know anyone that would be comfortable taking the dog. I don't know how long you'll be gone, but if its for a day or two than have someone that the dog knows babysit. Other than that i have no clue. The dog is adorable.

 

[Ash]

She's not leaving the dog alone for days at a time, Shubbles. More likely than not, the dog is at her parents home where she is during Winter break and has been allowed to sleep with her rather than in the crate.

Can you make a room for him? A laundry room or something? Maybe that'll be less stressful for him.

 

[shubbles]

When she said leaving for school i assumed she was traveling somewhere far away to go to school, which would suck.

 

[Ash]

She is. The foster dog is at her parents' home, her family is fostering him. So yes, she's leaving, but no, the dog isn't going to be alone.

 

[AnnShh]

Ash is correct. My family lives in VA, but I go to school in Mississippi.

Our previous foster dogs were all fine sleeping in the crate and eventually out of the crate once they could be trusted. This one is a bit more complicated since he does have some separation anxiety. I've tried leaving him in a room so that he's not confined to the crate but still contained in a single room, but he tires to chew/dig through the door and howls because he wants to be with people. Aside from the separation anxiety he is a great dog.

I'm hoping to be able to get him used to the crate so that once I leave for school (on the 16th), we can either move the crate to my parents room or keep it in my room. The other option is if we can get him to the point where we can trust him in the house (right now he is fine for the most part, except the occasional stolen pillow or shoe, but he's still pretty much a puppy at 1 y/o), if he'll sleep well in my parents room we can eventually start having him sleep out of the crate in there. That all depends on how he progresses over the next week.

I'm thinking that I just need to keep putting him in with a kong or rawhite chew and rewarding good behavior (letting him out only when he is quiet)?

If in the end he's still not sleeping quietly in the crate and isn't to the point where he can be trusted fully in the house, then he will go back to the rescue (which is a really nice facility)- but being in our home even if for 2 weeks is still great for him because he will get the weight on him that he needs and he'll receive some training that will all benefit him in finding him a new home. Or who knows, maybe my parents will fall in love with him and decide to become "foster failures" and adopt him

 

[Ash]

Do you think he'd be OK in the crate in your parents room? You said he's OK in the crate if you're still there and he can see you. Is there an area they can put the crate that he coudl still see them?

 

[AnnShh]

Do you think he'd be OK in the crate in your parents room? You said he's OK in the crate if you're still there and he can see you. Is there an area they can put the crate that he coudl still see them?

I can try that... I have a loft bed so if I go to bed while he is in the crate he can no longer see me. I can sleep on the floor for a few nights and if he adjusts well to that then I'll move the crate to my parents room and see how he does in there.

 

[chinchillalover0927]

all of our dogs are crate trained. they will wine and winnie to try and get there way but you cant give in to them....NOT ONE BIT ..or they will continue to do it, another good way to help this is to feed him in his crate, we feed ours in the morning and at night, they have a bown hooked on to there door and they run RITE IN and eat and sit there till we let them back out to go outside...and no matter what you do DO NOT put him in there to punish him , he will assosiate his crate with punishment, make it a good place for him, thats why i advise trying to feed him in it..i hope that helps

 

[equus_peduus]

Separation anxiety is a problem that requires teaching the dog to learn that it's okay to be alone. It is something of a medical/neurological problem as well as a behavioral problem. It sounds like the dog is okay with the crate idea, but isn't okay with the idea of being by himself. The dog needs to learn to be independent, and that can take a while.

Here's a couple good handouts on separation anxiety:

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=2865
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1502

This one talks about how to prevent it (which you can't at this point, but it's got some good information about things that contribute): http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1393

Talk to your vet (if the rescue group will allow this to be done). Reconcile and Clomicalm are good drugs that can help with overall anxiety - and if the dog is overall less anxious, then they can learn better. Reconcile also comes with a very nice initial training DVD that actually illustrates the basic steps needed to start teaching the dog independence.

Separation anxiety isn't easy. It's a lot of work to get better. It's a leading cause of dogs ending up in shelters (whaddya wanna bet that's why this dog was in the shelter?) But with consistency in the whole family with handling the problem, things CAN get better.

 

[AnnShh]

Separation anxiety is a problem that requires teaching the dog to learn that it's okay to be alone. It is something of a medical/neurological problem as well as a behavioral problem. It sounds like the dog is okay with the crate idea, but isn't okay with the idea of being by himself. The dog needs to learn to be independent, and that can take a while.

Here's a couple good handouts on separation anxiety:

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=2865
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1502

This one talks about how to prevent it (which you can't at this point, but it's got some good information about things that contribute): http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1393

Talk to your vet (if the rescue group will allow this to be done). Reconcile and Clomicalm are good drugs that can help with overall anxiety - and if the dog is overall less anxious, then they can learn better. Reconcile also comes with a very nice initial training DVD that actually illustrates the basic steps needed to start teaching the dog independence.

Separation anxiety isn't easy. It's a lot of work to get better. It's a leading cause of dogs ending up in shelters (whaddya wanna bet that's why this dog was in the shelter?) But with consistency in the whole family with handling the problem, things CAN get better.

Thanks equus. I think you hit the nail on the head. He is generally fine being in the crate but gets anxious if you go out of sight.

Last night was actually pretty good. I put him in there when I went to bed and slept on the floor infront of the crate. He whined for about 40 minutes (but no howling, so that's improvement), then finally layed down and went to sleep. I woke up about 2 hrs later and went into my bed (hardwood floors are hard!). He heard me and started whining again, howled once or twice, and I just kept talking to him for awhile until he quieted down. He then remained quiet until about 6:30am, which is when he normally wakes up and asks to be let outside to do his business.

There is a good chance that the separation anxiety is why he was surrendered. The rescue I foster for picked him up at a high kill shelter. I will check out those links and go from there. Luckilly he is not destructive if he's put in the crate when we're gone... so it's just a matter of if/how much we can overcome.