ShellyBeggs Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Anzac (1yo kelpie) has taken to destroying his crate, bending all the bars with his teeth (he even got out twice until I wired it all up with tie-wire)...........He bangs and crashes aroung in there for over an hour or more trying to mangle the bars with his teeth and sooking. Not only cant i get any sleep, he is destroying his crate (it looks like WW3 has gone on inside it) but I am worried he will hurt himself. He is 27kg and in a large size (36inch) wire crate......he is in the run all day with Ranger and Diesel, gets a 40-45 min walk every night and an hour ball play (he chases Ranger) every night plus training. Oh and games inside.......He usually is tired before bedtime and sometimes puts himself to bed....lately he is always eager to go to bed and get his chicken carcuss but once that is gone he has just in the last few weeks started these tantrums. He used to go straight to sleep! He has toys in his crate but doesn't play with toys. I have tried completely covering him, un-covering him, spraying him with water pistol when he does it, ignoring him, leaving the room.....yelling at him, leaving his collar on with lead out the bars and correcting the bad behaviour. Nothing seems to work......he is having a big destructive tanty! A friend at work who crates her dog, said he has too much room to mess about and put him in a smaller crate where he just can't do it. Put him in the smaller crate for 3-4 weeks, as long as its no more than 8 hours at a time...... and by then he should be used to just laying still and resting. I have a medium crate at home and it just looks too small. He will be able to lay down if he curls his bum up a bit and just be able to turn around, but can't stand up with his head up and wouldn't be able to sit. He would need to scrunch down to walk in the door. Any ideas guys??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squeak Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 I will throw a couple of ideas "out there" and wait for the more experienced people to come along... When you say you have tried ignoring him.... how long for? Did you ignore him until his tantrum ceased? If he is going through an "extinction burst" and you pay him attention whilst he is still having his tantrum, then you have effectively rewarded this behaviour, and he will be thinking "oh, okay, I just have to go longer and harder to get their attention" - you need to ignore until the behaviour stops, and then reward the calm behaviour. Is he quiet at all when he first goes into the crate? If he is, I would reward this calm behaviour and build on this. Is it possible to leave him with a chew toy that would last him a while and help him settle??? Final question - you say it has only happened over the last few weeks. Is there anything in his routine, your routine or your life that has changed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoBella Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 (edited) Bella used to have tanties in her crate when possum's landed on it. I tried ignoring her and most times it worked. Sometimes nothing worked and she was still hyper-excited four hours later. I fixed this by following: - put her in her crate when she was overexcited - sit beside the crate with a jar of treats and reward quiet behaviour - at the same time, I gave her the "quiet" command everytime she made even the slightest noise - I kept calm and did not yell - this took about half an hour I had to do this a few times that week. She never has tanties in her crate any more. I don't know why this worked but it did. I would consider the medium crate for overnight. Bella and Bruno have smaller travelling crates which are only big enough for them to stand up and lie down in one position. I'm a bit worried about Anzac being able to bend the bars on his crate. How strong is your crate? Good luck eta--- disclaimer: this is not the preferred way to get your dog quiet in a crate, this is only for special cases. The preferred method is to ignoring the noise, make no eye contact, do not speak, do not pat the dog. Reward only quiet behaviour. - don't wan't to lead anyone astray! Edited January 22, 2008 by BellasPerson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Bella used to have tanties in her crate when possum's landed on it. I tried ignoring her and most times it worked.Good luck Do you have Bella in a wire crate outside at night? Or is your crate a plastic closed in kennel type of crate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoBella Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Bella used to have tanties in her crate when possum's landed on it. I tried ignoring her and most times it worked.Good luck Do you have Bella in a wire crate outside at night? Or is your crate a plastic closed in kennel type of crate? Mine is a wire crate. Both dogs are crated side by side with a heavy tarp on three sides and a sheet divider between them. I had also tried covering the crate completely at first but this also did not help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 What sort of bed does he have in there? I would certainly not discount that perhaps he has back pain and being forced to lie in a confined area hurts- even though it seems like he has plenty of room. I would get a Vet Chiro to take a look at him before anything else. Mel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamuzz Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Coda went through a phase of hating his crate too - whined to Steve at K9 about all the different things I had tried & he pointed out that Coda was doing an excellent job of crate training me. BP has it right by saying "ignore the dog". Steve had a hilarious answer in another crate training thread. Basically suggested picking the dog up (crate and all) and popping him into the laundry and closing the door firmly behind you. Oh to be able to pick up 30kg + of GSD and a crate If you try searching you should find plenty on this topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShellyBeggs Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 Thanks guys....... he has been to the chiro twice and although was a little out in the back the first visit, he got the all clear on the 2nd. Although with how violent his tantrums are not suprised if he hasn't put himself out again. I have had a puppy in the house for the past week but this started before he came..... I have started back at work.....and the two weeks of my holidays the routine changed to staying up late and sleeping in. Maybe it is the routine changing back to normal.........and of course I am going to work and not home all day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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