Doggy Feng Shui

[Malamum]

We have two dogs so therefore two crates. Both crates are the same brand and the same make, however as one dog is a fair bit bigger than the other the crates are a size apart (one large and one extra large). Both crates also have the same bedding and are placed at the same end of the room, just on opposite sides.

So with two almost identical options why do my dogs only ever want to go in the one on the left hand side of the room?

We will have one dog in a crate and the other lying forlornly on the floor looking neglected rather than get in the other one. The other day we even had Indy growling at Kira telling her to get out so he could get in.

The smaller crate used to be on the left so I though maybe they preferred the smaller one. However I swapped them over a week or so ago and they are still preferring the one on the left which is now the larger of the two.

Am I inadvertently disobeying one of the canine feng shui rules of crate placement?

[espinay2]

Two things to consider - the direction the sun is travelling and the view of the door to the room etc from the crate.

[Kavik]

What about placing them right next to each other?

[kiesha09]

Do you have heating/cooling vents that point towards one of the crates?

[Christina]

Maybe there is a dead body buried in the wall on the left hand side

No idea as I sit here with 5 dogs in the warm room.

4 comfy beds & an armchair with a blanket for them so why are 4 squished in one bed ?

[Malamum]

Two things to consider - the direction the sun is travelling and the view of the door to the room etc from the crate.

The sun could be something but they still favour the one the left at night.

I actually think it might be because the wall on the left backs onto the lounge room so they may be trying to be closer to us. However the one on the left still seems to be the first choice even when we are not home.

What about placing them right next to each other?

They quite like their own space and Indy tends to get narky if he thinks Kira is invading his space. If I put them both in the crates side by side I think I'd just be opening us up to a whole lot of carry on and I also don't think they'd voluntarily lie in them that close together

Do you have heating/cooling vents that point towards one of the crates?

Nope.

Thanks for the suggestions. It's not something I'm overly worried about - more just curious.

[Alkhe]

I don't know if it's dog feng shui as much as the canine version of 'the grass is always greener on the other side'. ;) Or playing the 'why' game with a 3 year old. I want to go in that crate. Why? Because! Because why? Because! But because.. why? BECAUSE!

[Mim]

I wonder if they'd swap crates if you swapped the bedding around? Perhaps they have a preference for one bed over the other.

[corvus]

Maybe they are both left-pawed. Laterality can be a powerful influence over behaviour. All you need is a slight preference to begin with for a habit to form and change it into a strong preference. Example: Both dogs are left-biased and so both tend to drift to the left crate in the absence of any motivation to pick one over the other. Both enjoy their time in the left crate, reinforcing the choice. And a habit is born.

Or, one of the dogs is left-biased and so drifts to the left crate in the absence of any motivation to pick one over the other, and the other dog prefers the warmth and smell of a crate that has been used by a family member. Even if both dogs kind of prefer their own space, that's not to say what one has used is probably better than one no one has used. People do the same thing. Ever been in a cue at the public toilets only to realise that one cubicle is vacant and has been the whole time you were in the cue? A quick inspection often finds there is no reason for anyone not to use it. Social animals just gather information through what others are doing. It's sensible to assume someone who has been there before you knows things about it that you don't and so you follow their lead, even if their decision was based on nothing more than a vague spatial preference they aren't even conscious of.