scratching, barking, and chewing on crate!

[juliefurry]

Ok, Ele has begun to scratch at the bottom of the crate, bark and howl, and also chew on the bars when we put her in at night. She's usually never in there during the day only for brief moments or an hour at the most while I take a shower or wash the kids. I give her treats for behaving in her crate but she's just not liking it. This goes on for atleast a good hour after we put her in. We'll take her out, and let her outside but she doesn't have to go she just walks around. She just doesn't want to be in the crate because out of the crate she's fine. She needs to be crated at night though because she'll have accidents in the bathroom if we babygate her off in there and she'll still bark when we leave. Plus she likes to eat the cabinets even if we put chew toys in there. We have toys in her crate as well but she won't chew on them. Any suggestions? I have thought about feeding her in her crate as well.

[rabbitsarebetter]

first off, just keep ignoring her.
does she have a kong? if not you should get one and fill it with yummy stuff. and get her a knuckle bone. and only give these to her when she is in the crate.
good luck

[juliefurry]

Yeah we do just ignore her, and if she's quiet we give her treats and tell her she's being good. She has a kong and I put yogurt or peanut butter in there but she isn't interested in them. I feel bad leaving in the crate with her acting like that but right now we don't have any other options. If we put her in the bathroom she does have accidents and she'll eat our cabinets (Mark's not at all happy about that either :(). I thought about getting an x-pen but it just seems like she only does this to get out and play and get attention. I THINK that she learned to do that before we got her and she learned that if she barked enough she would be let out of her pen or whereever the lady who had her was keeping her and she'd be able to get attention. She's a bossy little puppy who really isn't happy if she doesn't get her own way.

[showpug]

Yeah we do just ignore her, and if she's quiet we give her treats and tell her she's being good. She has a kong and I put yogurt or peanut butter in there but she isn't interested in them. I feel bad leaving in the crate with her acting like that but right now we don't have any other options. If we put her in the bathroom she does have accidents and she'll eat our cabinets (Mark's not at all happy about that either :(). I thought about getting an x-pen but it just seems like she only does this to get out and play and get attention. I THINK that she learned to do that before we got her and she learned that if she barked enough she would be let out of her pen or whereever the lady who had her was keeping her and she'd be able to get attention. She's a bossy little puppy who really isn't happy if she doesn't get her own way.

Julie...don't feel badly. This dog is smart and she's just trying to test what she can get away with. Ignore her and the behavior will go away. Just make sure she is tuckered out and has had plenty of playtime and excercise before you put her in there.

[Asha's momma]

My 3month old Akita was just not having anything to do with sleeping in her crate until we moved it into the bedroom where she sleeps wonderfully now without any fuss. She would cry for hours which we ignored, or tried to but no one was getting any sleep. Once we realized that she follows us around the house and will lay at our feet wherever, we figured maybe she felt left out and we were ok with her sleeping in our bedroom, crated. So she's now happy as can be except for a serious case of kennel cough!

We also have one in the living room where she willingly goes in and out to nap and play while we're home in the eve's and on weekends!

Just an idea, when she doesn't have to be in there make it a fun thing for her an you to play near the crate, having her go in and out for treats and toys... it worked for us.