tail bleeds when crated

[samuel1]

Hello,
I am a volunteer at my local animal shelter and trying to figure out what advice I can give to the proud new parent of a recently adopted dog. This female pit bull is a smaller size pit standing about 18 inches at the withers and weighing in at about 45 pounds. She loves her crate. However, she bangs her tail against the crate because she wags her tail quite a bit...such a happy girl! Her crate is quite a large one (42 or 48 inches). She can lay down, turn around, and stand up with plenty of room. This is the same problem she had when she was housed in a crate at the shelter.
Any advice is most appreciated.
Thank you.

[runlikethewind]

What about a fabric crate?

[samuel1]

Thank you so much for responding. I was wondering if anyone would.

The soft crate would take care of this problem. However, she is a fairly aggressive chewer. This would be too tempting for her.

Thanks again.

[Ari_RR]

Dog barriers instead of a crate, perhaps?

[runlikethewind]

Does she chew because she is anxious or chew when she is happy? We can help you with this if it is anxiety related

[samuel1]

@runlikethewind, she's not anxious but very well adjusted. She is a resilient dog with one of the most "happy tails" I have ever met. She was one of the most well adjusted dog at the kennel.

I actually was able to contact a trainer from a well respected rescue who stated that their vets had recommended tail docking as the "best" solution for happy tails of kennel dogs.

Since she is not in the kennel anymore, I could not and would not recommend tail docking.

@Ari_RR, I actually went with putting her in a smaller safe room using a sturdy gate to block the doorway. In addition, if the room was large enough to put her crate in there too and just leave the crate door open.

Let's see how this will work out. She may have a potty accident with such a larger space.....better than a bleeding tail...I'll say.

Thanks a bunch for your insights!