Destructive, Noisy, and scared when Left alone

[hwfbarnchic]

I adopted a roughly 1 year old mix from a local shelter about 2 1/2 months ago. She has been through all her shots and vet checks, she is worm free, flea free, and completely healthy. At my best guess she has Austrailian Shepard, Blue Heeler, and a little of something else in her. She's full grown at 30 pounds and a total attention ham. She's a quick learner and has already picked up sit, lay down, and is in the process of stay. I am a college student in an apartment. My schedule varies depending on the day, but I have tried to make it as routine as possible. I wake up at 6:30 every morning and get ready to take her for a walk, we leave at 7:00am and walk for between half an hour to 45 minutes. I make my breakfast and give her, her breakfast as well. The timing is always around the same for every morning. I then when it comes time to leave for class I have to put her in her crate. She's never in there for more than 6 hours max, usually 4 hours or less. When I come home from class, she is let out and I ignore her until she is calm and then we play fetch down the hallway even adding objects for her to jump over (which she loves). She eats dinner at the same time almost every night as well.

The first issue, she's dreds going in her crate. She immediatly curls up in a ball on any available surface and then shows me her belly and eventually I have to pick her up and set her by the door and say "Kennel up" and she'll walk inside reluctantly. I reward her for going in with a treat, leave the TV on for her, and say a simple goodbye, shut my door and leave for class. Sometimes she's quiet and sometimes not. I know she is stressed out and scared when I leave because she is shaking and her tail goes completely between her legs. I have tried everything I can think of, she has all the toys she loves, I have put a T-shirt of mine in there, covered the crate with a sheet (which is now in shreds), I've tried hiding treats in it. I want to relieve her anxiety and stress without medication.

The second isssue, barking, whining, and crying. I was warned of her habit of whining when I adopted her but she seemed to be getting better at first. But most mornings when I leave for class she whines, cries, and eventually escalates to barking. I have given her toys, treats to find in the bedding, and even left the TV on so it doesn't seem like she's alone. One of my roommates has complained that she would wake her up with the racket she causes and I am suprised I haven't had neighbors complain. I try to reward the behaviour I want when I can catch it, namely when I come home from class.

The third issue, destruction. She's torn apart the comforter in her crate, the sheet I tried to cover her crate with, crate cover at my mom's, anything I left near the crate (reusable shopping bag, my bookbag), her first crate (she pulled the door inside from at an angle, and bent several pieces all of which had my roommates and I scratching our heads), while waiting for my mom to bring our other crate she dug up the carpet at my bedroom door, the bathroom floor, the blinds in the bathroom, the shower curtain in the bathroom, roll of toilet paper and extra toilet paper cover. I try to keep anything she might destroy away from her crate, she does not destroy her toys, just ignores them. She has a peanut butter filled bone, a rawhide, and a few sweaky toys in with her. When I let her out she actually "rescues" her toys from the crate.

I know this takes time to accomplish but, she seems to not get better, but she's not getting worse either. I want to be able to keep her but I know that if it never gets better I will have to try and find her a new home because eventually I won't be so lucky in the neighbor department.

[Lauram]

Hi, sure you'll get some good advice on here.

I don't use a crate but i thought they were meant to be a place where a dog can feel safe in its own space, if it is making her so miserable going into it, is there any way you can avoid it? Could your roommates help with her care when your not there?

Does she only get walked in the morning? It seems an awful long time for an active dog to be crated especially when he hates it so much.

[SarahLou]

Is there another dog owner where you live? Maybe you could buddy up (if your schedules aren't the same) and help dog-sit for each other.
Then the pups get socialization time (and hopefully get along) and each pet owner gets some stress relief...

[hwfbarnchic]

There are plenty of dog owners in my apartment complex but none who's schedules run opposite of mine. I wish I didn't have to crate her but it is really necesarry. I have two roommates one is a student teacher who is at school all day and cannot watch her when I'm at class, and my other roommate has all afternoon and evening classes but sleeps until literally 30 minutes before her classes. I cannot leave her out even with the roommate asleep in the apartment because of the two bunnies owned by the other roommate. She gets other exercise during the day once I get home. I get my roommate who's home to let her out when I can but that happens a lot less often then I'd like it to. And she's not uber active, she's more content to sleep on the floor and just be lazy, I'll take her outside to play and she won't, or I'll throw the ball down the hallway for her and she'll walk to get it or leave it where it landed and wander back to me and lay down. I've tried everything I can think of to make her feel safe in the crate, since leaving her loose in the apartment when I leave isn't an option. The reason it isn't an option is not only because of my roommates bunnies but also because the only furniture in the apartment I currently own is the stuff in my room. The roommate who is a student teacher and owns the bunnies owns pretty much everything in the apartment.

[***Melissa***]

I'm not one of the experts, but it does sound a lot like seperation anxiety. So search for that, and have a read through those posts - I know there's one where Emmabeth first explains how to be extremely boring for your dog, and work it up to leaving the house, etc.

Also, was you doggy crate trained? They should learn that a crate is a safe, happy place first, before being crated for a few hours (that is my understanding).

And another thing, can you maybe try taking her for a walk after you had b/fast, closer to the time you leave (so she's really tired when you leave). And maybe you can stop feeding her b/fast the time your having yours, and rather give her her b/fast in a kong when you leave. That way she anticipates you getting ready to leave with getting food, not you actually leaving, and also have something to occupy her with while you are gone. (There are threads on kongs here as well, and some doggies will even eat them frozen, so it takes aaaages for them to get the food out. That is I think something we all want to achieve, but you may have to start slowly with the kong, putting something really tasty inside that will fall out really easy - like tiny bits of cheese, tiny bits of hotdog sausage, etc, and work it up to more difficult stuff.)

Hope that helps