Dog breaking out of crate when left alone

zaksmum

I need some serious suggestions as to what to do about my dog.

My son minds him when we're away - my dog adores him and his family. He needs to be left alone 2 days a week for a few hours while they're at work and used to happily have the run of the house without a problem.

Then he freaked out and wrecked a door at my son's house trying to escape from the house. No idea why. So I got him a crate for the next time we had to leave him.

He was fine in the crate while they were at work, but then they had to leave him in the crate for 3 hours the following day.

He'd got himself into such a state. Shaking, panting, crying...he'd managed to break out of the crate by bending the bars so the latch could be opened and wrecked another door trying to get out of the house.

They have a younger dog who's also crated in their absence without any problem at all. I just have no idea what's getting him so upset.

My son's been really good about it but obviously something has to be done. My dog will have to be left again in about 6 weeks and I can't have him getting into this state again.

He's just turned 5 and is a whippet/labrador cross who does tend to be a bit anxious.

phill99

Sounds like separation anxiety.

southcoastrgi

sorry but i don't think you should keep any dog in a crate for any long period of time

zaksmum

phill99 wrote: »

Sounds like separation anxiety.

Thanks phill, I'm pretty sure you're right. My dog is quite clingy with me which isn't usually a problem as I'm home with him and my other dog all day and take them with me where possible if I go out.

I just don't know the best way to deal with this. He never used to wreck my son's doors trying to escape, he was quite happy to be left alone when need be. Now he's just so stressed out for whatever reason, he's trying to tear doors down to escape from the house. In fact he very nearly did get through a solid hardwood door. Another half hour of knawing at it and he would've got clean through it.:(
sorry that should've read gnawing at it...!

Person_one

Clearly, the crate isn't the answer!

I bet something happened that scared the dog the time he destroyed the door. If he'd always been fine up until then, and nothing else changed, then it might have been a one off event that freaked him out.

Did you put him straight in the crate after he broke the door? He hasn't been alone in the house without the crate since?

I'd go back to basics. Give him a filled kong, leave for 20 minutes and see what happens.

zaksmum

Person_one wrote: »

Clearly, the crate isn't the answer!

I bet something happened that scared the dog the time he destroyed the door. If he'd always been fine up until then, and nothing else changed, then it might have been a one off event that freaked him out.

Did you put him straight in the crate after he broke the door? He hasn't been alone in the house without the crate since?

I'd go back to basics. Give him a filled kong, leave for 20 minutes and see what happens.

Thanks Person One.
I did think something must've scared him the first time but no idea what it might've been. he does have filled Kongs of which he will scoff the contents in record time.

But when he's in my son's house and has now tried to rip doors down on two occasions I can't just expect my son to be happy about leaving him loose and unattended with a Kong while they have to go to work.

He really does serious damage to the doors - almost wrecking his way right through them - I just don't know what to do for the best. I hate the idea that he's so upset and anxious that he does such a thing.

Person_one

zaksmum wrote: »

But when he's in my son's house and has now tried to rip doors down on two occasions I can't just expect my son to be happy about leaving him loose and unattended with a Kong while they have to go to work.

I understand that, but if you're going to need to leave him there I think you need to put in some time there yourself getting him used to it again. It'll be like starting over with a pup, the first time you leave him it will only be 5 minutes so no time to do much damage, then build up.

You never know, allowed out of the crate he might be fine again! Is he ok being left alone at home still? Is this problem only at your son's house?

I put kongs in the freezer overnight, they last a lot longer that way.

zaksmum

Person_one wrote: »

I understand that, but if you're going to need to leave him there I think you need to put in some time there yourself getting him used to it again. It'll be like starting over with a pup, the first time you leave him it will only be 5 minutes so no time to do much damage, then build up.

You never know, allowed out of the crate he might be fine again! Is he ok being left alone at home still? Is this problem only at your son's house?

I put kongs in the freezer overnight, they last a lot longer that way.

He's absolutely 100% fine being left home alone. It's only at my son's house this problem has arisen.

In fact you've got me thinking...my son lives only a 10 minute drive from my house. I wonder if it would better for him to bring my dog to my house on the two days a week he and his wife both work and leave him there on his own after a good walk? My next door neighbour would let him out in the garden a couple of times a day, she's offered. Then my son could collect him at 4 pm after work and take him back to his house overnight.

I know my dog would be totally relaxed in his own home.

Do you think it would be cruel leaving him alone in our house all day? Or a better option for him than to be shoved in a crate at my son's house?

Person_one

zaksmum wrote: »

He's absolutely 100% fine being left home alone. It's only at my son's house this problem has arisen.

In fact you've got me thinking...my son lives only a 10 minute drive from my house. I wonder if it would better for him to bring my dog to my house on the two days a week he and his wife both work and leave him there on his own after a good walk? My next door neighbour would let him out in the garden a couple of times a day, she's offered. Then my son could collect him at 4 pm after work and take him back to his house overnight.

I know my dog would be totally relaxed in his own home.

Do you think it would be cruel leaving him alone in our house all day? Or a better option for him than to be shoved in a crate at my son's house?

I think it makes far more sense for a dog to be alone in an environment where he's relaxed and feels safe than alone in an environment where for whatever reason he is distressed, even if that means being alone a bit longer.

I'd get rid of the crate completely.

krlyr

If he's that anxious at your son's, I would go for home alone at yours. There's nothing to say you can't start building up leaving him at your son's, but if you do that in your free time rather than out of necessity, you can go much slower and meet the dog's pace.
When I moved house, Kiki had terrible separation anxiety - chewing doors, spinning in circles, barking nearly all day, etc. but we discovered that leaving her loose downstairs, rather than confined to the kitchen (we thought being at the back of the house might be better as we moved from a more rural location where people wouldn't walk past the house much at all, to a slightly busier road with a front garden only the length of a car) she was better.
After lots of yoyoing back and forth with improvements, then sliding back to her being bad again, improving, gettng worse, etc. I took her to the vet for a full MOT. Blood tests showed borderline hypothyroidism, we decided to trial medication, and she improved hugely within weeks.

With that, and taking some time off work, I managed to get her happy to be left during the week, but she cottoned on to when I was going to work and when I was just going out - she'd be fine in the day but upset if I left her in the evening or at weekends.
However, she's much more relaxed when left at my nan's house (over the road), even if my nan isn't home, so if we have to go out at the evenings or weekends for an hour or so, the dogs are left there and I know that Kiki won't be stressing. We've gradually been beginning to leave them alone at home on the odd evening, e.g. if we've popped to my nan's for dinner (so I can watch via webcam/Skype on my phone) or just have to go out for 15 minutes, and she's coping with these much better.

I think it can be a case of getting a negative association with being left in a certain place, and it's much harder to undo that association than to make a new, nicer association in a different place.

I think it's worth a full health check to rule out pain or medical conditions (blood test including full thyroid panel would be my recommendation), reverting to a setup she has proven to be more comfortable in, and then slowly work on getting her settled at your son's house for the future - 5 minutes here and there, made very positive.

Make stuffed Kongs last longer by freezing them - takes my two 30 mins to empty a frozen Kong, vs. 5 minutes without freezing!

I'd recommend Nicole Wilde's "Don't leave me" and Patricia Mcconnell's "I'll be home soon" books for separation anxiety
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Leave-Seperation-Anxiety-Nicole-Wilde/dp/0981722733
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ill-Be-Home-Soon-Separation/dp/1891767054/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368169667&sr=1-3&keywords=separation+anxiety

Also, incase you want to read about hypothyroidism, there's quite a few good links on this page (hypothyroidism can often have behavioural symptoms before/more noticably than physical, and anxiety is one of them)
http://www.dogaware.com/health/hypothyroid.html

I'd also look into calmative products on the market. Zylkene and Calmex are oral supplements, Rescue Remedy or other homeopathic remedies can be added to the water or dropped on the dog's nose/tongue, Thundershirts (or homemade equivelants) can calm a dog, much like swaddling an upset baby, Adaptil plugins/collars/sprays can help, and so on.

zaksmum

I took him to the vet's just in case there was a problem. The vet said he's fine but could only suggest sedatives which I really don't want.

He loves going to my son's house and is fine when I'm there too, or even when my son and his family are there in my absence.

It's just when he's left alone there that he really freaks out and starts trying to bust out of the house.