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  3. He just hates his crate. Anyone else with this problem?

He just hates his crate. Anyone else with this problem?

Behavioral Issues
  • JazzysMomJ

    Eek! I just looked at petsmart.com and the spray is $42/bottle???
    And the only review from a customer said it didn't work.

    Anybody else with positive experience?

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  • C

    I TOTALLY understand. Smitty STILL today peed in his crate and just last week he pooped (first time in months but he's 1 1/2!). In fact, just last week I bought the spray in addition to the defuser. Dog.com has it for $28 with free shipping over $50. I called the manufacture and they said you can use both at the same time. Just squirt 6-10 pumps on the inside of the crate…. as much as the stuff calms Bonnie down, being near by is going to knock her out! I've tried it for a couple days and so far it doesn't seem to do much for him. I'll set up the video camera again and see. I think maybe it just works on some and not others. To me it was worth a try. With Bonnie we sprayed it on a bandana and that's all it took.

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  • jys1011J

    I use the DAP diffuser & I think it's helped us out quite a bit. Topaz stopped peeing & pooping in her crate. I won't stop using it now for fear that she may go back to soiling her crate.

    Basenji Mom of C3PO & TOPAZ

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  • jys1011J

    I'm going to try using the spray for car trips as they both get very anxious on car rides.

    Basenji Mom of C3PO & TOPAZ

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  • JazzysMomJ

    Hmmm, I just noticed that I have some amitriptyline left over from last year when our cat was exhibiting odd behavior {ie, peeing every BUT the litter box even though her health check was fine}. The stuff worked great and she almost immediately started using the litter box again.

    I think I'm going to call my vet and ask about trying it on Keoki. {It doesn't expire until Sept. 07}. He just saw Keoki a couple of weeks ago, so I'm hoping he doesn't insist on seeing him again. . .

    I wonder how safe I'd be in just giving it to him. I don't think it's a prescription item as it can be ordered on petmeds.com .

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  • JazzysMomJ

    LOL so I went to PetCo today and bought new bedding for Keoki's crate – one blanket-type pad and actually a very cushy cat bed that I figured would give him a cozy, cuddly feeling.

    He can't get near the crate. Jazzy is curled up inside and growls like a Tasmanian Devil any time Keoki gets near the door. LOL

    Great. Right effect, wrong dog.

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  • youngandtiredY

    Would it be possible that the new puppy smells Jazzy in the crate and is afraid. After all Jazzy does not like her to get near the crate, maybe she is nerveous about it b/c of Jazzy's reaction when she gets near. Just wondering!!!!

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  • QuercusQ

    I would try using an X-pen, possible with a cover. And retrain him to the crate. A big PIA for sure. But he is defintiely crate phobic at this point. You have to take teeny tiny baby steps. Put some kind of treat in there that he loves outside the crate, like a stuffed bone or raw bone. Lock it in there, and let him see it…talk it up. Let him in and get chewing on it. Close the door. Hopefully he will be busy chewing on it; count to 10 and open the door. Call him out with a treat. Take the chew away. Do many short training sessions per day. Have another place to put him when he needs to be confined (xpen). Once he is comfortable with the count to ten, start extending the time. Once he is comfortable with a minute or two walk out of the room, come back let him out. You get the idea....baby steps....never let him out if he starts screaming, but try to let him out while he still wants to be in with the chewie.

    Good luck...and sorry...I know how bad this situation feels :(

    Andrea Walters

    Quercus Basenjis

    NW Ohio

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  • nomrbddgsN

    I've also had to use a bigger crate/cage to retrain dogs. It does work, but takes a bit of time.

    Arlene, the Basenji Brats with the Boxenji![](images/smilies/biggrin.png "Big Grin")

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  • JazzysMomJ

    Dare I hope?

    Last night I put Keoki into his crate all by himself, with the new bedding – a fake fleece crate pad and the cat bed pillow -- and he went right in, went to sleep, and slept quietly until 6 AM!! He didn't even fuss when I got up, but waited with waggly tail until I opened the door!

    I'm afraid to get too excited, lest this be a cruel fluke, but wow~ it's exciting!!

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  • jys1011J

    OOOOHHH I'm keeping our paws & fingers crossed for you & keoki :)

    Basenji Mom of C3PO & TOPAZ

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  • QuercusQ

    @JazzysMom:

    Dare I hope?

    Last night I put Keoki into his crate all by himself, with the new bedding – a fake fleece crate pad and the cat bed pillow -- and he went right in, went to sleep, and slept quietly until 6 AM!! He didn't even fuss when I got up, but waited with waggly tail until I opened the door!

    I'm afraid to get too excited, lest this be a cruel fluke, but wow~ it's exciting!!

    That would be great! Here's hoping!

    Andrea Walters

    Quercus Basenjis

    NW Ohio

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    As some of you may recall, I had HORRIBLE problems getting Keoki to crate – took me until he was 9 mos old {and three crates!!} before he would sleep at night at all w/out screaming and shredding his bedding. For him, the issue was NOT crating, but separation. I could put him in the crate and while wasn't crazy about it, he would lie down and go to sleep as long as I was in the room w/him. As soon as I moved to leave, he would go absolutely insane. X-pen didn't work either as he tore his nose up while moving the pen across the floor. I finally bought a large crate {-a great dane could be comfy in our current crate} and we crate Keoki and Jazz together. Jazz would prefer to be alone, but she has always been a dog that rolls with the punches, so she does fine. Keoki now runs to his crate if I just say, "Go to bed". They go to bed at 10 PM and although I open the crate door at 5:30 AM, the seldom come out before 9 AM. I can crate them when guests are over if necessary {Jazz gets uncomfortable if too many people are over}, when we go out, and all night w/no complaints. {I am home all day, most days}. My family says he still whines at the window for a few minutes any time I leave the house, which is funny to me because he doesn't seem to be particularly attached to me when we're all home together although both dogs seem to know that I am THE MAMA and they behave best and listen most to me. I wonder how often the dog's anxious behavior in crates is like Keoki - not a crating problem, but a separation anxiety issue.
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    @luvsmy2bs: Have things gotten any better? Just curios,,,,,,I was reading your post and felt really sorry for you. Currently I have turned my dd's bedroom – thankfully she's away at college -- into a kennel. There is a 6 x 4' ex-pen w/top taking up the entire floor space of her room. Both Jazzy's and Keoki's crates are in there. At night he sleeps okay in that ONLY as long as BOTH crates remain open into the pen. If I close either crate, he flips out. During the day when we have to go out, as yesterday and today, I have to remove all "real" bedding and leave just paper toweling. Yesterday I made the mistake of leaving a small piece of carpet UNDER Jazzy's crate, and when we got home it had been pulled out and torn to shreds. It is obvious that he still wigs out, even in the large pen w/Jazz as today I noticed that the front of his crate {above the door, which was open} has been all chewed up, even though he was not shut in. Still working with the behaviorist; she and the vet are thinking long-term meds may be in order. That is still being discussed. He's going to hurt himself one day if we don't get a handle on this...and eventually dd is going to be home from college; then what? We can't travel with him like this either.
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