[mylittledeers]

At night when we crate Blitzen she has a couple minutes of whimpers then sleeps a good 5 - 6 hours. During the 2 hrs during the day no-one is home she is crated has toys, a bone, the tv on and she SCREAMS the house down, pees all over herself and crate. When hubby walked Donner today he confined her to the dining room......she Houdini'd herself out and he came home to her sleeping quietly on the couch, no accidents!!!! GRRRR  I don't mind the potty accidents, she is just a baby, but I don't want her traumitized by the crate during the day causing a set-back at night. I know she isn't ready to be alone with Donner for 2 hrs in the pm, so what the heck do I do with her??? Donner is the 1st dog I've crated and he was no problem at all. I've read all the posts about crating but haven't seen this situation.... Any ideas would be appreciated

 

[DUKE01]

Maybe you could put Donner in the same room as her crate until she gets comfortable with it.  Then give Donner the room and a hallway and slowly work him out of the room.  I don't know, we crate both of our dogs, Tabs would be fine by herself but I feel if one is crated the other one can be too.

 

[samsonsmom]

A bit of separation anxiety? It also sounds like she is just a lot more vocal about being in the crate than Donner was...Some dogs are like that..Try leaving a radio on for her, something soothing and give her a Kong as well.....Samson had days when he would be barking soo loud I could hear him as I pulled out of the driveway, then some days, he didn't make a sound....Go figure

 

[Guest]

Jetta screamed very  loudly for the first two months almost...we just ignored her and she got over it...now all we do is say go to bed and stand by the crate and she is fine..just got to ignore them...

 

[mylittledeers]

Thanks for the ideas, we may have to crate Donner again their crates are right next to each other. Just doesn't seem fair since he hasn't needed to be crated in months!!
Willow, we did buy her a baby Kong, filled hers and Donners with PB and froze them. If it helped at all it was temporary at best, kongs were empty and she was screaming like a banshee.
Just discussed with hubby on the phone maybe build a better retaining wall in the dining room and just let her have a fit in there.
Mostly I'm worried about her regressing at night.
BTW we've tried the crate uncovered and covered, doesn't seem to make a difference.

 

[slobound]

Yeah, sounds like blitzen is just more vocal than donner.  Koa was a screamer at first too!  But I pulled out all the stops - we covered the top of his crate with a towel, warm water bottle, stuffed toy with the dog mom's scent, t-shirt with my scent, t-shirt with human mom's scent, ticking alarm clock, jazz music playing on the radio, and finally petting him to sleep in the crate.  It was an ordeal to get him ready for bed but it worked and he didn't cry through the night anymore!

 

[boxerlove]

Hopefully she will out grow it.  We have never had any that cried in the crate.  We actually got the crate because our Calli climbed over the big board we had keeping her in the kitchen when she was a baby....we found her sound asleep on her back in the living room.   Any time we tried to leave her out she would poo, pee and tear things up so vet recommended the crate and she did great in it.  He suggested that we leave it open for her all the time when we were home and she would go in there when she wanted alone time and just sleep.  We never put food or water in it and it was a large crate...it actually can fit two dogs.  After Calli we have always had two or more boxers so I think they keep each other company and that helps.....the youngest is always in the crate (when they are 2-3 months we used a smaller crate) and we would put it in the living room with TV on and the other dogs would be with the puppy.

 

[Pixi7272]

Try leaving your scent in the Crate My Winston has the day crying something Fierce I leave the sent of lavander in the house and a shirt of mine or hubbies in the Crate with him and he does better when i remember to leave him a shirt.  We do not Crate at night both of them do fine at night!

 

[Britneysdad]

Try leaving a radio on for her.

I would second this idea as well. I have read a few top breeders turn on classical music for boxer pups, so I started doing this with Britney anytime she is in her crate.  Now when I leave I turn it on for her. However, she has always been great in her crate. I would rather get her use to her crate then bend and change your living area like building a retaining wall in the living room.  This way she learns her boundries for the future... Keep working at it and don't give up. This tends to make them more happy in the end and you as well.

 

[nano]

I use an Ex-Pen for my two boxers.  The 16 month old needs to be in it as it helps her be quiet when I'm gone.  My 3 year old (usually) doesn't but accepts it fine also.  It is larger than a crate by far and has plenty of room for both to stretch out and enjoy themselves when I'm gone.  If you get one make sure to get the 48 inch high one.  It could be the peeing is from the separation aniexty about you being gone and possibly the other dog is out of her sight.

Nano

 

[tysonsdad]

I know she isn't ready to be alone with Donner for 2 hrs in the pm, so what the heck do I do with her???

I keep emma in the crate with either Tyson or Sophie and never have any problems.  Sophie is almost 3 and Tyson is 7 Emma is 5 months.  Is Donner having problems getting along with Blitzen?

Scott

 

[FREDOSMOM]

When we first brought Fredo home we had another dog at the time, Elvis. We had them seperated at night and Fredo would scream bloody murder. Well we tried putting their crates together and that worked immediately.