My puppy is a year old and we’ve had him since he was 14 weeks old. From the get go, he was already an anxious dog— peeing out of fear, shaking whenever anyone would hold him, and excessive drooling and shaking during car rides. He has always been a very timid dog and I’ve just accepted it.
Recently we had him stay at his trainers house for 2 weeks for a board and train due to his destructive behavior, stubbornness, and persistent potty accidents inside the house. He came home perfectly trained and I was pleasantly surprised. However, to maintain what he has learned, the trainer insists that I establish the same schedule my pup had at the trainer’s at home, and this included crating him at home. At the trainers, he was perfectly crate trained but when we transitioned to establishing crate training at home, it has been a handful.
I crate him from 8 AM – 5 PM with potty and play breaks every 3-4 hours. With this however, I’ve noticed he has become extremely anxious inside his crate. He is panting excessively, refusing food and water when the crate door is closed, biting and yanking the gate, and just destroying everything inside. He doesn’t sleep or take naps in his crate either. When I do let him out, I notice that he drinks A LOT of water and has accidents in the house because of how much water he’s drank. The accidents are in the middle of the night or when I’m not looking and this concerns me because he has never woken up from his sleep to potty INSIDE the room before. At night, he sleeps with me on the bed and I’ve noticed since crating him, he’s become really lethargic during bed time. I don’t know what to do!
I’ve been consistently positively reinforcing his relationship with the crate by feeding him inside with the door open. I throw treats inside and he’s able to go in and out without a problem. He is able to stay occupied and calm in his crate when I’m around. However, the minute I close the gate and leave, his destructive and anxious behavior starts to happen. Most of the time I’m seeing this through my doggy camera I have that is facing his crate.
I am a pretty anxious and helicopter pet parent and I only want what is best for my boy. But crating him is the safest thing for him because without it, he’d be chewing, peeing, and pooping on everything. I’m hoping that crate training him will lead to him being fully house trained but with how things are going, I don’t know what to do anymore. It kills me to see him so anxious in his crate and just feeling not like himself. It’s only been a week with this schedule at home, should I see it through? Please, I’m open to any solutions or tips. He’s starting to concern me with his excessive thirst, potty accidents, and excessive panting…
submitted by /u/elahsirt
[link] [comments]