We have a 14-week-old Swiss Shepherd that we’ve had for 3 weeks. He has a major fear of being confined. Crating at night is fine, but during the day, the second he’s in the crate and I leave the room, he screams like crazy. It feels like every time we try it, it’s getting worse. Last week, he could settle in under 5 minutes, but now it’s over 10, which seems way too long.
We do daily crate games, and he happily goes in on his own, but once he’s actually locked in, it’s a whole different story. The playpen is even worse, so we basically gave up on that.
In about a month, he’ll need to be left alone for around 2 hours in the mornings, and right now that feels impossible. Has anyone dealt with something similar and seen improvement? Any unconventional tips?
The tricky part is that he will only nap in the crate and won’t settle outside of it, so crating is absolutely necessary. He just needs to learn to be okay alone in there too.
submitted by /u/Confident-Fly8630
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