Joules is 'breaking out' of her crate!

[princessjodi]

Ok...I am not sure if I should post this here or under Health concerns, because it has both elements...

Well I guess the trouble started last Wed. I had a day off (right now I am working 7 days a week so a day off is to be treasured) and I made by bf take it off with me so we could have some couple time. Anyways, we were getting ready to leave and put Joules in her crate (nothing new for her). Well, we didn't leave right away and decided to have an argument and Joules of course started barking to be let out. Finally, we left and I stormed out (I always have to be the dramatic one) and left Matt to lock up, etc. Apparently, he was mad because it turns out I was right and he was wrong. Well, Joules was still barking so he went back and kicked her crate! When I found out I REALLY let him have it!!! We have one of those wire crates and he bent the whole front panel in a little bit. Well, we left and then came back a couple of hours later and everything was hunky dory.

Thurs and Fri went over without a hitch. No problems. The weekend was fine because Matt stayed home with Joules and she didn't need to be crated.

Then Monday came. When Matt got home from work, Joules met him at the front door. Mind you, she is crated during the day so this was a bit surprising. He went and checked the crate and couldn't figure out how she got out. The doors were still locked and everything! Well, while she was out, she chewed up some playstation wires (believe me, I am not too upset at this one!...stupid video games!) and part of a bar of Lever 2000. She didn't potty anywhere in the house though. The soap was a travel size one and I don't think she ingested too much of it as most of it was left. I kept an eye on her that night to see if I could notice anything adverse due to the soap. Her activity level was normal, she ate normal, she pottied normal, everything was normal...so I wasn't too worried.

Then yesterday, she was crated again like normal. Again she met Matt at the door when he got home. He went and looked at the crate and she chewed through some of the wires and wriggled out! This time, however, she did potty. Quite a bit everywhere. It was cleaned up by the time I got home so I couldn't look at it, but Matt said the stools were normal...just a lot of them. When she went later that night, they were a bit softer than they have been, but still easily picked up. Her activity level was normal again as was everything else.

I have switched her to Eagle Pack food...the holistic sensitve formula. She has been on that about 2 weeks and loves it! There isn't a kibble left when she is done eating. So I am hesitant to think she is having a reaction to the food.

We crate her during the day because she cannot be trusted with the run of the house. We had her confined to a bedroom...no crate...but one day she chewed up my glasses ($250 pair of glasses!) and the faceplate off an electrical outlet...among other things. The electrical outlet thing scared me, so we decided to crate her for a while. She is a rescue and we have had her since mid-May. She did not have an ounce of training when we got her and we are working with her as much as we can. She has come a long way since May and the only problem left is leaving her alone. We have started leaving her uncrated while we go to the grocery store, or the laundry, etc...somewhere where we arent' gone too long. She does fine with this. We are trying to get it so we don't have to crate her during the day. This is why this whole situation is baffling!

I am thinking that since Matt kicked the crate hard enough to bend the panel in, he might have scared her and now she doesn't want to be in there. Also, I expected a bit of potty weirdness from ingesting the soap so maybe that played a role in it too.

Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to give as much info as possible. Anyone have any other thoughts on why this is happening???

[Codykins]

Hum.. First I would buy a new crate immediatly. I would put her in, I doubt she has been scared. She may be a pain for a day trying to get out because she was successful before.

As trainers, dogs that misbehave in the crate are corrected by a little bang on the crate without any acknowlegement - it calms them down believe it or not.

She will be fine, get her BACK into her CRATE.

[Kade]

First of all, I hope the crate-kicking was a one-time, heat-of-the-moment thing that your boyfriend regrets! I just read an article about a dog killed when the owner's boyfriend kicked the crate in anger.

I would get a new crate -- find one that can stand up to the dog's chewing -- and make your boyfriend pay for it!

I don't mean to editorialize, but if my husband did something like that, he would be going without his new X-Box games if that's what it took to replace what he damaged, LOL.

[princessjodi]

Thanks! I am pretty sure the kicking was a one time deal as he was PO'd at me, at being wrong, and she was barking.

yes I plan on making him purchase a new one since I spent $80 on this one!

[Kegman]

im thinking it has nothing to do with kicking, its just that he figured out how to get out.

[willowmum]

As she's a rescue you've no idea of what her life has been before and the kicking incident could very well of scared the hell out of her! She's confined in a small place with no escape and someone kicks the cage hard enough to damage it! Sorry to disagree with the above but hell I'd be scared! Obviously she needs to be crated if she's likely to harm herself but it sounds like you may have to go back to basics on the crate training its not a safe haven any more for her.

Oh and definitely the bf pays! If my OH did that - well he'd be the one caged.