New Crate behavior?

[918lux]

Otto is just over a year old and a total joy 99% of the time. He's totally loving, a great snuggler and has the best little personality- we are just crazy about him! However, he recently developed a propensity for howling and screetching and all around screaming in his crate.

At night, he used to be fine, we put him in, turn on his little sound machine and off to sleep he goes. Now he howls for a good hour before giving up (we NEVER let him out if he is crying, and do a firm NO (clap, clap)) We both work from home, so he's out most of the day, but when we have people come over to do work, or have friends over in the evening, sometimes we'd like to put him in his crate so that he's not in the way of the workmen, or doesn't get some food he's not supposed to if we have food and drinks out in the living room. We also crate him if we leave the house. I'm not joking when I say that the screaming is so loud that it is almost frightening. I half expect to find that his toenails have been pulled out! He will also do this same thing sitting on our back porch if we put him out when we have people over.

I totally get that he wants to be with us 24/7 - and once we start out obedience classes in the fall, I hope that he will be well behaved enough to no jump on people and to leave human food alone (wishful thinking!). But it's also most like he has FOMO (fear of missing out)! Poor guy. What can I do to stop the screaming? I will not get a shock collar, but have considered one that just vibrates when he starts to make noise. I am also opposed to the citronella spray collars because I worry that that may have an effect on his breathing.

Please let me know if you have any advice!

 

[Alice Kable]

You are certainly doing everything right by not giving in to him when he pitches a fit! Does he get enough exercise and playtime with other dogs? A tired dog is a good dog (usually)!

 

[mattcantwin]

How about a gate as a crate alternative?

 

[Frenchie Grrrl]

Are you giving him treats when you put him in the crate? That always worked for me. Our old dog used to put herself in the crate when she knew we were leaving, just to get a treat, even when we no longer closed the crate door. Lol

Maybe you can get an especially delicious chew or a stuffed Kong to keep him busy. Especially, when you need to put him in there when it's not a normal sleep time and the house is active. You can practice for short five minute periods with lots of praise and treats. If he associates his crate with positive things, it should help. You just need to find something that he really goes crazy for. Frenchies tend to be highly food motivated.

 

[918lux]

You are certainly doing everything right by not giving in to him when he pitches a fit! Does he get enough exercise and playtime with other dogs? A tired dog is a good dog (usually)!

He goes to daycare a couple of days a week and plays with my parent's boxer on the weekends. We're still working on walks, but he has a hard time with them and wants to lunge at anyone (person or dog) that comes within his view. He'll just lay down part way through if I try to keep him moving in the right direction- very frustrating! He does run and play all over our house during the day if he's just home with us and he loves to toss his toys down the stairs, race to the bottom, get them, bring them back up the stairs and then push them down again - so surely that must burn off some energy! He also loves to play fetch in the backyard with me during my lunch break.

I have to get the screaming under control. This morning, I was in the front yard talking to our lawn man and Otto was in the house screaming uncontrollably - it was really embarrassing and totally not necessary! He wasn't even in his crate, he was in the house, but could hear me and wanted to get out there with us!

 

[918lux]

How about a gate as a crate alternative?

We have this gate up all the time to keep him contained to the back of the house and out of the formal room and away from the doors (I don't want him getting out if we open the door to get the mail, or anything). But even with this if I answer the door or go outside to talk to a neighbor he starts to howl and pitch a fit!

 

[918lux]

Are you giving him treats when you put him in the crate? That always worked for me. Our old dog used to put herself in the crate when she knew we were leaving, just to get a treat, even when we no longer closed the crate door. Lol

Maybe you can get an especially delicious chew or a stuffed Kong to keep him busy. Especially, when you need to put him in there when it's not a normal sleep time and the house is active. You can practice for short five minute periods with lots of praise and treats. If he associates his crate with positive things, it should help. You just need to find something that he really goes crazy for. Frenchies tend to be highly food motivated.

Otto is VERY food motivated. I always toss a treat in to his crate to get him to walk in on his own. But once the treat is gone, the screaming starts! I have tried putting a kong stuffed with PB and kibble in with him (which he loves) but he ignores it in favor of crying if we are home.

 

[Frenchie Grrrl]

I really think associating being alone with positive things, like I wrote above is the way to go, but I know Frenchie screaming can be insanely loud. Gus is super quiet, but Gracie is ridiculous. They say you have to train a dog to bark before you can train them to stop barking on command. Sounds like you have some leash training issues that would definitely warrant hiring a trainer, which is what I would do and then work on both issues.

 

[Alice Kable]

I really think associating being alone with positive things, like I wrote above is the way to go, but I know Frenchie screaming can be insanely loud. Gus is super quiet, but Gracie is ridiculous. They say you have to train a dog to bark before you can train them to stop barking on command. Sounds like you have some leash training issues that would definitely warrant hiring a trainer, which is what I would do and then work on both issues.

I agree with hiring a trainer, and make sure it is someone who knows Bulldogs. Some trainers can be very successful with dogs that want to please but not so much with stubborn Bulldogs! When you have Gus on leash, make it a short leash. Most harnesses help the dog pull so you might try a collar. With Buster I wrap his body with the leash. It shortens it plus when he pulls he gets his boy parts squished and he doesn't like that very well! Also, our neighbors know to ignore him when he is jumping around and give him pets and good boy attention when he is calm.

 

[FroxerMom]

Otto is ADORABLE in his photos.

It sounds like separation anxiety to me. One of my Boxers years ago behaved similarly. When I adopted him, he was on Clomicalm. I took him off that medication and basically did what Frenchie Grrrl described in her first post, and re-crate trained him in short bursts of only a few minutes at a time with extra yummy treats and lots of praise and pets and kisses. My Boxer needed to learn to associate the crate as a positive place to be and eventually he loved it and would go right inside, eat his treats, and lay down.

When I say crate for a few minutes at a time, I mean employ a routine where you do the same exact thing/same command to get him inside. Give treat. Close door. Leave room (just go around the corner out of sight). If Otto squeals, wait until he is quiet, and immediately come back into the room when he is quiet, praise him, and let him out right away, give treat. You can practice this several times per day and over time you gradually lengthen the amount of time he stays inside before being let out.

I also would recommend eliminating any triggers that may indicate to him that you are about to leave (such as grabbing your car keys, or putting on a jacket, etc...) If Otto truly has separation anxiety issues, this just exacerbates the problem. I used to have to get my dog settled in his crate, then he'd be away from the front door and wouldn't see or hear me gathering my purse, keys, jacket, coffee, etc...

Good luck with whatever you decide. I've only seen videos on YouTube of howling Frenchies, so I can only imagine how stressful that is for you!

 

[918lux]

Thanks so much for all of the suggestions!! I will definitely work on re-crate training him and making him associate it with getting treats. When I worked in an office, all was fine and he was totally cool with the crate, but I think now that we are both home all day and he is out hanging with us, it makes sense that he's not too thrilled when we leave or when we put him to bed for the night.

We are also joining an obedience class next month, so hopefully that will be helpful and we will all learn some good tools!

 

[okgrau8]

I totally agree with FroxerMom, it sounds like separation anxiety. Stanley went through a period of crying in his crate, whining whenever we left the room. We would go through the motions that would trigger him (leaving a room, opening the door, getting our keys) and just did it a thousand times. Leave the room, wait for quiet, come back in and praise with "good quiet!". Open and close the door, praise with a treat. He would always get a frozen pumpkin kong when we left.

I work from home with Stanley as well, and didn't realize how attached he had gotten to me since he's out of his crate all day. Make it a habit to leave and crate him once per day, to go run errands, get a coffee, something. A sense of crate "routine" will help him get re-associated with some alone time.

 

[FroxerMom]

I totally agree with FroxerMom, it sounds like separation anxiety. Stanley went through a period of crying in his crate, whining whenever we left the room. We would go through the motions that would trigger him (leaving a room, opening the door, getting our keys) and just did it a thousand times. Leave the room, wait for quiet, come back in and praise with "good quiet!". Open and close the door, praise with a treat. He would always get a frozen pumpkin kong when we left.

I work from home with Stanley as well, and didn't realize how attached he had gotten to me since he's out of his crate all day. Make it a habit to leave and crate him once per day, to go run errands, get a coffee, something. A sense of crate "routine" will help him get re-associated with some alone time.

Glad you mentioned this [MENTION=2919]okgrau8[/MENTION]. I crate Daphne every morning at the same time whether I have to go to work or not that day. If I have the day off, I just go run my errands and she is content knowing this is the routine. She runs into her crate and eats her treats and lays right down. My husband and I work opposite schedules, so she usually is just crated for a couple hours in the morning to keep the routine, then out with one of us for the rest of the day until bed time.

At night, she knows we go on one last short walk for potty, then upstairs again, treats inside crate, she goes right in to get them and lays down.

I probably go a bit overboard with how strict a routine I have her on, but it works for her. She is super content. I feel like she is the type of dog that really benefits from knowing what to expect and what is expected of her, so I'd rather modify my day in order to keep it working so well for her.

 

[918lux]

Glad you mentioned this [MENTION=2919]okgrau8[/MENTION]. I crate Daphne every morning at the same time whether I have to go to work or not that day. If I have the day off, I just go run my errands and she is content knowing this is the routine. She runs into her crate and eats her treats and lays right down. My husband and I work opposite schedules, so she usually is just crated for a couple hours in the morning to keep the routine, then out with one of us for the rest of the day until bed time.

At night, she knows we go on one last short walk for potty, then upstairs again, treats inside crate, she goes right in to get them and lays down.

I probably go a bit overboard with how strict a routine I have her on, but it works for her. She is super content. I feel like she is the type of dog that really benefits from knowing what to expect and what is expected of her, so I'd rather modify my day in order to keep it working so well for her.

Great idea about the schedule! I guess they really are like children and thrive on knowing what to expect! I will definitely set a schedule for him that is more similar to when I was working in an office & will also work on putting him in and coming back with a reward once he quiets down.

One more question- what size crate do you use?

 

[FroxerMom]

Great idea about the schedule! I guess they really are like children and thrive on knowing what to expect! I will definitely set a schedule for him that is more similar to when I was working in an office & will also work on putting him in and coming back with a reward once he quiets down.

One more question- what size crate do you use?

I actually use my Boxer's old crate, so it is a giant size. I have her smushy comfy bed on one side, and just a rubbery pad on the rest of the bottom, some nylabones and a stuffie/"baby" to keep her busy. It has lots of room for her. It wouldn't be ideal for a dog that was still potty training as there is WAAAAY too much room to go potty in the crate and then just move to the other side and be dry ;-) But I was lazy (and cheap) and didn't want to buy another smaller crate for her. It is also the wire kind, and not the plastic kennel.

Good luck with Otto - he is so so cute. I hope you find success if you decide to do any modifications. I probably sound ridiculous with my routine for her (and my husband and I argue about it often) but I truly do think it helps her. We DO have another dog, though, so that may also be a comfort factor for my Frenchie - when we leave the house, she does have a buddy in the bedroom with her.

Best of luck!!!