What to do if a Dog Goes Crazy in the Crate
By: David Codr
Published Date: May 17, 2017
Stella is a two-year-old Australian Shepherd Mix from Omaha. Her guardian arranged this dog behavior training session to address her tendency to bark, respect personal space, and stop her dog aggression, especially since this young dog goes crazy in the crate.
Typically, dogs are overly excited when I arrive for a session, but Stella was quite calm. Her guardians had practiced placing her away from the door, and it clearly paid off, as shown in the video below.
Just because Stella was well behaved during the greeting doesn’t mean she isn’t a higher energy dog. When I met with her guardians, she wandered around the room looking for attention. I gave her a Bully Stick to keep her busy while I talked to her owners.
Why a Dog goes Crazy in the Crate?
I did see the humans petting her while she was excited and this is a big no no. It’s also a very common mistake many people make when interacting with their dog.
Anything a dog is doing when you pet it is what you are reinforcing. So petting her while she’s jumping up on them or in an over excited state can contribute to this unwanted behavior. Stella’s family will have to start practicing petting with a purpose to break this bad habit.
While talking to her family, I found out that Stella didn’t have a lot of rules, which is a common problem among my clients. Without clear boundaries, dogs test limits and receive inconsistent corrections, which can confuse them.
I suggested a number of rules, shared some dog behavior tips and new ways to communicate what behavior they did, and did not like. I created a plan to help train a dog to behave the way her family wanted in different situations.
Consistently providing Stella with structure will help her start to identify as more of a follower. This will help her feel less stressed because she won’t feel responsible for her humans or pressured when they don’t listen. They will also help her learn how to control her emotions.
Stella gets overly excited when it’s time to be let out of the kennel. To address this, I had her guardians place her in the kennel and then we all pretended to leave. I aimed to mimic the kennel release as closely as possible to demonstrate how to release her calmly. Watch the video below see our tip for what to do when a dog goes crazy in the crate.
Usually the first time I run through that exercise, it takes the dog much longer to settle and lay down. This is a good sign. Stella’s guardians must do this exercise every time they let her out so she can learn to calm herself in the future.
Positive Dog Training Tips
Anyone who reads my posts regularly knows I’m a passionate advocate of positive dog training. I advised the parents to use positive reinforcement when the kids interact with the dog. This is because they have young children in the family.
Positive reinforcement can help encourage good behavior in children. It involves rewarding them for behaving in a certain way. This can create a positive association with the dog and promote a safe and enjoyable interaction.
I like to give each child a glass. When the child pets the dog or does something good, parents can put one M&M in the glass. Then at the end of the day, they can count them up and see who did best. This way, positive reinforcement motivates the children to do things the right way.
At the end of the session, Stella was calmer, respected personal space, listened better, and barked less.
I hope her dog’s reactivity improves significantly. This can happen if her owners consistently enforce the new rules and boundaries for about a month. If not, she may benefit from another training session focused on counterconditioning.
We wrapped up the session by shooting a Roadmap to Success vide. Check it out below.
Does Your Dog Go Crazy in Their Crate? Click Here to Book a SessionCategorized in: Dog Behavior