Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm new to the foumrs here and had a couple things I wanted to ask ya'll about my dog and stuff... for those who might know.

For the entire time we have had our dog, whenever we leave the house, we crate him up. Never usually for more than a few hours... I think the longest was about 7 or 8. When we come back, he's usually pretty hyper when we let him out, and looks a bit agitated when he is in the cage. I can't blame him, I would be too. Recently though when we let him out of the cage, he is soaking wet on his legs and face... I thought at first maybe he had peed himself while in there... but it didn't smell like pee, so I wasn't sure. It has happened a few times now, and l am pretty sure it is just slobber... maybe he is getting agitated and salivated a lot.

We jsut got a him a new cage.. a little bigger, and now he's not sure if he likes it or not... seems apprehensive to go in it... Last night we put him in there, while we went out for an hour or so,a nd got dinner... when we came back, same thing.. all wet, and the pad we had in there was all wet with slobber... now my dog doesn;t normally slobber at all, so I'm finding this all kinda weird...

any ideas on how to break him of this? We usually leave him some treats, and his chew bone he likes to help keep him occupied... I'm afraid it may just be separation anxiety...

Any thoughts?

Jeff

>>I'm new to the foumrs here and had a couple things I wanted to ask ya'll about my dog and stuff... for those who might know.
>>
>>For the entire time we have had our dog, whenever we leave the house, we crate him up. Never usually for more than a few hours... I think the longest was about 7 or 8. When we come back, he's usually pretty hyper when we let him out, and looks a bit agitated when he is in the cage. I can't blame him, I would be too. Recently though when we let him out of the cage, he is soaking wet on his legs and face... I thought at first maybe he had peed himself while in there... but it didn't smell like pee, so I wasn't sure. It has happened a few times now, and l am pretty sure it is just slobber... maybe he is getting agitated and salivated a lot.
>>
>>We jsut got a him a new cage.. a little bigger, and now he's not sure if he likes it or not... seems apprehensive to go in it... Last night we put him in there, while we went out for an hour or so,a nd got dinner... when we came back, same thing.. all wet, and the pad we had in there was all wet with slobber... now my dog doesn;t normally slobber at all, so I'm finding this all kinda weird...
>>
>>any ideas on how to break him of this? We usually leave him some treats, and his chew bone he likes to help keep him occupied... I'm afraid it may just be separation anxiety...
>>
>>Any thoughts?
>>
>>Jeff

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I only crate my dogs when I absolutely cannot watch them and only until they are reliable on housetraining and chewing just their own toys. After that I leave them loose in the house. You don't mention how old this dog is, but if he's past two or three years of age, there may no longer be a need to crate him. Crating is not particularly healthy for a dog, mentally or physically. It's necessary in many situations, but should not be the dog's lifestyle.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

in my opinion this is sep anx. I had a dog that did this (years ago - be fore there was lots of info on sep anx) & he was in a sort of foyer? about 5x6 with a high ceiling & a 3/4 solid wooden 'gate' & a window, so it wasn't really claustraphobia

so we let him loose in the house & he pulled down a large tv that was by the window - amazingly it didn't break, though it landed screen down.

it wasn't until we got him a buddy - another dog -that he got completely 'normal'.

is there maybe some 'strange' outside noises that are routine during the times you leave him? you may find some specific trigger that you can deal with - like leaving a radio on near-by...

make certain that he is physically ok, maybe he has a full bladder & is stressing cos he doesn't want to soil his crate? perhaps a pet-sitter can come by mid-day to let him out, etc.

one word of **caution** some crates can be dangerous, especially if a dog is really intent on getting out. you mentioned getting a new crate...