Crate problem

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

Ok, so Sasha has been crated when we leave the house as we do not trust her to be in the house by herself. The crate is in the garage, as it is cooler in there. Everything had been going really well with this...Until last week. Last week Sasha discovered that she could open the door to the crate if she pulled in on the door hard enough. Needless to say, since then there has been no keeping her in. This wouldn't be a problem, as we wouldn't mind her having free run of the garage, except we don't feel like we can open the garage door now because her recall isn't 100%. In fact with other people (my mom or brother) I doubt very seriously that she would recall very well at all. I've accidentally opened the garage door a few times when she's been running loose and she's come right to me, but still I don't want to have to worry. Also, she gets in the garbage when she's alone in there, which consequently makes her sick.

So my question is, do y'all know of any heavy duty crates that she's not going to be able to get the door off of?

[gsdraven]

A few less expensive ideas: zip tie the sides and bungee the door shut. I've had a few fosters that figure out how to open the door and I either tie the leash around (close to the bottom) or use cords to keep it closed. Once they figure it out they keep trying usually.

Are you talking about the big garage door or is there a normal doorway you can use? If so, can you put a gate up just inside or outside the door that doesn't interfere with it opening/closing but will prevent her from darting? As for the trash, can it be put outside?

[fuzzybunny]

Buy metal zip ties (not plastic) and tie up the walls/sides. My guy was is houdini and this is the only thing that worked.

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

This is a plastic crate. Her foster mom said Sasha didn't like the wire ones. I already tried using two leashes to keep the door on; however, she still bent the door all to heck.

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

Originally Posted by gsdraven

A few less expensive ideas: zip tie the sides and bungee the door shut. I've had a few fosters that figure out how to open the door and I either tie the leash around (close to the bottom) or use cords to keep it closed. Once they figure it out they keep trying usually.

Are you talking about the big garage door or is there a normal doorway you can use? If so, can you put a gate up just inside or outside the door that doesn't interfere with it opening/closing but will prevent her from darting? As for the trash, can it be put outside?

I'm talking about the big garage door. She'll wait for us to come in the regular door. Also, we have been putting the trash outside, but it can get pretty windy here (we live on top of a hill) and my mom doesn't really want trash blowing around in the yard, or the trash cans for that matter.

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

She may prefer to be crated in the house with your smells. A little fan, set up safely, might make it cooler.

[gsdraven]

Do you leave her with frozen kongs or safe bones to have? Maybe an ex-pen to give her a little more room but not the whole garage? A bigger crate? Kaiser and one of my previous fosters would go crazy in a 48" (Boomer actually wouldn't even get in it, he'd drop to the ground and become dead weight) but both were perfectly ok with a 54" crate.

Or, like Jean said, try her in the house?

Those indestructible crates are several hundred dollars and not really indestructible. We had a foster in our rescue who could break out of it. Just trying to help you think of cheaper solutions before trying to the expensive one.

[Jax's Mom]

I used to use zip ties till it started becoming expensive, then I switched to carabiners. Just clip them all over the place where the crate panels meet and on the door and that should work too.

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

Originally Posted by JeanKBBMMMAAN

She may prefer to be crated in the house with your smells. A little fan, set up safely, might make it cooler.

I've thought of that, and I think we're going to try it. My only reservation would be what would she do if she got out in the house? She would be crated in my room, so it's not like she could destroy any furniture, but still. I dunno. We'll have to try it. We've been letting her run loose in the garage until we get this figured out, and even giving her a nasty, bloody, cow knuckle that she would normally be thrilled to have, she'd rather get into the garbage or do things like that. *sigh* I love the girl, but sometimes she's trying lol!

[Jax's Mom]

You could buy some "scat mats" to put around the garbage cans in the garage and if she steps on them, she gets a static shock and learn really quickly the trash cans aren't fun... or build a wooden container to keep the trash in? We used to have on at our cottage to keep raccoons out of our trash outside.