Kennel Biter :/ (destroying her teeth in the process)

[TankGrrl66]

My youngest (about 2 now) has begun a relatively recent and awful habit...

She is now starting to flip out in her crate. She has chipped 2 teeth now, and is starting to file down her canines (caudal surface, she has ground a line onto each tooth on the side facing the back of her mouth). I am so frustrated! She is ruining her teeth!

She has been OK with the crate since she as ~4mos.

I have Kongs and other toys in there. So far the Kong is the only thing that holds up, but even then she will just get everything out of it within an hour. It quickly becomes useless, and there are days I come home and her Kong is still mostly full. I have tried a plethora of toys, and I learned a few things 1) She apparently CAN shred any of jw's toys 2) the weakness of everything else 3)those everlasting treat balls are a joke 4) Need to buy stock in Kong.

She is left alone for about 6 hours. I know, but it's the best I can do. I tried having someone come let her out/play with her in the middle of the day, but this seems to just piss her off more. I tried coming home to give her a break once, then I had to leave again. She just about destroyed the crate after I left, snapping a weld.

Even worse, her new tooth snap happened after being left alone for ONE HOUR.

I have no idea what to do. I can't afford to drop four figures on a crate, but I know capping her teeth will be just as expensive if not more. I also need to work full time!

I'm thinking of starting to leave her out of her crate, but...it is kind of
just to think about. I have no idea how destructive she will be in the house.

Help!

[KZoppa]

try leaving her out for a few minutes here and there unsupervised and gradually increase the time she's out. Obviously block areas she's not allowed to be when you're not home. Its likely she's just tired of the crate. She may surprise you.

[MaggieRoseLee]

WHo are you training with and what kind of classes?

Have they got recommendations?

You may want to start a different training like flyball or herding or..... if your basic obedience classes are no longer challenging her.

How many miles of OFF leash exercise is she getting about every other day?

You able to pack her into the car to visit friends and their dogs for fun socialization activites to mentally and physically engage her?

She sounds bored. She sounds frustrated. And she may now be starting up with a neurotic behavior that will be very hard (expensive) to break if you aren't able to be proactive and change/challenge her life for the next year or so.

BTW, my dogs can be good in the crate for over 8 hours if needed so it's not the TIME element that is the issue.

This is one of the circumstances that can come up in our breed and why I don't actually recommend them for most people. It CAN be much harder. They CAN need alot more from us than many other breeds.

[TankGrrl66]

Originally Posted by MaggieRoseLee

WHo are you training with and what kind of classes?

Have they got recommendations?

You may want to start a different training like flyball or herding or..... if your basic obedience classes are no longer challenging her.

How many miles of OFF leash exercise is she getting about every other day?

You able to pack her into the car to visit friends and their dogs for fun socialization activites to mentally and physically engage her?

She sounds bored. She sounds frustrated. And she may now be starting up with a neurotic behavior that will be very hard (expensive) to break if you aren't able to be proactive and change/challenge her life for the next year or so.

BTW, my dogs can be good in the crate for over 8 hours if needed so it's not the TIME element that is the issue.

This is one of the circumstances that can come up in our breed and why I don't actually recommend them for most people. It CAN be much harder. They CAN need alot more from us than many other breeds.

We don't have a trainer, I just do generally basic exercises with her myself. Her training was halted when she started having seizures and as she was starting to be medicated-working with her was more frustrating, as the drugs had changed her a little. I let her "Settle in", and changed medications. I decided to just be patient, and it is starting to pay off (she is very close to how she used to be personality wise).

Some obedience we are working on - longer heels, (fancy, the flashy kind where she looks at me, lol), running heel, long down stay, recall from a distance, all of the above with distractions, tricks, etc. Her reward is to chase and retrieve a tug. It gets her running a lot.

Also, she is turning 2 around...Feb-April (not sure of bday), so I have been sitting on my hands and letting her grow up before putting her through some wear and tear.

I have a lot of questions as far as doing some sort of sport with her. She seems perfectly fine, and I have had more than one vet give me the green light. I work weekends, so finding a class may be difficult. I have taken agility classes before with my other dog, but I will have to wait until August

She is getting bare minimum 1 mile a day. I mean I'm tired after work and I still take her one mile. Usually 2 miles at least 3x a week. She is about 2 years old, and I am strongly considering starting to jog with her. 4-5x a week is 1/2 mile warm up with play/obed. at the park (15-45min at least), plus 1 more mile.

I agree she is bored and frustrated. I think she is just maturing into a typical GSD and little walks with some playtime and obedience are just not going to cut it anymore.

ALSO, there is a side of my house that could be easily turned into a dog run. Should I try this? I have roommates...who are OK with this, but NOT leaving her in the house!

[Mooch]

I would definitely try the outside dog run!!!!!!

Make it a safe comfy place for her with a Dog house and if necessary a shade cover over some of it. A kiddy clam shell pool with water in it is great for summer.
I bet she'll be much happier with a bit of space to move around (being in a crate for 6 hours a day has to suck, I have to leave my dogs for 9 -10 hours because of work but they have a huge yard around the house).
it's still not a substitute for exercise but it may stop her from becoming totally neurotic
The only thing you will have to keep an eye on to start with is that she doesn't bark all the time and annoy the neighbours.

[FG167]

My dog went through this...I muzzled him in a wire basket muzzle in a vari-kennel until he stopped. He still stays in a plastic crate, much less issues with him trying to reef the door open. We had a variety of factors - he was getting tons of mental and physical stimulation but had recently had mouth surgery so no chewing/biting and he was FRUSTRATED. Even after he was back to "normal" the behavior hung on for a couple of months but now he rarely does it anymore.

[LoveEcho]

I generally agree with everyone else that frustration is usually the cause.

Out of experience, however, I have a question-- is there a possibility something happened while she was in there that made her fearful of being in there?

My guy LOVED his crate. We were training constantly and crating was never an issue. While we were gone and he was crated, a tree limb fell on the house over the room he was crated in (didn't fall through or anything, just made a god awful noise). He is a nervy dog to begin with, and that set him off and he broke out. It took a LONG time and a lot of re-training to get him to be comfortable in a crate again... he was terrified. Anyways, just a thought.

[MaggieRoseLee]

I have a lot of questions as far as doing some sort of sport with her. She seems perfectly fine, and I have had more than one vet give me the green light. I work weekends, so finding a class may be difficult. I have taken agility classes before with my other dog, but I will have to wait until August

I found that most dog classes are on weeknights, not weekends. So as long as I'm not working a night shift I can attend classes. When you get good enough to go to dog shows that's when the weekend thing is an issue because they are generally on Sat/Sun.

So whatever your weekdays off are and nights off, should allow some classes to be fit in. A night at class will tire your pup out as much (better?) than a long walk at night. And should be more fun for the both of you.

Keep googling to look for clubs/classes in your area. If you are interested in something specific like agility, look up agility shows because the sponsoring club will be mentioned and then you'll have their specific infor to search.

Since CA is so huge and SoCal the same I probably can't specifically help you though these are some agility places I just found...

Startline Agility Center - ************************************************** **********HOMEPAGE****

Contact Point Agility - Agility Dog and Handler Training in Los Angeles

Welcome

All of those are places to start and if you contact them they can recommend someplace closer...