New Member

Posts: 6
From:Voorheesville, NY, USA
Registered: Dec 2003

posted 12-09-2003 02:53 PM         

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Hi, My wife and I just purchased a 9 month old Yellow Lab last Friday (12/5/03). She is very clingy and follows us around all the time while we are at home. We crate her at night in our bedroom and she is really good. When we both go to work, we crate her in another room close to the entrance. We have had to crate her during the day the last two days for close to 8 hours. We don't particularly like doing it but since she is still new to the environment, we thought it was our only option. Our crate is a wire crate. Upon greeting her each day we have notice that she is scratching at her nose area to the point that it has become raw. We are concerned that she is going to continue doing this and we are looking for some possible alternatives to crating or crates that are made of a strong plastic that she can't chew through. We also think that she may be experiencing separation anxiety. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated it. Thank you.

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Posts: 926
From:
Registered: May 2003

posted 12-09-2003 03:45 PM         

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Congratulations on your new pup! From the sounds of it I do think she is suffering form a little bit of SA and getting used to her new home. Make sure she doesnt have a collar that can get stuck in the crate. But you have only had her for a week so she is getting used to you and her new home. I know there are plenty of people who can give better advice on this than I can. I dont know that a plastic crate would be any
different since it has the wire front she can do the same thing on. How about leaving
Something with your smell in the crate with her. here is a good article on SA. I think leaving her in the crate for 8 hours for the first time you are gone is too long for her. Can you come in in between time and maybe have someone else do it until she get used the new environment. I also think labs are naturally needy dogs. I have a 6 1/2 year yellow lab. he doesnt have SA but he has to be me or my husband all the time. Sometimes he even follows us into the bathroom.

here is a good website on SA http://www.hsus.org/ace/15891

good luck Honeybear

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New Member

Posts: 6
From:Voorheesville, NY, USA
Registered: Dec 2003

posted 12-09-2003 05:03 PM         

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Thank you for the link on SA. I've called a few pet stores and they did mention that the plastic crates also have the wire front. Hopefully she will get used to us leaving.

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Member

Posts: 117
From:Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 12-09-2003 07:07 PM         

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IT might also help to place a Kong toy stuffed with treats in the crate to help occupy the time. I read somewhere the the time a puppy can stay in a crate comforably is one hour for each month they are in age. Your nine month old is just able to go eight hours but a break would be better for another month if you could arrange it. You will never regret the crate training, especially with a Lab. They can get into a lot of trouble left alone. Our Lab is two and we are going to start to see if he can be trusted out of his crate when we are out. You will enjoy the Lab, I guarantee.

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Member

Posts: 277
From:Nellis AFB, Nevada
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 12-09-2003 08:19 PM         

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One of my Huskies had seperation anxiety. She eventually grew out of it though I don't know whether to associate with age or getting our other Husky. Anyways, I think the plastic crates are best. I believe the closed in feeling helps them feel more secure and has more of that "den feel" to it. Our dogs love to chew, put strange stuff in their mouths, and are escape artists but we didn't have any trouble with them breaking out of them. I put in a T-shirt that has our smell and I used Kongs with peanut butter. They loved it. I highly recommend crate training cause my dogs can get into all kinds of trouble and this keeps them out of trouble. They now love their crates and even play in them and go there for quiet time. Plus at night I can get a good nights sleep without worrying what kind of trouble they will get into. A trainer told me about this device that you plug in and it emmits these "dog hormone stuff" that helps calm the seperation anxiety. I didn't try it but it supposedly helps. Does anyone else know about this device?? I heard you can get it at Petsmart and through Dr. Foster's catalog. I am sorry. I hope someone else can remember what it is called. If not, check those two places for it. Good luck!

[This message has been edited by Karriesue (edited 12-09-2003).]

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Posts: 115
From:UK
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 12-10-2003 06:31 AM         

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I agree with Dukesdad, try a Kong. I bought one and tried him with it for 2 days whilst I was there to supervise. Once I felt sure he wasn't gonna be able to chew it to peices I started giving it him when I left him. It's the only time he has it now and when I'm doing the 'goodbye' routein he actually sits there with his tail waggling on the floor in excitment waiting for the Kong.

One thing I'll say about using one in a crate tho, you'll have to be wary of how she'll act if some of the treats land outside of the crate. They throw them around so smaller bits fly everywhere. Since she's already hurting herself on the wire this might add to that in her frustration trying to get to the treat.

Good luck

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Posts: 1387
From:Portland, Oregon US
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 12-10-2003 12:17 PM         

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Dooley slams his Kong on the floor repeatedly to get the treats out so I have gotten smart and I roll the kibbled treats in peanut butter before putting them in the kong. I have also become really good at cramming everything in their tight, you gotta wedge stuff in there so it takes some real work in getting it out. You should build up to that first though. Maybe only give her the kong the first few times while you are home and increase the difficulty so she doesn't get frustrated. I use frozen chicken tenders because they are larger on one end than the other, I shove it in there so that it can't fall back out when dropped or slammed on the floor, this makes it so they literally have to lick it until it is thawed and starts to fall apart. If you look in the FOOD FOR THOUGHT thread there are recipes and ideas for stuffing the KONG, and a link to the web site for KONG, it will show you how to stuff it. Some of my dogs favorite ingredients are: frozen whole cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, chicken tenders, peanut butter, banana, cheese, dog bones are good for wedging, Natural Balance sausage pieces and I usually block the small end with a mini marshmallow.
I like to time them, silly I know, but it's kind of been a contest between my husband and I to see who can stuff the best KONG. So far I win! Yay! and 1 hour has been the longest, 40 minutes is an average. Dooley will walk away from his here and there so it takes him a bit longer, Witt doesn't leave his for a second.

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New Member

Posts: 6
From:Voorheesville, NY, USA
Registered: Dec 2003

posted 12-10-2003 04:36 PM         

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Thank you to everyone who has responded to my question. Our Lab scratched her nose again on the crate so my wife is in the process of returning the crate to get a plastic one. We are also going to be putting a Kong toy in there with peanut butter. As for the separation anxiety, she will whine as soon as I step outside. This morning she practically got into the shower with me. We are going to work on some desensitization techniques with her this weekend. Hopefully, the new crate will work out better for her. She is our baby and we don't want her to hurt herself. Thanks again to all that have replied. My wife and I appreciate your tips.

By the way, we've been putting Vitamin E oil on her nose to help with the healing. We got this tip from the breeder who sold us the dog.

[This message has been edited by jasmine (edited 12-10-2003).]

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