# broken tooth because of crate antics



## jessac (Oct 29, 2012)

My pup is 12 weeks this week and we've been working on getting him to like his crate. I think he knows it's a safe place because he hides in there when dad gets out the nail clippers or there's too much excitement going on. He also sleeps fine each night in his kennel in our bedroom. But during the day, when I leave him in his crate downstairs while I take a shower, he will howl and whine and sometimes pee in his crate. He'll go on for 40 minutes to an hour before he settles. I never let him out when he's fussing and I put him in when he usually naps anyway. I give him a stuffed, frozen Kong and a bully while he's in there. But today, during my shower, in an effort to escape, he broke one of his from canines in half. Do you guys think he has anxiety? Just puppy worry about where mom went? Should I keep crating during the day or figure out another solution?


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## Jag (Jul 27, 2012)

I think the anxiety question kind of answers itself with the title of your post! 

So you have a kennel in your room and a crate downstairs? Maybe he's less comfortable in the crate? Either way, you may need to cover it. We had Grim's kennel he came with in an unused bedroom. If we shut the door, he was fine. If the door was open, he wasn't. (I think it's because he couldn't settle knowing the girls were not crated.) Well, I got him a large kennel and we can't put it in a bedroom now. So he's in the living room, and was throwing a fit. We covered the kennel with a blanket so he can't see out the front and he was fine right away. I'd see if your guy does better in the bedroom kennel when he has to be in a kennel. If he's already in that kennel, then try covering it. Which one is he having the fit in? How large is your kennel/crate(s)? If he's peeing in there, it may be too big.


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## wink-_-wink (Aug 12, 2012)

My vote (and strictly a personal not proffesional opinion) is keep doing what your doing, make sure he knows that he will not get out when he is acting crazy. Sometimes I will turn my back to the crate or even leave the room if Hero is going nuts. It usually takes turning my back 2 times before I will open the crate and let him come out calm. Keep in mind that Hero is 6 months not 12 weeks, your furball is got TONS of energy (but needs naps) and wants to be out and playing and exploring and getting into stuff he shouldnt be. The tooth thing shouldn't be a big deal, he has puppy teeth and will lose them (and probably try to eat them) over the next few months anyway. How long have you had him (8/9 weeks old?) its only been a few weeks so he may still be getting used to all the NEW that is going on. I really wouldn't be all that worried, he will grow out of that and enjoy the crate. Somethign you can try (which calms Hero down) is a crate cover or a blanket so that he can't see that he is alone. I cover Hero's crate every night, when he is in there eating (so he isnt distracted by the cats), and whenever he is in there for periods of time. I think he knows whats up because when the blanket goes up, he lays down and is calm. Best of luck, hope I have helped in any way and someone with some expertise should be along shortly!


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## jessac (Oct 29, 2012)

Yeah, I guess it seems obvious. Just most of the advice I've been given is to let them cry it out, so I wasn't sure what's normally or not. We have a plastic kennel in our bedroom upstairs and a covered wire crate downstairs. The kennel is smaller, it's the one he's had since 8 weeks. The wire crate is larger, but he'll mess in either one during the day ( but no potty accidents at night). Any advice on the anxiety? I am home most of the day since I don't work, but I've been trying to crate him so I can leave at times to buy groceries, etc. I don't want him to keep hurting himself if I leave, but he's not accident free in the house yet (and chews anything he can if unsupervised) so can't leave him out yet either.


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## wink-_-wink (Aug 12, 2012)

as far as chewing, over stimulate with whatever chewable toys he CAN have (We use the stuffing free animals and some KONG toys). I think the accident think is still sort of normal, you just have to bring him out a little more. Like today I had Hero at a field playing ball, we got home he drank a whole bowl of water in the crate while I went and worked out. My wife let him out of the crate but didnt take him right outside. So at the back door while trying to do whats right he had an accident and I don't blame him I blame my wife, accidents can be our fault most the time! I am workign with a bell on the door to get him to alert us he wants to go out. But I dont think your pup is ready for that. I would take hime out IMMEDIATELY when bringing him out of the crate, and every so often while in the crate if possible. And the anxiety again I would make sure to have him in the covered crate and have him covered so he can't see out it should calm him down, then again hes still REALLY young!


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## Jag (Jul 27, 2012)

How often is he being taken out to potty? Are you waiting until he goes before bringing him back in? Maybe he's going nuts because he's got to potty...or he's hungry or thirsty or bored. Try some other hard toys if he's not into what you're giving him. Feed him in his crate. Crate him for short periods of time while you're within eyesight (watching TV or whatever) throughout the day. Praise him being good. Do a search on here for crate games. I'd try using a cover to completely block his view no matter which one he's in. Whining and tantrums are one thing, breaking a tooth is another. Has he been doing this all along? Was he kept in a kennel at the breeder's house? It's unusual for a pup to soil his sleeping space. There is some spray that completely eliminates urine and poo odor. Clean both kennel and crate very well with it, and start letting him out to potty every 2 hours. Make sure he's gone potty before going into his crate.


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## jessac (Oct 29, 2012)

wink-_-wink said:


> My vote (and strictly a personal not proffesional opinion) is keep doing what your doing, make sure he knows that he will not get out when he is acting crazy. Sometimes I will turn my back to the crate or even leave the room if Hero is going nuts. It usually takes turning my back 2 times before I will open the crate and let him come out calm. Keep in mind that Hero is 6 months not 12 weeks, your furball is got TONS of energy (but needs naps) and wants to be out and playing and exploring and getting into stuff he shouldnt be. The tooth thing shouldn't be a big deal, he has puppy teeth and will lose them (and probably try to eat them) over the next few months anyway. How long have you had him (8/9 weeks old?) its only been a few weeks so he may still be getting used to all the NEW that is going on. I really wouldn't be all that worried, he will grow out of that and enjoy the crate. Somethign you can try (which calms Hero down) is a crate cover or a blanket so that he can't see that he is alone. I cover Hero's crate every night, when he is in there eating (so he isnt distracted by the cats), and whenever he is in there for periods of time. I think he knows whats up because when the blanket goes up, he lays down and is calm. Best of luck, hope I have helped in any way and someone with some expertise should be along shortly!


Yes, not too worried about tooth. I took him to vet since it was bleeding, and she said to keep an eye out for infection, but otherwise give him puppy pain killers if he seems uncomfortable. since they are his baby teeth she wasn't worried. Got him at 8 weeks. It took him a few nights to get used to the bedroom crate, but comparatively took to it pretty quickly. I felt like such a bad mom showing up at the vet with my puppy and half a tooth. (Which I only noticed because we were playing fetch with a stuffy that happened to be white and after he was done killing it, I noticed it was actually bloody. Ah! Totally seemed like a normal puppy otherwise)


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## jessac (Oct 29, 2012)

Jag said:


> How often is he being taken out to potty? Are you waiting until he goes before bringing him back in? Maybe he's going nuts because he's got to potty...or he's hungry or thirsty or bored. Try some other hard toys if he's not into what you're giving him. Feed him in his crate. Crate him for short periods of time while you're within eyesight (watching TV or whatever) throughout the day. Praise him being good. Do a search on here for crate games. I'd try using a cover to completely block his view no matter which one he's in. Whining and tantrums are one thing, breaking a tooth is another. Has he been doing this all along? Was he kept in a kennel at the breeder's house? It's unusual for a pup to soil his sleeping space. There is some spray that completely eliminates urine and poo odor. Clean both kennel and crate very well with it, and start letting him out to potty every 2 hours. Make sure he's gone potty before going into his crate.


He does get fed his meals in the crate and treats when we do sits and downs and stuff in there. I put him in when he's done his business prior. And total he's only been in it for an hour or so during the day as I've been letting him out when he finally does calm down. I've been cleaning the crate when he messes. He was in an xpen at the breeders with pads. I ended up pulling up my doormats for now because he seemed to think they were all potty pads...

I did consider getting crate games but didn't know if it would help with the anxiety or not. But I had the link open and was contemplating ordering it.

I'll try covering it totally and using the upstairs kennel tomorrow morning. We'll see how that goes. 

We actually did try the bell when we first got him but he would hit it when he came back inside from pottying, like "high five, did u see that?!" as he ran past, so we've picked it up to reintroduce later lol.


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## Jag (Jul 27, 2012)

I only have a couple other thoughts. One is has he been wormed recently? The other is wearing him out before he goes in his crate. Since he's fine at night (no accidents and no drama), if covering him doesn't help then maybe you'll have to go with an Xpen during the day. I think there's enough video snippets and discussion on here that you may not have to order the video of crate games. I'd be interested to know how he does if he's covered and going out to potty every two hours. Grim was just shy of 12 weeks when I got him. He held it overnight from night one. So if your guy is out frequently to potty and doesn't have any medical issues then I'm kind of stumped as to why he'd soil his crate. The larger one makes sense, but not the smaller one. I'm assuming your smaller one is only large enough for him to turn around in and lay down?


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## Marc (Oct 25, 2012)

make sure he goes to the toilet before putting him in his crate, this should stop him urinating during the day.

When you return, make sure he is calm. do not approach if he is whining or going crazy. Also if he starts doing those things as you open the lock, stop what you are doing and turn your back to him, until he calms down.


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## jessac (Oct 29, 2012)

Guys, oh my goodness.had I known a throw blanket would have made such a difference, I would have done that a while ago. Today, I put him in my bedroom kennel and covered it totally. Went in the on suite to shower so I could hear him. He fussed for like 5 minutes and then was quiet for almost 15 before I let him out. I had put him in there before while showering and he still carried on so the blanket was definitely a help. Obviously the next room isn't as far as I'd like to go, but this is serious progress from the insanity yesterday. I did keep him up for almost a full hour longer than usual before I put him in the crate also. I'll keep trying just that little bit. And work up to leaving him longer, going further away. Does that sound like what I should do? I had tried leaving him downstairs so I could have the TV on for him but maybe he likes the quiet upstairs? Silly dog.


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## Jag (Jul 27, 2012)

Yep. Just increase the time slowly. When I got a new 'house' for Grim, I stuck with a kennel instead of a crate because he LOVES his kennel! I got the same brand, just bigger. I did put a soft egg crate mat in his new one, and I ended up with a gray one instead of the yellowish one... but I even tried to get the same color. If he calms better in the one he sleeps in at night, then that's what I'd use. A soft radio is OK too. Grim likes his peace and quiet I guess, LOL! Maybe your dog is the same. Glad to hear that covering him made such a difference!


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