So I wrote the intro to this in "sleeping question" . . .I went home for lunch to check on Mickey. He has busted through the door of his crate, eaten all the cat food (but luckily not the cats), . ..So now we have the strongest looking crate that pet smart carries and I hope he's still in it when I get home.

He was, but the next day's lunch check (today) I came home to see the metal crate bent at its base, a little blood on the floor, and some damage to the wall where he had bumped the crate.

Randy recommended valerian root (which we are trying now), muzzle in the crate (which we now do), and more frequent in and out crating (doing that too). We walk him 2 or 3 times a day 10-15 minutes plus lots of roaming in the house and outside time.

He took a lot longer to calm down tonight, but it now resting quiety in the crate. He wined quite a bit while in the crate with us home, but got over it. He sleeps on the floor in our bedroom at night no problem.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? This is a great dog, and we already love him to bits. We want him to be happy and well adjusted. Looking for any similar experiences or tips. thanks

Sorry to hear about your problem. I'm going through a similar thing. I put a foam pad in the bottom of Pandy's crate with blankets on top. Well over the past few days she has ripped apart the foam padding. I keep coming home and finding chunks of the foam padding on the floor. I ended up buying a crate pad that has a zip off cover. My bigger problem is when i walk out of the house when Pandy is roaming loose. She will scratch at the door at start to whine almost immediately. You might want to check out the book "Retired Racing Greyhounds For Dummies". I bought it and it has a lot of good information in it. It has a chapter that talks about teaching your grey to be home alone. That's the chapter i'm reading now. Anyway good luck.

GG,
Thanks for the words of encouragement. We have gone through the "GFD" book and are doing all that stuff. Hang in there w/Pandy. Everone says it gets better.
Wes

This sounds like Maddie when I first got her. She destroyed 2 crates and was on crate #3 When I took a leap of faith and stopped crating her. I closed off a lot of the house with baby gates and closing of doors, we used comfort zone and as a last resort I had to put her on medication for her SA. Prior to this I came home to hte destroyed crates, blood on the floor and a damaged wall where she had bumped the crate up against the wall. The crate door was still latched though. While going to get crate #2 I had left her in a room and closed the door, she chewed on the door moulding and the door handle and managed to lock herself in the room. That was when I decided not to crate her anymore. She has done very weel, has not destoyed anything while being uncrated and usually can be found in my bedroom roaching on my bed. It is a personal choice as to whether to crate or not. I made the choice as it appeared that she did not like the crate at all. Good Luck

I believe in crates. I think they are a great way to keep your dog safe and other critters safe from the dog. We crate our four all the time when we are at work. They are an excellent tool to use while a new dog is learning the rules.
That being said, there are a small number of greys that just positively hate to be crated. Is there a small space where he can be muzzled and babygated or with a closed door that he can't cause much damage? If he has too much room it could interfere with housebreaking. Keep trying all the suggestions Randy and GFD have made but you might also try leaving him muzzled & in a small space for a few minutes at a time and see how he does. If he's able to be calmer out of the crate that might be your answer.
The difficulty with a new dog is knowing whether his problem is the crate or separation anxiety. Giving him time to learn your routines will help. He may also benefit from more exercise. Can you fit in one 30 or more minute walk per day? (And do you just saunter and sniff or actually expend some energy?) Do you have a fenced yard? Some owners have made an exercise toy from a broom handle with an 8 or 10 foot rope attached and a plastic bag or favorite toy tied on the end of the rope. You hold the broom and turn in a circle while your dog runs in a larger circle chasing the toy.
Please keep letting us know how things are going. I'm sure others on the board will have more suggestions.

Sorry to here You're having so much trouble. I'm afraid I can't help any here, My three greys have never been crated and I've never had a problem. It could be because of the training they received before adoption. Hang in there, It will get better and there are a lot of great folks on this forum that can help.

Gary

The home alone/crating issue can be frustrating, but hang in there. I'm including a link to a really good article about Separation Anxiety where the author outlines what worked for her dog who had some really significant problems in this area. After working with her dog, she went on to become a trainer/behavioral consultant.

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From a personal perspective, my boy Keno had severe SA issues and sort of freaked out when I crated him. He was a 5 year old stray, so I didn't really know anything about his background. What I discovered, in his case, was he was calm when left uncrated with my other dog. I muzzled him at first for safety, of course. As long as he was with another dog when I left, he was fine. As time went on, however, I regretted not helping him work through this issue as I feel it is good to have a dog that you can crate if you need to: safety issues, medical reasons, etc.

I've never used one, but some people report success with the DAP diffuser (if their dog's issue is anxiety). Basically, DAP is a plug in diffuser which continuously releases the active pheromone into the dog's environment. DAP mimics the properties of the natural appeasing pheromones of a "mama dog". By replicating this signal of well-being DAP helps to alleviate fear and stress related signs in the pup and adult dog. It is advertised as effective to stop fear and stress related signs such as destruction, house soiling, and excessive licking. It comforts the dog in stressful environments such as visits to the vet, when strangers are present, when they are left alone or during firework displays or thunderstorms. You can find additional information and sources online by doing a Google search.

Good luck and keep us posted!

I have so many dogs come through here. As a foster mom, I see lots of different personalities. Abel comes to mind. Abel was never crated in his previous home and I had to crate train him. He also distroyed a metal crate. It looked like a truck ran over it. Here is what worked for us.
First, get some Oxifresh pet relaxant. It really works well.
Use the hard plastic crate, not a wire crate. Then, Drug him, Muzzle him and crate him. Take the crate and push the door of the crate up next to a wall. So all he has to see out are the small holes on the sides.
Make sure the crate is the right size. Only large enough for him to stand up and turn around in.

When you are home, crate him also, Let this be his only space until he is over the anxioty. Also, Randys suggestion of in and out of the crate a lot works wonders. Put him in. give him a treat and let him settle down. Once he is quiet and calm, let him out then put him back in, give him a treat and let him calm down. (Use very small training treats, or, he will get fat in this process ) Keep doing this and he will realize that the crate is a good place. Also, feed him in the crate.

And last, please dont put him in a room and shut the door. With this much stress you will come home to a lot of damage. The can get out of a window, closed or open, eat the window and door frames to get try to get out. And you may have a large vet bill along with the home repairs !

You wont see results over night but it does work.

Hope this helps
Debbie

Sorry to hear about the problems you are having.Hang in there!! I am the other half of Gary who responded to your post.Another thing you may try is leave the dog out of the crate and go outside for about 5min.Come back in and see what happened...did the dog get into things...tear up anything,etc.Try again later,except stay outside a little longer.Go inside and check again.Each time you leave stay a little longer and come back in and see what happened.If nothing is torn up or eaten or destroyed,your dog probably doesn't want to be crated.Try using baby gates if there are areas you don't want your dog in.This is a learning process as well as the
dog learning to live in a house with humans.They have to learn the rules and dos and don'ts just like everybody else does...humans and animals.Like Gary said,we have 3 greys and no crates.When we leave and come back everything is just like it was when we left.They usually just kick back and sleep.Some animals need to be crated and some don't.I frankly prefer not to crate...not to say I wouldn't if it were necessary.I just don't see why anyone would want a dog if they were going to crate it their whole life.Just my thoughts...I know some dogs feel safer being crated.I think it's kinda like someone who gets a dog and leaves it tied up in the back yard its whole life.What's the sense??Anyway,lots of luck!!!Everyone on the forum has a lot of good advice!!

Sandy

I also do not crate my two greys. Never have. Sounds crazy i know especially since we have two kitty cats but they are not interested in them at all. I usually come home to find the one grey sleeping in our bed with her furry sister. They all get along well. We might find shoes on there bed but they are not chewed i guess they just want a little bit of us with them while we are gone. Good Luck!

Anne mom to Preciouus and Penny(greys) Bridgette and Wasabi (kittys)

Bullet absolutely hates the crate!! When we first got him, we tried to follow the crating rules --after about a week or two it was hell trying to get him in there--finally we did like Sandy said --left a little bit at a time just to be sure he wouldn't destroy the house--he was perfect!! That being said --we moved recently to an apt while our new house was being built ---it was a lot smaller than our old house and (with 3 cats) we were all a little cramped. He had a bit of a freak out between the apt noises and the small size of the apt. He scratched up the front door ---we began crating him again ---he stressed himself out so bad in that crate --we even tried medicine to calm him down and a petsitter to come during the day. It was awful! After about a week or two of much stress (both dog and me!) we decided to try him out of the crate again --with the petsitter checking on him. Not one problem! It was like --"ok--I dont' like these new living arrangements, but I hate the crate worse so I'll behave!"
When we moved into our new house, which obviously was a lot more spacious he had no problems --we didn't even try to crate (but tested it our first so he wouldn't destroy the house).

Some dogs just don't ever get used to the crate or find comfort in it --we always tried to make the crate a positive thing --he just never took to it. Good luck ---you will find what works best for you

If you decide to use the DAP diffuser I suggest you get it through

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They have really good prices and they keep it in inventory so you get it quickly. We ordered the diffuser and are using it for Maggie. She is a nervous girl who thinks she must always be on guard. Her pacing from window to window has stopped and her expression isn't always that worried expression.

We also ordered the DAP collar and spray to use when we travel. She doesn't have separation anxiety she is just anxious.

In Mickey's case, he likes his new crate fine. He'll relax and lay down in it and even sleep if we are around. It's when we are out of sight for more than a few minutes or (I guess) when we leave that is the issue. I think it's mild SA. Yesterday, I took the day off and did alone training and that seems to be helping some. He seemed more relaxed in the crate by the end of a whacky day. (In, out, jingle keys, hide in garage, etc.)

Thanks for the link to the DAP diffuser. I think we'll try that also. Thanks to everyone for all the help. It's greyt to know there is such a strong community of grey lovers out there.

You can also try the Canine Lullabys CD. It was developed to quiet premie babies in hospital nurseries. Then someone had the bright idea to try it on dogs and it worked just as well, so they repackaged it for dogs. It is a recording of 9 different lullaby tunes with a base line added that mimics the human heartbeat. (It works on adults, too. Don't play it in your car!)
One of our Greys used to whine & cry for 45 minutes when we left. The first time we played the CD she stopped within 5 minutes!
You can google Canine Lullabies for the website and see a video of it being used in an animal shelter. The CD costs about $15.
(Not affiliated, just a very satisfied customer!)

I would agree with trying the Canine Lullabies CD. We did not have it at the time we got Gracie but wish we'd known about it. We made many frantic calls to Randy 5 years ago when we got Gracie. Our first month was pure he@@. The DAP diffuser didn't help at all. Tried all the separation training exercises. Finally had to put her on Clomicalm for 3 months. It did not drug her but enabled her to relax enough to understand the separation training.
Nowadays she could care less about our comings and goings.
The CD has helped out Oliver with his thunderstorm problems as has Rescue Remedy drops and the Storm Defender cape.