Broke out of the crate
He was stuck half in and half out of the wire crate on Friday evening when I got home from my office Christmas party. We had left them in the living room in the front of the house since we put the tree in the family room where he usually is crated. So when I got home he was standing at the front window next to Harry with a crate stuck on his back half. I could barely unhook the crate door to free him from it. He was stressed and took twenty minutes for his breathing to return to normal. The area above the door is bent and the door doesn't work properly now. So today we left them in the basement. Bert went in his old bedroom crate which we graduated him from two months ago. Now he sleeps crate free at night in our bedroom and is well behaved. I was concerned all day at work in light of what happened Friday night. And rightfully so. When I got home he was at the top of the basement steps with Harry to greet me. He broke out of his crate, it is also bent and there were two wires broken off of the door. But he was not upset. I worry that if I keep crating him he is going to literally kill himself or at the very least work himself into a frenzy. On the other hand, he is a puppy and could make a bad choice if he is allowed to have the run of the basement with Harry. He loves Harry and the two of them lie next to each other. But they also wrestle and play very wild. Bert is almost 9 months old. I kept Harry in a crate around that age because he was getting into trouble and I was worried that he was going to hurt himself. Please weigh in on this issue. Tomorrow we are going to try him crate free in the basement but I will worry all day. Any advice or experience is appreciated. |
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| When I fostered Great Pyrs they warned me of this. I want out and bought these clips, but I can't think of what they are called. I clipped them all over the doors, so that the dogs couldn't get any body part out of any of the openings. Zip ties will work also. Hope this helps. Lisa Frankie and Mattie |
| Make sure wherever you keep him its puppy proofed. Instead of the basement, can you confine him with baby gates? Dogs usually don't do well behind closed doors so I wouldn't do that. Can you trust him to be out of the crate? Can someone come over and check on him in the afternoon? Poor baby must have freaked out half stuck in the crate... |
| Poor Bert...and poor you...and POOR HARRY...I am sure he was freaking out when Bert was 'running' around with a crate on his tusch! I know how worried you will be, and, maybe you can go home at lunch to make sure he is ok... Keep us posted on how he did on his first day.  |
| If he is breaking out of the crate, I would say it is time to go crate free. Is there an area where you can put BOTH that is puppy proof? Baby gates are a wonderful thing. We used to crate Simon in the kitchen/dining area. Then along came Gar and that was the end of that. He cleared off the table, the cabinets, and anything he could reach and the two would have a party with the remains. They are now gated into the hallway. Bedroom doors are closed but the bathroom door is open(toilet paper is put away). Unfortunately we now have to replace the carpet in the hall...not "completely" their fault. First few days are the honeymoon period when they/he will do great. The test will be a week or so later. I hope that you can think of something because I too would be worried all day wondering. If you can't come home during lunch, can you have someone check up on them/him? |
| I've been lucky that all of my dogs have been good with the crate. My last two did well out of the crate while I was working before they were a year old, but not at nine months. It was more like 10 months and I just did a few hours at a time to see how they would do. Teddy loved the crate and I just took it down several months ago because I got tired of having that big thing in the kitchen. He got over it but I felt bad taking down his bed. Does Bert hate the crate because he wants to be closer to Harry? What about if you tired crating Harry next to Bert? Good luck. Cindy |
| WOW!! That had to be one awful sight!! Poor Bert. When we have our son' boxers' visit, we proof the garage and leave them inside when we leave. Cars are outside and the dogs have free rumpus. They love it, as it is always cooler, plus that wonderful concrete floor  And no one has to travel with a wire crate. I'll say it again...Poor Bert...  |
I see why you say Bert is trying very hard to get on the naughty list!  We had very different crating experiences between Mady and Gracie. Mady was a perfect angel and we crated her when home alone until she was almost 2 years old. Gracie would have none of it, she never tried to break out of her crate, but she definitely wanted to be out with the big girls ASAP. So we stopped crating her when she was at most 6 months old. We never had any problems. They have the run of the house (except the basement, they have never been in the basement, and I would have to carry Mady or Gracie kicking and crying into the basement now, they just know it as an absolute no-go area, it's very funny because we never explicitly trained them not go in, we just always have the door closed). If you're mostly worried about Bert and Harry playing so wild they're like a tornado hit your house, I'd suggest setting up the basement or a room to be Harry-and-Bert proof! |
| Oh, we have been experiencing one similar thing recently. A couple of times Kim or I have come home and found Mady or Gracie stuck under our couch. They are adorable, usually just a nose sticking out, and they just lie there calmly until we lift the couch up for them to scoot out. Such silly clowns! |
| All good suggestions, but it's actually a bigger issue than knowing if he can be left out of a crate. Bert has a long future ahead of him needing to be crated - shows, and all sorts of competitions. So some solution needs to be found to keep him in the crate and safe. Judi - give me a call one of these evenings, or Thursday/Friday during the day. |
| If you still need to crate for safety, you'll need to get a REALLY HEAVY DUTY WIRE/METAL CRATE. http://www.ebay.com/bhp/large-heavy-duty-dog-crate It sounds like you have some major separation anxiety issues going on. You might want to do an internet search for suggestions on dealing with that as well. Getting stuck in a half broken wire crate would stress ME out and I expect it may make matters worse every time it happens. If you can't find a crate that will safely contain him, you'll have to let him be safe in a confined area like a room such as the kitchen or den or even loose in the house might be safer that getting stuck in a half destroyed crate. Do you think he'd be o.k. (safe?) left in a section of your home? If I could not contain him safely in a crate, I guess I'd be forced to leave him free in a section of the house so he doesn't kill or maim himself. I would rather come home to a destroyed leather sofa than an injured dog. Is Harry crated? Could you try either crating both side by side so they can see each other? Perhaps seeing Harry resting comfortably in HIS crate might calm Bert? Or perhaps both together they would sleep in an area (kitchen?) of the house together. This is scary. I wish you luck in solving the issue quickly. Hopefully Dawn can be of assistance in solving this problem. Linda Zimmerman I wish you good luck in finding a solution quickly, Judi. |
| Thanks everyone for the input and good thoughts. He did well today in the basement uncrated. We did our very best to make the area as safe as possible including the type of toys left in the toy box. He never even played with the toys so I think that they probably slept most of the day. Dawn, I do have concerns about competitions but he is weirdly calm at those. We had the issue before if you recall with the separation anxiety back in July. Yet during that time he did not have issues at any of Harry's competitions. In fact he is so good that I frequently leave him that sometimes I don't even check on him very often. Same thing last month at an agility trial. But I want to be prepared and avoid any pitfalls in this area. So Dawn I will call you in a day or two. I am fighting off a cold - not very successfully and so I am sleeping away my evenings. Thanks again everyone. I will keep you updated. |
| Ask yourself, could any external noises be freaking him out? Workmen contractors that sort of thing while you are away. You could have a webcam setup and record/view what is going on when you are out? |
| Day 2 - So far so good. I am not expecting this to last problem free but I continue to hope for the best. |
| Glad to her things are going well. and where did you get that adorable snow ball of sheepies in your avatar? I want one! |
That avatar only comes with those two naughty Sheepdogs inside.  Actually I took Harry & Bert to a party at one of the places I train. They had a photographer who took the dogs picture in front of a green screen. I chose the snow globe as my background. Isn't it cute? I wasn't expecting a photographer and the boys were totally disheveled and unkempt.  |
Glad to hear things are going well. I don't have any real suggestions for you--but wanted you to know I am keeping fingers crossed that he continues to do well in the basement without his crate.  I think I would be more fearful of him hurting himself trying to get out of the crate when you are not there. I found it was more difficult to have one crated when the others were not. Hope you feel better soon! |
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