Help: A Screaming Dog?

Question

Roxy is HORRIBLE in the crate. Today, I crated her to take Max out side on his lead for about ten minutes, and about halfway down the road you could hear her screaming, and when I came back she was STILL screaming. She does it at night when she's crated (most of the time she ends up out of the crate anyway), she does it when we leave for work, and I'm pretty sure she does it the whole time we're gone.

We have neighbors that share the same walls, so we KNOW if we can hear her down the road that they can hear her through the walls. What can we do to quiet her down?

We risk a noise violation if she continues on, and if we get so many, we're evicted. Please help!

Answer 1

Unfortunately she's throwing a tantrum!  Panic!  You need to back off with the crating and take it much more slowly.  Put her bed in there and her toys, and leave the door open to begin with.  Cover the top and three sides and have it in a quiet corner where she can start to look at it as her quiet place.  Perhaps even put her food bowl in there - leaving the door open still?  

Her reaction is two-fold.  First she's not comfortable being in there, because perhaps you haven't introduced her to it gradually enough, and secondly, you are taking Max out and leaving her behind!!!  

As for the neighbours, can you move her crate to a room that doesn't have an adjoining wall with next door? (I know that feeling!!) and shut the doors between the room that does have a shared wall?

Whatever the case, if she's reacting like this I doubt you are going to win this battle without a complete rethink.  Can you take her and the crate up with you at night, have it alongside your bed perhaps.  I know this will mean eventually you will have to move it back downstairs, but right now she's not associating her crate as a nice calm place, but as a prison and that's no good.

However, truth is some dogs simply don't adapt to crating and no amount of forcing the issue is going to help.  It might be better to make her an area where she is contained, and forget about the crate with this one!

PS  Rescue Remedy might help calm this little one down - although I don't recommend any sort of sedation, this is a training situation and helping her to feel safe in her environment.

Answer 2

how old is your dog? how long have you been crate training her? Is the crate the right size? do you use the crate for punishment?

If your dog is still a puppy, she just needs more training. Also make sure the crate is large enough for her to stand up, turn around and lie down, it shouldn't be bigger, or smaller. If you use the crate for punishment, you are just teaching her that the crate is a bad place, so you shouldn't do that. She also might have separation anxiety. Put her in her crate and leave the room. After two minutes, come back, just to show her that you won't be gone forever. Keep doing this, and gradually, stay out for longer and longer. Make sure before you leave, don't say "Goodbye baby, I'll be back soon" hug her, and use a high energy tone. Because if you make a big deal out of it, she will too, because she will want more affection. Also when you come back, let her out of her crate, but don't pet her or anything, just ignore her. She will eventually learn that you are not giving her a lot of affection, so she won't cry for you as much. Also, never let her out of the crate when she is screaming, make sure you tell her to be quiet, and when she is calm, you can let her out, so it teaches her that she won't be let out when she is crying, only when she is calm. I hope this helps :)

Answer 3

Earplugs.  Easier for a homeowner to say than an apartment renter, I know, but the only way to get her to stop is to ignore her.  If the problem really is that serious where it's risking eviction, try a citronella bark collar and see if it helps.  The last thing you ever want to do, though, is let her out, shush her, or pay attention to her in any way while she's having a fit.  It'll only reinforce the behavior because she knows she'll eventually get what she wants if she hollers enough.

Answer 4

Put a towel over the crate so that she cannot see that you are around, she does it for attention, and if she can't see you she won't do it

Answer 5

Have you ever thought about an Electric collar? My neighbors told me that I had a choice and that I could keep my dogs quiet or I could get rid of him. That was 10 years a go and that dog was still with me a year a go!!

Electric collars work and if they worked on that malinois, I PROMISE they will work on your dog!

ADD: Could the "expert" trainers and lawyers here that are giving TD tell me how to stop a dog from screaming when you are NOT at home?

Is there a reason why you think the dog is better off at the pound then with an E collar on making decisions about his behavior? Anyone...

Answer 6

It's separation anxiety.  My dog had it and had the same symptoms as your dog.  I went to a training class for it, and they had me handle other people's dog's, while other people handled my dog, in the same room.

They also would have me leave my dog's sight, and leave the room while someone else handled him.  It seems to have worked, because he whines a little now, but not as bad as before.  I can also put him in a crate, and he is fine.

I know that you are a trainer too patient paws, I just wanted to share what worked for me and my dog.  I hope you find something that works!

ADDITION:  Dealing with the separation anxiety is a longer process.  As for temporary to deal with the barking, I would recommend a citronella bark collar.  They are not as cruel as the shock collars (I don't know if you are one that is opposed to shock collars).  When the dog barks, the collar sprays citronella at the dog, and it deters them from barking, because they don't like the smell.

Answer 7

My Jasmine does this horrible howling occasionally in the crate.  I manage to teach her "quiet".  They also get a treat when I crate them.  But "quiet" and ignoring her seem to work best.  

Answer 8

Your housing situation, and possibly your dogs life, are both at risk here!

WHY are people giving Greekman TD's??!!   An electric collar is a must here, now.  It sounds harsh, but wouldn't you rather be able to keep you house AND your dog?

You have a choice of collars, go check them out.  Your dog will eventually learn that once that collar is on, there is no barking allowed - she will learn quickly that the louder she barks the more of a shock that she gets.  She can whine, she can even make little sounds and small, intermittent barks - but not continuous barking.  

I now put a collar on our younger pup when I'm not able to correct the barking immediately, and she knows now that once that collar is on, there is no barking.  She's figured it out herself at 5 mos. old.  Yes, I *should* be teaching her myself not to bark, but I'm not always at her side.  This is the next best thing.

They are NOT cruel if used properly.  Please consider this, ok?

Answer 9

I'm assuming she has to be crated/confined for some reason. Can you find an alternative? Maybe an x-pen or a room that is dog-proofed? A crate should only be a last resort to keeping a dog confined. If she is not trustworthy in the house, you need to work on that. Everyone will be much happier when the dogs can be left out in the house.

Answer 10

We recently fostered a puppy mill rescue and had this same problem for 2 weeks until we tried this fail-safe combination:

1.  Medicate:  call your vet and find out the correct dose of Benedryl (to calm the dog).  It's isn't evil - I've had several vets tell me to do this!

2.  Long walks

3.  DAP (Dog Appeasing Pheromone - can buy it at Petco/Petsmart) - its a plug in or spray that smell like his mom when she was nursing him making him mellow

4.  Teaching him to go in his crate and rewarding him with a special crate only treat when he goes in - my foster would just run the crate and sit there knowing he was going to get a treat, after he had the treat he'd run out and then back in just to get another treat - so it worked!.

5.  Go on-line and buy a CD called Canine Lullabies - it was developed by a dog shelter/Humane Society and it mixes children's music with a heartbeat sound.  Calms them down in less than 5 minutes.

This fail-safe combination I personally guarantee will calm your dog in 2 weeks or less.  After 2 weeks I didn't even have to use Benedryl.  Your dog needs to learn that his crate is a great safe place to stay while you're gone and those treats really help.

Good luck!!!

NOTE:  debarking can scar the vocal chords and cause a build up of scar tissue that will eventually grow and close up your dog's throat.  Not good.

Answer 11

If it were my dog, I would be using a bark collar.  

I have time and time again seen dogs being boarded in a kennel and barking themselves to the point of exhaustion and extreme anxiety....after putting a bark collar on them they calmed down, laid down, and relaxed.  

Nobody died a terrible death because of the big bad bark collar, they simply relaxed and stayed calm.

If you think your dog is suffering from severe anxiety, perhaps you can talk to your vet about some medication to help that as well.

Answer 12

I'm going to stick with Greekman's answer.. and add that:

Debarking is LESS cruel than having to rehome a dog (who may end up euthanized by another owner).  While its not a first choice it is FAR FAR better than being evicted/homeless (and possibly ruining dog-ownership for later tenants not to mention reinforcing the notion of some people that dogs and dog-owners are inconsiderate).  Dogs who are re-homed for barking often get passed from owner to owner- sometimes with the misguided notion that a "home in the country" is the answer-- as if its better for the dog to be somewhere the neighbors are likely to shoot it for barking.