Nik
Well-Known Member
It seems that since we moved to Portland Diesel is now very weird about his crate. Anytime he goes in his crate and is locked in for any length of time (whether it is ten minutes or a couple hours makes no difference) he immediately begins to stress pant and stress yawn. By the time I let him out again he has a giant lake filling the bottom of his crate and has soaked his feet and chest. He doesn't bark or make a nuisance of himself but I am very concerned about how badly the crate seems to stress him out now.
If I leave food or treats in the crate he doesn't touch them. If I leave toys he ignores them and they get soaked along with everything else. If I don't close the door on him he will go in on command and start panting at just the idea of being in the crate. If I hang out and continue to not close it he eventually calms but if I make to touch the door at all he starts yawning and panting immediately.
Does anyone have any ideas as to how to get him used to the crate again or should I just give up on the crate and simply make sure he has a safe space to stay out and about (all the rooms closed off for example so there are no shoes to eat)? The last few times I had to go out and about I was so concerned about his stress levels that I did leave him out and just made sure there was nothing he could get into and he seemed fine when I got back and no sign of stress aside from being a little more clingy and cuddly than usual for a couple of hours.
If I leave food or treats in the crate he doesn't touch them. If I leave toys he ignores them and they get soaked along with everything else. If I don't close the door on him he will go in on command and start panting at just the idea of being in the crate. If I hang out and continue to not close it he eventually calms but if I make to touch the door at all he starts yawning and panting immediately.
Does anyone have any ideas as to how to get him used to the crate again or should I just give up on the crate and simply make sure he has a safe space to stay out and about (all the rooms closed off for example so there are no shoes to eat)? The last few times I had to go out and about I was so concerned about his stress levels that I did leave him out and just made sure there was nothing he could get into and he seemed fine when I got back and no sign of stress aside from being a little more clingy and cuddly than usual for a couple of hours.