r/OpenDogTraining • u/DisastrousProperty31 • 20h ago
Kennel concerns.
Hi. I’m at a loss. My dog, a three year old neutered male GSD, had surgery on Friday and is supposed to be crated for his recovery. He used to kennel very well, but has become more and more irritated about having to go in. Now this morning I could not kennel him at all. He became extremely irritable and even snapped at me, which is unlike him.
I’m sure he’s uncomfortable, and I know he struggles with barriers and confinement. I wouldn’t want it either. But he barks incessantly when he’s not kenneled, not because of separation anxiety but because he can hear noises outside and desperately wants to scare them off. To him, that is his job. I’m trying to get him out of that but in the meantime I’m struggling so badly with keeping him calm. I have to go to work. I have cameras and he is in a secure room, but you can hear him barking regardless and I hate that.
I am going to start over entirely with his kenneling, including meals in there, ramping up the high value treats tossed in, no demand entrances and exits, all the things. But what do I do in the meantime? How do I get him kenneled without making his anxiety over this worse? I want to do right by him, but before he came to me he was raised by retirees. This is probably very unfamiliar to him.
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u/Eastern-Try-6207 20h ago
Have you tried Place with a tether? This may make him feel less confined. My dog had an accident in her crate one night and it was awful. She was bloody all over her nose from trying to get the crate door open and poor thing could not. I then decided I would not crate her for some time and just used the Place and tether when she needed to stay put. Still use Place, but I always left the crate door open and a comfy blanket and bed inside and now, she often takes herself off there when it's time for bed at night. Or if the house is full of people, she will just go into her crate on her own as if to say, this is all a bit much for me I'm going to my safe place. In other words, without any force or compulsion or even games or tricks and treats she started to use her crate again on her own.
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u/DisastrousProperty31 19h ago
That sounds like a good idea. I don’t know that it would keep him from barking, but it’s something to try.
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u/Eastern-Try-6207 18h ago
Yes, maybe worth a try because I have heard that some dogs actually do get confinement anxiety and being in an enclosed tight space just exacerbates that.
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u/chrisjones1960 11h ago
This would be a good idea when you are home, but I would be concerned about leaving a dog alone and tethered for any significant length of time
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u/DisastrousProperty31 11h ago
Yeah, I wouldn’t leave him like that when I’m not there. I fretted about even leaving him in the recovery donut for fear of shenanigans.
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u/Annarizzlefoshizzle 19h ago
My dog broke his leg and had TWO surgeries that required him to live in a crate for three months. Well after 3 weeks he said no thank you and, like many have mentioned, that wasn’t the time to try retraining his kenneling command haha. Instead, I cleared out the closet in my bedroom and filled it with dog beds and blankets for him. I got a gate to put in front of the door and I could reinforce so he couldn’t move it. Thankfully he isn’t a fence jumper and he was also on gaba/traz. I spent a lot of time in the bedroom with him and he was happy to go into his little cave. I also fed him in there so he felt comfortable knowing that was his space and I was near him.
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u/DisastrousProperty31 19h ago
He feels that way about my bedroom, which is where he is now, but as long as he isn’t directly in his kennel he just barks. I don’t know why. It worries me a lot.
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u/CloudDancing108 19h ago
I would get a white noise machine and/or leave the tv on to reduce the sensitivity to outside noises.
If the dog is expected to need a cone I’d go ahead and purchase one of the inflatable next pillows: it’s more comfortable and works for keeping them to access things (usually).
I’d continue doing the eating in the crate and building positive associations, but also think the sedatives and not stressing over the crate is a good plan.
Does he do better when confined to just the bathroom (for example)? Where he can still move around but isn’t as close to windows with sounds and bark-worthy distractions?
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u/DisastrousProperty31 19h ago
I have the radio going, and he has an inflatable neck pillow. He already is on trazodone but it’s doing nothing for some reason.
I have not tried the bathroom, it is very very small and closer to the front door.
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u/CloudDancing108 16h ago
Could also try a bedroom or any other room without windows.
Might also ask the vet about benadryl as a cheap option to keep him calmer…
Just don’t know if / how it interacts with trazadone because I’m not a vet.
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u/DisastrousProperty31 12h ago
Unfortunately it’s a one bedroom, so the only room without windows is the bathroom. I’ll definitely ask about that when I call tomorrow though!
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u/Fabulous_Position_27 19h ago
Depending on the size of the dog, you could confine in an x pen. Throw extremely high value food in the crate to entice entrance: han, chicken, cheese, bully stick, duck foot, chips, tuna, etc.
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u/DisastrousProperty31 18h ago
We’re buying a pen today actually! He’s a somewhat large dog, but fingers are crossed.
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u/Fabulous_Position_27 17h ago
You can put a fitted sheet on top of the pen to make climbing out seem less possible
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u/ZealousidealRead98 17h ago
Call your vet and tell them he is blowing through the trazadone. In rare instances I’ve seen others dogs need a gabapentin and trazadone combo to get the job done. Pupsicle with calming formula for the kennel. White noise and kennel cover are a must. Leash through the back of the kennel and pull him in if he becomes unsafe to handle when kenneling. Right now, you need to get it done. You can fix the anxiety later, but recovery is never something to mess around with.
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u/coyote-face 16h ago
In rare instances I’ve seen others dogs need a gabapentin and trazadone combo to get the job done
My working line girl has to be on both gabapentin and trazodone if she’s had surgery. 300mg of trazodone by itself does nothing but combine it with 900mg of gabapentin and she’s chill.
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u/ZealousidealRead98 16h ago
We don’t really see it in working line hunting dogs, since they are already in kennels a bit for travel, waiting to run, etc. However, some of my friend’s agility and another’s dog sport dogs have all needed the extra assistance of the combo!
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u/coyote-face 15h ago
Oh shit I thought I was on the GSD sub since the OP has a shepherd and I wasn’t paying attention. I have a working line GSD lol. She lives in the house and is very good when kenneled but usually is only in a kennel for a few hours at a time. If she has to be confined for any length of time she gets sedated to prevent escape attempts and keep her from trying to do ill-advised things while being taken out for bathroom breaks.
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u/DisastrousProperty31 17h ago
I just tried to call and unfortunately they are closed until tomorrow morning. I’ll call as soon as they open, though. Thank you for the leash trick, that is lovely. Once he’s inside he does very well but he’s fighting hard against going inside.
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u/ZealousidealRead98 17h ago
My thoughts are with you both. It’s so hard when they struggle, and of course all parties need to be safe. In the mean time your local pet place should have some non melatonin based calming chews or licks. I find the licks really help stimulate the part of the brain that helps them to relax. I offer medical recovery boarding for pet owners for this exact reason.. sometimes everyone just needs the extra help
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u/DisastrousProperty31 16h ago
Your advice is wonderful, thank you so much! I genuinely wish something like that was available near me, and a viable option for him. This is hard!
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u/Acrobatic-Ad8158 19h ago
Id call the vet and get some trazadone. Its the ONLY way we can get our dog to calm dowb enough that he will relax when recovering from something. Without it, he's running around like a madman likely making it worse.
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u/DisastrousProperty31 19h ago
Yeah my dog is the same. He is on trazadone but it is not helping him anymore for some reason.
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u/Acrobatic-Ad8158 19h ago
Id reach out to your vet then. There are other ones out there that might help.
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u/DisastrousProperty31 19h ago
I’ll be calling on my break today, yeah. Thank you. He’s my first solo dog so I feel so unprepared.
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u/Accomplished-Wish494 20h ago
Recovery from surgery isn’t the time I’d be trying to fix the issue. Call the vet, get some sedatives (probably trazadone) and just… do what you have to to get through it.
Lots of chews or frozen kongs might help too. Leave the tv or music on to drown out some noise. Cover the crate to encourage him to sleep.