separation anxiety/insecurity

Question
I have a Shiba Inu mixed breed dog named Cookie. I got her 2 months ago from an adoption event for rescue dogs. She is raising my stress levels through the roof! i am taking her to pet training classes once a week at Petsmart and they are not addressing the real issues Cookie has. she's not even ever 100% responsive and/or obedient to simple commands. anyway, before i leave, i always take her out to let her go to the bathroom. however, whenever i leave, i put her in the crate and she is completely calm and relaxed - until i close the door. her behavior changes immediately. she starts breathing really hard, fast, and loud, so bad that i can't even hear myself talk. then i walk out of the room and she starts whimpering, drooling all over herself, tearing the bottom of the crate back, has her tail between her legs, and is pawing the doors. when i come back home, she has usually gone # 2 in the crate, and as if that isnt bad enough, she steps all in it. she is completely unresponsive to any toys, treats, my voice, my commands or anything. she wont even look directly at anything. then when i let her out, she starts tearing across the apartment in an excited frenzy and i usually ignore her for a few minutes. it still takes her over a 1/2 hour just to stop breathing hard. i also put her in the crate when i go to bed at night. she has the same behavior mentioned above, then once i finally get in bed, after about 20 minutes, her ridiculous behavior immediately comes to a stop. this is good so i can sleep, but if i so much as roll over or reach over to get my phone, she immediately jumps up and starts the crazy behavior all over again and then she wont stop! also, i usually walk her around the same area in front of my place and there is this one strip of ground about 8 feet that she always forcibly walks on either side of it - but never on it. her tail goes between her legs and it is embarrassing. all this is stressing me out and i love her and dont want to take her back to a shelter but i am at the end of my rope with her. can you please help me??

Answer
You did not mention the dog's age, but I am assuming she is an adult.  This dog is very new to you, you have only had her for 2 months, so the changes in her life might also be affecting her during this time.  With rescue dogs, sometimes the behavioral problems they have are the reasons they became homeless in the first place.  Quite likely a previous owner could not handle her issues, or did not know how.  But someone has to fix it at some point, or the dog has no future at all.  You did a great thing by rescuing her, and I am sorry this is so stressful for you, but the good news is that these problems CAN be fixed, and dogs do improve.  

Shiba Inus are generally independent, more aloof dogs who can be stubborn at times, but they are great dogs when you have found the right way to communicate and work with them.  It is not surprising that you are not getting the responses you expect from your dog.  With your situation, you are going to need a professional dog trainer, not PetSmart classes.  PetSmart is a large retail store, they are not an experienced dog training facility.  Their program is based on one-sided techniques that rely heavily on bribes and treats.  The individual trainer's quality is unknown, as their employee training consists of just 90 hours, then they are a "dog trainer", so they may simply not have the behavioral knowledge or training skills to give you any answers or help.  It is preferred to be in private lessons, rather than classes, and you need a whole and balanced approach of training that can change the dog's *mindset*, not just condition her to do actions for treats.  Dogs like this can benefit from confidence-building, limitations & structure, and good leadership from the owner.

She is experiencing a lot of anxiety and stress when left alone or crated.  This is also why she is soiling her crate, have you ever gotten so stressed out you felt sick to your stomach like you would throw up?  That is how the dog feels, and it causes her to soil the crate.  All this stress is not normal, as you already know.  The last picture she has in her head is you leaving and walking out the door, so it may also be helpful to desensitize her to these cues.  An example- if the dog freaks out when you pick up your keys to leave, you would pick them up randomly throughout the day, until this is no longer a trigger.  I would get her used to being crated by putting her in it while you remain in the same room going about your normal business, so that she doesn't always associate being crated with your leaving.  Then move to crating her, leaving the room completely, then coming back in 5 minutes later, working up the times.  At night, is her crate right next to your bed?  I would keep it there, where she can feel close to you and hear your breathing, as well as giving her enough exercise so that she sleeps soundly through the night.  

I can give a few other suggestions that might help.  During the day, covering the crate with a blanket may help quiet her, and leave her with an item like your worn t-shirt, something that is saturated in your scent.  Giver her bones (like raw beef marrow bones or stuffed Kongs) for something to chew on to relieve some stress.  A natural product called "Rescue Remedy" (Bach flower essence) may offer some help to calm her; this is something I have used on dogs and taken myself during stressful times and it does work.  There are also prescription medications that your vet can prescribe for her anxiety.  They do not sedate the dog, but lower anxiety, and are are meant to be used temporarily, along with training and behavioral modification.  I hope these suggestions might make things easier on both of you for now.

As for the strip of ground, it sounds like she is afraid of it for some reason.  It is not just about the strip of ground, however.  It relates to not having trust in you.  If a dog has trust in their handler, they will have more confidence.

I would like to help you more, but I have to direct you to someone who can instruct hands-on, an experienced trainer, so you can put the dog through a whole obedience/behavior modification course, as well as get a more detailed in-person evaluation for Cookie.  Good luck, and don't lose patience or hope.