Boxer puppy barking constantly while in crate

Question
QUESTION: My roommate has a male boxer puppy that's seven months old and has been getting worse and worse about barking while in his crate.

He was first crated at about two and a half months and didn't take to it very well, barking a lot from what I assume was separation anxiety while she was at work. The person living beneath us worked nights and had (understandably) serious issues about the barking when he tried to sleep during the day, so she got a bark collar for the dog to keep him quiet during the day.

The collar generally worked (at least to keep her and the dog from being evicted), although he used up the batteries pretty quickly and it didn't really resolve the underlying issues because he'd still bark a lot if the collar wasn't on him or was out of power. He ended up getting a bruise where the collar was, either from too much use or the way he lay on it, and it stopped getting put on him.

We fell into an okay rhythm though; because she was working days and I worked evenings, she would have him out in the mornings then put him back in and go to work, then when I got up I'd often let him out for about 2-3 hours in the late morning/early afternoon (if he wasn't barking) before I went to work, then she'd have him out again when she got back from work in the evenings. The crate/barking issue wasn't really resolved as he'd bark if he didn't get let out most times and would often bark when I put him back in his crate, but it was largely avoided and he was fine at night.

Now that schedule no longer works because she's gone on overnight shifts and is generally sleeping in the room with him during the day, letting him out afternoons-evenings before she heads out. Now, I'm getting woken up most nights by him barking non-stop for hours. He started barking early mornings about an hour before she got back from work, but it's been getting earlier and earlier. After she lets him out for a bit then puts him back in to go to bed herself, he's keeping her from getting to sleep in the mornings as well.

I'm pretty sure the underlying issue is that he hates being in the crate and is bored in there, but I have no idea how to solve that problem as he's a destructive force if left alone outside it. There's no way to put him in a dog-proof room (short of locking him in the bathroom) and having lots of toys in the crate doesn't seem to help.

She tries to get him enough exercise, going for hour walks at the park and giving him 'play-dates' with another boxer that gets them both burning A LOT of energy for hours most days.

Beyond that, we're both out of solutions for how to keep him quiet while he's crated. I'm at the point of using sleeping pills to try to knock me out enough to get a goods night's sleep through the barking. I'm going to try letting him out for a little bit when I get back home from work (around 12:30 am) to see if it helps, but bringing him out and putting him back in the crate generally sets off another round of barking.

He's gotten worse about quieting down when he gets yelled at for barking too. He used to generally quiet down, although he'd be really bad sometimes, now it seems to have zero effect--he just keeps barking and barking. He's great out of the crate, with no barking or personality issues.

Any suggestions? The bark collar hasn't been reintroduced, although I think it might help as a reinforcement device, getting put on him when he refuses to stop barking. Beyond that neither one of us has any idea what to do.

ANSWER: My first gut instinct and reaction-- my serious recommendation is that your roommate give him to a family that can offer him the life he deserves.

This is why I do not sell my puppies to single working people.

I refuse to allow my pups grow up in a crate.

Give him to a good home and stop this abuse.

This IS considered abuse by the humane society. She is NOT providing adequate care for him.

Would she or you, like living inside a crate, i.e. prison cell? NO, of course not, and that is exactly what that is to him.

The bark collar is intended for a dog outside exercising and peeing, not as a permanent solution for one inside a pinned crate.

This is also abuse.

Your roommate has no business whatsoever owning a dog. She can not care for one, nor has the time.

There is no solution except allow him to live in the house/apartment as everyone else because Boxers are social and need to be a PART OF THE FAMILY.

If I could, I would call the humane society to save him.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Okay, maybe I'm missing something, but wouldn't a working family have the same issues on a different timeline? I assume they need to put their dog in a crate while they're at work and sleep at night too. He's out when she's at home same as it would be for them, just from 2:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. before work instead of 5:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. after work for a normal family. Both dogs get let out in the mornings, but before work for a normal family and after she gets home. It's not as though she's barely home and leaving him alone most days.

Are you suggesting the puppy shouldn't be in a crate while she's at work? I thought it was common to have boxers crated when left alone until 2-3 years. Is that not true?

Answer
No, it IS NOT true to crate a Boxer, or any dog while at work.

Do you think people crate their Poodles, Yorkie Terriers, Dauchsaunds?  No,they do not. So why crate a Boxer? Because he is larger? He is a middle sized dog, not a large breed.

No, it would be different for a family than what is happening in your home.

Families entering getting a puppy with full knowledge of the growing and training process so they will have the puppy trained.

Training should have began as soon as the puppy was brought home.

Crate training is to familiarize the puppy to the crate to crate him short spells why out shopping or dinner, not a permanent solution to a daily job. Puppies can not hold their bladder more than a few hours at best.

Once he was accustomed to the crate, and bladder was trained to hold it longer, he would not develop separation anxiety.

Notice your pup (which 7 months old is still young) behaves fine when out of his crate. He has not been allowed freedom otherwise.

If he is brought up to sleep in his owners bedroom at night, socialize when owner is home and with family, freely, eat and drink freely, taken outside to pee reguarilly and routinely, and crate trained early, he wouldn't mind being in his crate for short times, and misbehave.

But to live inside on so much of his time, is unreasonable, and it only normal- completely normal, for him to raise cane over it.

This training and socialization would create a well-behaved 7 month old Boxer to be left out in the home loose and free during the working hours.

He would not destroy anything, as long as he had his food and water, freedom to move and play, and sleep on a comfortable doggie bed, and have durable toys to play and chew.

I recommend appropriate sized Nyla bones, and any and all KONG toys.

These are safe and durable for the most avid power chewer.

As long as he has those toys, his designated doggie bed, and his food and fresh water, he will not become bored and destructive.

People that buy a puppy either know these things and make a conscious decision to train to achieve a happy pet, or enter the deal not knowing what they are up against and create an unhappy Boxer.

This is what has happened to him.

Now, training is in order. You will need to provide him with the things I mentioned and put him to the test.

Leave for 10 minutes and come back and praise him if he did well. Verbally reprimand him using a stern, disappointing voice with easy-to-understand words (commands and reprimands) that he did bad if he was destructive. Reward him upon your return if he behaved well.

Continue this, increasing the time amount by 5 minutes until an hour of well-behaved results come about, always rewarding him and assuring him.

Positive gets positive.

Pretty soon, he can stay loose and behaved the entire time everyone is at work.


BUT... puppy proof the house for HIS protection and safety as you would child-proof your home- no difference at all.