Seperation

Question
Hi,
I have a 11 week old female boxer. She is very well behaved and a very quick learner:)I work 8-4 Monday to Friday and I leave her in her crate for about 3 to 4 hours in the morning to get her used to it. When I come home at lunch she has completely soiled the crate. I tried to leave her for just a hour and its the same thing. I know she hates the crate, when she wakes up in the morning she knows she has to go in there she shivers as if she is cold!
I really don't know what to do to get her used to it...any suggestions??/

Answer
Hi Carissa,

This may either a crate issue or separation anxiety, or a combination of both; at 11 weeks she's in the midst of a fear period which doesn't help matters.  I would lean more toward an issue with the crate, based on what you've said, so that's where I'll focus this message.

If at all possible, find an alternative to crating her while you're working through this process; it will set back a lot of your work and take longer to get her comfortable with being crated if she's in the crate for a few hours while you're gone.  An ex-pen or a baby gate in a puppy-safe room might be a solution for the short term.  To help her start to like her crate, there are a few things you can do.  

Feed her in her crate - you may need to start out feeding her *near* the crate, then in front of the crate, then the bowl just inside the door, then 1/4 way in, then 1/3, then 1/2, then 3/4, then all the way at the back; then you can move on to closing the door for a second while she's in there, then two, then five, then ten, etc., then closing and locking it, etc.  The key is to break everything down into very small steps and don't move faster than her comfort level allows - if she's OK at 1/4 way in but balks at 1/3, keep it at 1/4 for a couple of times, and then try a point half-way between 1/4 and 1/3.  You could also try moving the bowl back a tiny bit while she's eating, then a bit more, etc.  

Throughout the day while you're home, toss super-yummy treats into her crate for her to get. With this, too, start near the crate, then just inside, then further in, etc.  (This is easier to do incrementally just because you can toss treats more often than you can feed her - though you can break her meals up into smaller parts and feed her a series of times for each meal; like, put 1/4 of her food in the bowl and put it outside the crate, then another 1/4 just in the door, etc.)  If you're clicker training, you can also shape her interaction with the crate, similar to the "101 Things To Do With A Box" exercise.  

As she becomes more willing to get into her crate, start putting her in there while you're home - again, start small, closing the door but not locking it, then build up to locking it and leaving her there for a few seconds, a minute, five minutes, etc.  Then start leaving the room - first just around the corner, building up time, then in another room, again starting short and building up time, then just outside the front door, then in the yard, etc.  You'll find as you progress that she'll go through the baby steps faster and faster, and you won't need to break things down into such tiny pieces for every new criteria (but be careful of trying too much, too soon).  

A stuffed Kong can help quite a bit, as well - make it something special that she only gets when she's in her crate.  Find out what is super-yummy to her for stuffing - peanut butter and bananas, yogurt (you can freeze a stuffed Kong), liverwurst mixed with her food, etc.  (Lots of other ideas on the Kong website, www.kongcompany.com)  Be sure that you decrease her regular meals accordingly, for both the Kong stuffing and the treats, so that she doesn't start gaining too much weight.

There is a good article on dealing with separation anxiety here, which might give you some more insight and help determining if that's what's happening with your girl:
http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002/sa.htm

Good luck!!