1 1/2 year old boxer fears noises and crate

Question
My 1 1/2 year old female boxer Lola is a wonderful dog. However, she
recently started having loud noise fears. Our floors were redone and when the
workers returned to place the trim moulding the dogs were home. Needless
to say, the loud nail gun sent her off her rocker. She lost control  of her
bowels, etc. She was in the crate at the time. I immediately took her outside
and we stayed out of the house for several hours until the workers left. Every
since she has a men in blue uniform/worker fear and noise fears. She cowers
in the corner and follows me  step to step, practically on my feet.
Any suggestions would be helpful.

Also, what time/age do you think we should start experimenting with her
being left out of the crate while we are gone? I am usually gone for a 5 hour
period once a week and maybe a 1-2 hour period twice a week.

Thank you for your assistance,
Leslie

Answer
Hi Leslie,

Getting her desensitized to loud noises is as simple as using a CD.  :)  This is a great one:

http://www.victoriastilwell.com/shop

Basically you play it at a low volume in the background and gradually (day by day or week by week) turn up the volume.

How many workers/men in blue uniform does she see beyond the people that were at your house?

You can start letting her out of the crate whenever you like.  You do it slowly the same way you train them to go in.  Each day, leave her out of the crate and leave the house for 5 minutes.  Don't announce your departure and don't make a fuss when you come back in.  Completely ignore her for about 5 minutes when you re-enter...no eye contact, no touching, no speaking.  When you do acknowledge her, keep it low-key.

If after a week, she's doing good with 5 minutes, double it for a week.  The next week, double that and so on.  Once you get to 40 minutes, start adding 20 to your time rather than doubling.  At 60 minutes, add 30.  At 90 minutes, add 30.  Once you've hit about 2 hours you're pretty safe leaving her home.  Most dogs misbehave within the first 20-30 minutes of being left alone.  If, at any point, she becomes destructive, urinates, etc., revert back to the period of time she did well with for a week and then start building back up.