A week ago, we adopted Ginger, a 6yro lab/shepherd mix who literally had been on the vet’s table, paw shaved for euthanasia. The vet refused to put her down as she was healthy and happy, so she was placed with a rescue group. Things are going well, with one significant exception: sleep.
Ginger has a metal crate. On her first night with us, we put the crate in our bedroom and she slept in there. She was silent the entire night. Repeat the second night. Sweet! …Third night, however, she begins whining. Then barking. Screw that–we have two small children, so we get enough sleep deprivation as it is, and we don’t want her waking them. So, we move the crate to hubby’s office (where our previous dog had slept). Poor girl barked and whined for maybe 40min, but eventually slept. Second night, she barked about 15min before eventually quieting. Progress! Until we woke up and saw she had somehow taken the handle off the top of the crate, and broken the plastic tray on the bottom of the crate into three large chunks. Still, it held her, so the next night we removed the tray and put her to bed. THat night, she barked and whined only 10min or so, and all was good. We thought.
Then came Friday night. Somehow, this 60lb dog bent the living crap out of her crate–enough to escape it–then somehow opened the sliding pocket door to the office and had free rein to the rest of the house. She ate all the cats’ food, cleaned (uggghh) the litter box, and at one point did her WOOFWOOFWOOF! thing giving chase to one of them. (The bigger cat is not afraid of her–most likely, he provoked her because he can.) We didn’t realize this until the next morning. 6’4" hubby needed pliers and a significant amount of upper body strength to return her crate to a functional shape–he repeatedly made his shock at her strength known.
Soooooo, last night we put the reshapened crate in our bedroom, this time with the door open. Maybe she’ll sleep in there. Nope. She went in for her treat, flopped down looking worried (and confused by the open door). Tail wagging, she trotted out then flopped down on the floor next to me and slept there. Well, fine, that’ll work. She just didn’t stay there, of course. Hubby was up more than once telling her to lie down as she walked around, tags jingling, sniffing and searching away.
4am, our harassing cats were playing the paws-under-the-door game, which set off Ginger’s big dog WOOFWOOFWOOF! Gahhhhhh. Once our hearts were back in our chests, we corrected the dog and shut the master bathroom door so the kitties could not tease the doggie.
Soooooo…now we’re at a loss when it comes to her sleeping arrangements. She can destroy her metal crate enough to get out of it. It’s too chilly to put her arthritic hips outside at night, not to mention a bit sad to separate her from her new pack like that. Any suggestions?? Only idea I have is to keep her in our bedroom, again, just closing off any access to kitties. Well, or we could let her run loose in the other wing of the house, shutting doors to the bedroom wing. This means kitties sleep with us, and also means kitties will likely put their paws under the doors at her again. Oof.
Another question: when I’m rubbing her belly or chest, she sometimes starts this strange growl-like sound. Her mouth is open and teeth visible when she makes it, but her lips aren’t curled and her body isn’t stiff. It seems like she’s wanting to play, but I’m not 100% certain it’s that and not some sort of discomfort or warning. Her previous owner said something about her making a sound they called her “purr” that seemed like a growl–that seems to be what this is, I’m just unsure what the sound is and what it means.
And now, I’m going to attempt a nap or something. Here’s hoping for no **WOOFWOOFWOOF! **startling me awake.
Auntie Pam, she isn’t new to the crate per se–but apparently, new to sleeping all night in it. I think sleeping in the room with us will work, eventually. We just all need to get used to each other–and block kitty access.
). However, spending a month at the shelter, locked in a cage all the time, seems to have made her neurotic about being in her crate. The previous owner said that since coming back, the barking when crated started. Apparently, the time spent at the shelter (which, again, did not go well for her) has created a bit of a complex about the crate. Poor dear!
