Problems in the crate

[burgertime]

Hey there this is my first time posting. I have rescue dog (he's healthy and has been to the vet outside of the shelter) and we've (my girlfriend and I) been using the tips on this website. He's between 7 and nine months old and is a Great Dane mix (or so the shelter says). I guess I have the usual problems, but trying to figure out the best way to work with my dog. We have his crate in our room and put him there at night. When we put him in, he immediately pants very loudly then works to a yelp then to full on barking. Now I have read you shouldn't discipline him in his crate however if I say to him "no" as soon as he barks he always stops, pants for a few minutes then lays down and becomes calm. However if I don't say "no" and just ignore him he continues to bark (usually around 20 minutes) and pant for up to an hour. We've also gotten a Kong toy and tried numerous treats including pork chops, sausage, cheese, treats and dog food. He doesn't even touch it while in the crate at night. During the day he will play with it in the crate if we are gone but at night it's a different story. We also feed him in the crate and I've tried to use positive reinforcement every time he is in the crate (treats, petting, etc.).

Another thing. We've had him almost 4 weeks. When we first got him he had no problems with the crate but gradually he has gotten worse and worse. Now he gets up in the middle of the night and yelps and pants.

Now I've read that the crate should be in a comfortable spot that he can go to at all times, is this true? Should we put his crate downstairs in the living room? Currently we have another bed downstairs and he lays there with no problem. It's also placed a few yards away where he can't see us. He doesn't have a problem which makes me think he doesn't have major issues with separation anxiety. My current theory is that by being in the room with my girlfriend and I he can see us and it's a break from his normal routine which is causing him to be so anxious. However my girlfriend is afraid if we introduce something new it could back fire on us.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

Hi Burgertime!

Certainly sounds like some sort of anxiety with the panting. What does he do if you leave the crate open and you close the door to the bedroom while you are on the bed. Will he settle on the floor or in the crate or will he try to get on the bed or get tour attention in anyway?

Also, just confirm how you are doing with the exercises in pack structure section of the website. Specifically the parts about petting and furniture and beds.

Will give us a point to start troubleshooting. Sometimes it is tricky when you don't know the dogs early history. He may have been a bed dog for instance before you adopted him, so the site of the bed with people sleeping on it may make him feel he is missing out on something he once experienced. Keep in touch.

[burgertime]

Hey Mike, thanks for the response. Shortly after I posted this my girlfriend and I decided to put the crate downstairs in the living room. This really helped a lot. The first couple of nights he would pant and bark a little bit but he has gotten a lot better. In fact he even will go to his crate now just to rest during the day and plays with his Kong toy in the crate. It was clearly an issue with our room. If we bring him in the room and close the door he paces and pants and won't settle until about an hour. He also will still pant a little bit if you close the crate door. However if you put him in the crate and give him the "stay" command he just plops down no problem. We've been working with him by closing the door and giving him a treat, then opening it and giving him some love inside the crate. It's helped.

Per your questions, we never allow Rolfe on the furniture. When we are away he has tried to get on the couch but playing "God" has helped stop that. Thankfully there is a little window in the kitchen so I can hang back there, spy and then stop as soon as the bad behavior starts. We also have kept his toys out of reach with only two special toys being for the crate. Another thing we've done is played with the toys ourselves for a few minutes, put them away and then play with him to try to convey that the toys are for play only when he wants them. We also practice the "release" and make him sit before he releases. He's been doing excellent. We also give him the sit command before leaving and entering the house and only allow him to come and go when he sits and stays.

The one other issue we are having is with him wanting to follow my girlfriend and I. For instance if I am sitting on the couch and she gets up, Rolfe will get up to follow her. Same thing with me, when one of us gets up he wants to follow. We've set up barriers and he's been very stubborn about it. Currently we put the training collar (pinch) back on him and are working to correct it but old habits are hard to break.

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

I would definitely say it sounds like an anxiety problem. The reason why I asked if he was on the furniture was mainly to see if he was used to a lot of physical contact with you when in the same room (which furniture dogs usually get). Some dogs get a type of separation anxiety that is worse when their owners are there but they can't physically have access to them.
In my experience it can be worse with dogs that are used to getting affection often and especially when they solicit (especially if raised like that when they were puppies). They can get sort of addicted to it. I also believe genetics plays a factor and some dogs are just more prone to being more "clingy".
Either way be sure to follow the "affection and petting rules" in the pack structure area. That isn't going to fix anything at this point but it can help the problem from getting worse and possibly slowly make things better. In addition, I wouldn't necessarily correct him for following you since following in general is a good thing - especially if he was off-leash outside. If it is at a point where it is annoying, the barriers do sound like a good idea to help break the habit. Also, doing a formal "place" command could help if one of you stays in the room while the other gets up. The "place" would be to give him a new habit while breaking the old one. Any behavior we want to change we have to remember to show the dog a more appropriate one - especially since the habit you are trying to break is a somewhat natural habit based on his instincts more than anything else.
I have seen a lot of German Shepherds act like this and assumed that some had to do with the herding instinct and wanting to keep everyone together. I had one extreme case, where even if he knew someone for only a few minutes, he would get stressed if they left the immediate area.
In a nutshell try to redirect him to a different behavior rather than let him think following in general is bad thing.

[burgertime]

Thanks Mike! In general he is a really good dog especially considering he was a rescue. We'll start putting your suggestions into place. Every day he gets better about the crate so that's good.