[theavner]

My husband and I have two dogs-a 9 month old mutt (we think terrier/beagle) and an 8 month old pointer/rat terrier mix.

The 9 month old still hates her crate. We have had her for six months and have been crate training her the whole time! We entice her with toys and treats, and she will nap and play in the crate as long as the door isn't locked. Once the door shuts her in, she goes berserk! She barks, paws at the door and even throws her body against the crate so hard that it actually moves across the floor. We tried covering the crate with a blanket, but she managed to pull it through the holes and destroy it. We tried keeping her in our room so she knew we were nearby, but she's actually gotten a little better by being in a different room. We even tried to give her an old towel to lay on that smelled like one of us, but that was ripped to shreds. Her behavior can go on for up to an hour! We cut off her water at 7:30 and stick to a rigid daily schedule with both of our dogs. Is there anything else we can do to make her want to lay down to sleep in her crate at night?

Also, the 8 month old won't sleep through the night anymore. She had been doing fairly well for a while, but lately, she is up at all hours of the night. She started by just whimpering a little for up to an hour at a time. Now she is full out howling and pawing at the crate door and we can't get any sleep! We know she can "hold it", and we don't want to encourage our dogs bad behavior so we ignore it, but we are losing sleep! She also has a problem with peeing whenever she gets frightened or overly excited. For some reason, whenever she sees me, her tail starts to wag frantically and she pees... in her crate, on the carpet, on the couch... What can we do to end this behavior?

Please help!

[tickle]

When my walker hound was brought home at five weeks I didn't see any other option, after trying different methods, but a crate and a friend was kind enough to lend me one. She is a pretty smart cook and nine years old now and not at the same location, but the door open was the only way she would be happy and content and would just go in herself and sleep. After she was asleep, and had to go shopping, I would just gently close the crate door.

I know you say what is my point, just some input into dogs and crates and I am sure you will receive some excellent advice from labman if he happens to see your post. Good luck.
I don't necessarily go along with crating any longer as I don't see the need if the dog is trained properly and I know it is really initiating tough love in some cases. My dad trained his dogs well and I learned from him. He never used crates, so I am from the old school.

[labman]

One can debate whether you need to crate a dog or not. What I think is certain that if you choose to, the dog needs to accept it. I think both dogs need stronger leadership. The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at Raising Your Dog with the Monks of New Skete For more on being top dog, see Establishing and Keeping Alpha Position, Letting your dog know you are the boss

Are both dogs spayed? Doing so makes most behavior problems easier to solve. The 8 month old's change in behavior could be a result of increased hormone production leading up to the start of her season. If so, I would immediately have her spayed if the vet doesn't say you must put it off until after her season.

Usually confidence building helps the submissive wetting. Play tug of war with the dog and lose. However at the end of the game, take the rope or toy and put it up, less the dog becomes confused about who is top dog. Ropes from the pets' store quickly turn to hazardous shreds. Ones I made lasted much better. Go to a hardware or home center that sells rope by the foot. Buy 2' of 3/4" poly rope. Melt the ends, and tie knots in it. Get them as tight as possible, put it in a vise and pound it with a hammer. Watch carefully, and be ready to discard when it comes apart. The obedience training and crating should help the problem too.