I compete at agility trials with my 7-year-old English Springer Spaniel, Tessie. She's a fantastic dog and does really well, however, this dog is incapable of shutting up in the crate!

We are entering our third season of trialing. Any time she is -locked- in her crate (if the door is open she is fine) she will whine. If you are unfamiliar with Springers, they have a very distinctive whine, similar to a bird call. I know this sometimes bothers people (not dogs) who crate near me at practice or at shows. She doesn't need water or need to potty. Covering the crate generally doesn't help, but if she's really tired, I do notice that she'll "take the hint" and shut up and sleep, especially if she's in the car with her crate covered. She will whine no matter where the crate is: in the car, at practice, at a trial. She has never gotten carsick before and the motion is not the problem. (She will whine in the car even outside of the crate, however, not as persistantly.)

I have tried shouting, rattling the crate, saying "no", clicking when she is silent for a second or two, and completely ignoring it. Giving her a kong or similar toy works, but only until the food is gone. She is incredibly food-oriented, doesn't care much for toys. A friend of mine suggested she whines to calm herself -- a possibility.

Right now, I am clicker training her to lay on her dog bed (sans crate) silently, with jackpots for having her head on the bed or on her paws. I found a good site that outlines clicker training the whole crating process, so I'm just going to try to play it like the crate is a new thing.

If this doesn't work, does anyone have any suggestions? Sedatives are out of the question as I need her to perform shortly after a car ride. Giving her a constant stream of Kongs won't work as I don't want her running on a full stomach or gaining weight. I've heard of some aromatherapy/pheromone products specifically to calm anxious dogs, but they are a bit on the expensive side and am curious to hear reviews before I purchase them.

if you think it might be generalized anxiety or something similar you might try some homeopathic remedies such as Rescue Remedy.

But, I wouldn't worry about the people around you at shows or class. They should be used to dog noise.

I gave one of mine Valerian root...it's not a sedative, but it apparently calms nerves. I couldn't tell whether or not it worked because he behaved normally...and there's a chance he was just having a normal day.

I know of the great success some have had on horses with Rescue Remedy -- horses with trailering issues, etc. I'm assuming I can get it at any herb farm? There are a few in my general area that sell dried and fresh herbs and other home-grown cooking/'wellness' supplies.

Heather, do you think Valerian root would affect her performance? That's the only thing I'm concerned about, otherwise I'm more than willing to try it.

And Elaine... the thing is, Tessie's noise isn't exactly "dog noise". She sounds more like a loud seizuring songbird than a dog. It's very bizzare. Springer voices are very distinctive (I can tell a Springer bark from any other bark, even in a dog show setting, even when it's not my dog) and this whine is like no other! I wish I could record it so you could see what it's like. It's a conversation starter if nothing else.

I'm not sure if the valerian root would affect performance or not, but I know that it's one of the few things you can take for nervousnouss that you can still legally drive with. You may want to test it during a practice session before using it at a trial. I can't really vouch for it because I haven't used it enough to be familiar with how it works - but if you can't find anything else to do the trick you could try it out.

I've only used it a few times, and as I said, I wasn't sure if it was successful or my dog was just having a good day. Either way, he certainly wasn't drowsy or more laidback by any means - he just stopped the whimpering and nervous pacing.