Our 2 year old GSD Lenco loves his crate. He is fed in it, chews on his bones in it, sleeps in it and is in it when left alone. Lenco will even go into it and settle when the door is open. We wanted to teach him to be comfortable in his kennel because all of our dogs spend time in theirs to keep order in our home.

My problem is, when Lenco is in the kennel, he will not allow any of our other 3 dogs that may be out to pass by without a lunge, snarl and growl. He is great with people going by, reaching into it and taking items out,or putting items in. He will even allow the other dogs to lie in his crate when he is not in it. However, he does not want them near it when he occupies it, even if the door is not closed. Two of the other dogs now sit by the doorway and whine, refusing to pass by and enter into the adjacent livingroom (this room is a connecting room between our livingroom and kitchen). Our senior dog, does not pay any attention to Lenco and walks on by.

Some of my fellow trainers have suggested teaching Lenco that the crate is ours, not his. So, every time he does this behavior, he is immediately removed from the kennel and the door closed, forcing him to stay out. He will then paw and chew at the door attempting to get back in. We also try not to leave the kennel door open when he is out and about so the only time he enters is when we tell him to.

We covered the crate with a blanket, but that is not always practical or successful. The crate is located in the dining room area (now our dog area) where Lenco can see what we are doing. It is about 6 feet away from the doorway that leads into the room. Non of my previous dogs have done this when they are in their crates.

Lenco also does this in the training room when I am teaching class if another other dog comes anywhere near the kennel where he is confined.

What are your thoughts on this? Ahould I be concerned? If so, can you offer any other suggestions on handling it?

IMHO, I would move the crate so that the dogs can pass through but Lenco can still see what is going on. Is there a less traveled path in the dining room where the others can pass and not be so close???

When dogs are in their crates they most likely will feel vulnerable when other animals approach as they have no other choice. Flight or fight kicks in and since they cannot flee, they have no choice but to fight.
I would never take that away from them by teaching them the crate is mine. The crate is the one thing that they have that is theirs to do what they wish in....chew, sleep or just relax.

My Mal is the same way when crated in the house. So her crate is "out of the way" of the "pathways" of the other dogs, but she can still see what is going on. If one of my dogs goes near her crate, she gets a bit snarky, but the dog that approached is the one told to leave. My dogs do not approach each others crates very often because they have been taught not to.

Hi Linda. Our male GSD started showing some of the behaviors inside the crate fairly recently. He is just now 2.5 years old, so several behaviors are changing as he is maturing. Our philosophy here (4 dogs) is like Carol described - their crates are essentially "their" space.

Rather than correct the ruccus as other dogs pass him, we simply moved him to the end of the row where there is less traffic. Problem solved, at least for us.

Beth

Completely agree w/Beth and Carol here. There is no (good) reason IMO, to make him think the crate is yours. What IS his, if not his crate? Just like I think dogs should be fed and left alone, I think you need to allow him his "den" ownership. If he's growling and snarling at YOU, well, that's another story altogether.

I just moved my dominant male GSD into a 10x6 kennel (complete w/carpeting and crate) in my garage, and he has been sooo much happier and less argumentative with the other dogs in passing lately. I think it's a direct result of having a place that NO ONE else ever enters. I'm not going to change his possessiveness (I can CONTROL it; but I can't change his desire to be this way), so since he's never the slightest bit aggressive toward me, why not allow him this one little quirk? He's very kennel aggressive inside a crate usually, but much less so in this kennel. He happily ends his outside sessions on his own and trots right back into his kennel. I couldn't have hoped this would work out better than it has. He gets edgy when forced to share anything, and although such is life sometimes, he's much more pleasant as king of his chain link domain.

Perhaps you could just move his crate further out of the traveled path as suggested, and be diligent that it stays HIS crate, and not let others enter it? That way, he might be less inclined to control the situation on his own. Just a thought about what worked for me.

As an afterthought- Keep in mind that (with all due respect) most trainers are used to dealing with PETS, and while there are aggressive pets, many (if not most) are this way because of some conditioned response-not pure genetics. Some of their ideas that usually work just fine are NOT going to work on a determined, dominant, territorial dog, or in other words, a somewhat typical working dog. I definitely would NOT worry about it if it's the only issue you're having with him. The time frame tells me it's genetic, and releated to maturity, not the result of something you've done...so the common "fixes" of most pet trainers just ain't gonna do the trick . While your average person would probably think your dog has "issues," you're in good company here!

Edited by Jenni Williams (06/17/2007 12:39 PM)
Edit reason: afterthought...

 Quote: linda campbell

Some of my fellow trainers have suggested teaching Lenco that the crate is ours, not his. So, every time he does this behavior, he is immediately removed from the kennel and the door closed, forcing him to stay out. He will then paw and chew at the door attempting to get back in. We also try not to leave the kennel door open when he is out and about so the only time he enters is when we tell him to.

I have to add here that this is teaching Lenco that he has NO space of his own. Even though we are the pack leader, dogs do need their own space. Not having somewhere to get away from things when he chooses could really create more problems that just a little snark while a dog passes.
I would stop this "training" method immediately.

 Quote: linda campbell

Lenco also does this in the training room when I am teaching class if another other dog comes anywhere near the kennel where he is confined.

I did not see this previously.....Why is the dog crated in a room full of strange dogs while a class is being taught?
Confined is the key word, Lenco is confined to a small space with a bunch of dogs and I can probably guarantee you that this is making him nervous and therefore causes him to lash out. When I train, my dogs are kept in crates but they are either in the vehicle or in another area away from training. There is absolutely no reason to keep him in the same room with all those dogs, activity and stimulation that he cannot participate in. That drives my dogs bonkers......they want to work, so keeping them in view of training is too much stimulation for them.

I totally, 100% agree with the recommendation to leave them alone with their food. Once our dogs are given their food (always in their respective crates) it is THEIR food.

They need to feel confident about certain things IMO, as a balance to the things we teach them they are NOT in charge of. ( and IMO they need to feel confident about what they are NOT in charge of too....consistency) Taking everything away would in my eyes, create a dog who can't be confident about much of anything. (not a dog I want)

Beth