Hi everyone,

By way of introduction to this topic, I have one spayed 3-year-old Australian Shepherd bitch who is about 55 lbs. I also am a volunteer foster home and normally have one foster at a time.

I have recently acquired a new foster dog, a Catahoula cross 1-year-old intact (but not for long) bitch who is about 45 lbs.

I have been following the advice in Ed's article about introducing a new dog into a home with existing dogs. This method has always worked well for me, except now.

In the article, Ed states that he puts the new dog in a crate and lets his house dogs sniff the new dog through the crate. He has a prong or dominant dog collar on the house dogs and a drag line. If the house dog(s) growl at the new dog, he gives the house dog a correction.

However, he does not state what you should do if it is the new dog (i.e. the crated dog) doing the growling.

My new dog has two crates, one in the dining room where she sleeps and one in the living room so she can be with "the pack" while we relax in the evenings. When my dog walks past the new dog's crate, (either one) the new dog will growl and/or snap at my dog. Currently when she does this I run up to the crate saying "NO, bad dog!" and hit the bars with my open hand. The new dog "Lucy" will stop growling but I don't think it is an effective correction since she will do it again the next time.

I should mention they have had limited short exposure to each other in the yard, on lead, and the new dog will then act submissive to my dog. It is only when she is in her crate that she acts like this. There are 2 chew toys in her crate but no food. She does not react near the same chew toys when they are both outside together.

My dog seems to accept the new dog just fine (I think she is getting use to having new pack members all the time) but I don't know what to think or do about this new dog.

If I have to keep them separated for good I will, even though they do play together outside, but I WILL NOT tolerate aggressive behaviour while in the crate. How should I correct this?

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but, IMHO, correcting by yelling at the dog and hitting the bars is probably not something that would be recommended. I know that I would not do it that way. I have seen people run up and yell "Fooey" and bang the crate only to have the dog continue the behavior.

I hear the "oh, my dog won't do that because I have put the fear into him/her that I will kill him/her if they do it" and in my opinion, this only creates unpredictability in the dog.

The crate is the dogs "haven", "safe place", "rest area", "toy chewing" "happy place".

What about an e-collar?

Have you introduced them on-lead yet? I would venture to guess that the dog is growling because she is feeling "trapped" when the other dogs walk by. There is no where for her to go to "get away" so she chooses her fight instinct to say "get away from me, I am really uncomfortable in this position".

No, Carol, you're right. Hitting the bars is a ridiculous way to try to stop aggressive behavior. I can't be of much help, though, unfortunately, because I have one who has done this his whole life. I admit I don't really care that he's kennel-aggressive, because he's fine once you let him out. I just chalk it up to territorial aggression/dominance, and accept it. The crate is his; he should be left in peace there. It's kinda like those people who think you need to steal a dog's food 5 times per meal and then wonder why he's aggressive....

If it's a big deal to you, Angela, could you try an e-collar or prong with a leash sticking out of the crate so you could correct? I know mine would have a fit if someone hit his crate while he was worked up like that. Bad idea, IMHO.

Yes I realize the method I used isn't exactly ideal... (or to put it less nicely as Jenni said "ridiculous") but it was my knee-jerk reaction to one dog growling and snapping at another dog. Since she was in the crate I really had no way of correcting her other than this.

I cannot use an e-collar on this dog. I thought of using a prong collar with a leash but she chews on the leash.

I didn't think of her feeling insecure/trapped because she is a medium dog in a large crate. The first time she growled at my dog, she was in her "bedtime" crate which is covered over the back half, she did not retreat into the covered part. So she may be feeling insecure, I don't know, but she did not back up or away from my dog who was standing behind me.

The second incident we were in the living room and she was in an even bigger crate (she can stretch out along the width of the crate). My dog had left the living room to get a drink of water and as she was trying to come back in to the room, the crated dog snarled at her, it was unprovoked. My dog then did not want to enter the room but she did when I was standing between her and the crate, and asked her to enter.

The only other think I can think of doing other than yelling is to squirt her with a water bottle. I have never done this to a dog and don't know if it would work. Would this also increase her insecurity?

She did one time snap at my dog when we were coming up the stairs after being out in the yard, my dog went to pass her on the stairway and Lucy snapped at her. That is the only occasion she has shown any dominance or aggression outside of the crate. At all other times she seems to be submissive to my dog, Emma, by licking at her mouth and putting up a front paw and laying her ears back.

The dogs are kept separated by having Lucy the new dog crated during the day and Emma loose. I take them outside separately and together (supervised, with Lucy on-lead).

Thanks for any insight on what I can do to curb this crate aggression.

Does she have toys in her crate(s). My Mal will do this when she has her toys or a meaty bone.
She also will do it if another dog approaches the vehicle. I don't really do anything other than say "STOP", not yelling it, or saying it very loudly, I just say it with confidence and meaning. She usually gets the point and settles back down.
The one thing I really watch is my other dogs approaching each others crates. This is a "no-no" in my house. (unless it is introduction phase where there is a new dog)

After everyone has been introduced, then they stay away from each others crates.

Hi Carol thanks for the reply.

Yes she has 2 chew toys in her crate. However she has not growled while she is chewing on the toy. It is strange. last night she was chewing on her favourite bone, Emma walked by and she had no reaction, just continued chewing. Also if she has these toys while out of the crate she does not growl. I feel she is guarding the crate itself rather than the toys, if that makes sense.

My dog Emma does not generally approach Lucy's crate, she was walking past it. Even if she did approach it, the crate is large enough that Lucy can move over if she feels uncomfortable. Last night Emma walked past several times and we did not have any incidents at all. So I am a little confused.

I want to get the message to Lucy that aggressive behaviour is not permitted. I have only had this dog 6 days so, they are still getting used to each other but Emma ignores Lucy in the house. The few times they are out together supervised, with Lucy on leash, either dog will initiate play time. In fact they play very nicely together. They are never both out unsupervised.

I think, and I could be wrong, that Lucy just needs to understand that aggressive behaviour is NOT allowed. She is new so she probably does not understand her rank in the pack yet. I am following Ed's articles on introducing a new dog, and the groundwork article, but they don't say anything about how to correct a dog inside a crate.

Thanks again

I would say that a little progress is being made if she is not growling everytime now. AND, the dog has only been with you for 6 days. She is in an adjustment period and her behavior is what I would consider absolutely normal. I would give her some more time to get used to everything and "find her place" in your pack.

I would either 1. ignore it or 2. just say a "quiet" or "stop" command and see what happens.

My Mal does not growl very much while chewing her toys either, but just having them in there makes her growl and "protect" them from the other dogs if they break the rules and approach.