# Crying in crate at work!!! HELP



## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

Okay so my 8 month pup is coming on great. Behaviour at home and walks is good really. bit crazy on the recall sometimes but hey puppies will be distracted right.

I need help though! My wife has always taken Mac to work with her after I give him his morning walks but due to the fact that he is puppy he is in his crate for about three hours in the morning at her office and then she takes him for a run around in the fields next to her office then back in his crate for 4 hours still in the office before he goes home and gets another walk. This has always worked fine. The last couple of weeks though he has whined and cried and barked while in the crate! Never has before but suddenly he does this all day. Doesn't do this at night or if we leave him at home in his crate for the dog walker to come. It is now to the point to where my wife can't get on the phone and she can't work with him running around and getting into everything. Has anyone else had a similar situation. We feel like we have taken a step back! Why is he crying in his crate at the office but not at home???


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## polkan (Dec 29, 2011)

I would venture a guess - staying in the crate at home works because there's nothing going on and it's quiet. Your wife's office, on the other hand, is full of activity when compared to the home crate and it may be exciting him to a point where he simply feels frustrated with being isolated from all the "fun". 

Two ideas to consider:

- do something new during the morning walk that will task his mind/attention more: have him sit, stay, jump, down, etc. Since he's still growing, he has more energy now than he did several weeks ago.

- get him a chew toy or some other puzzle toy to focus on while he's in the office crate, and perhaps only use it in the office

I'm not sure if putting a portable radio next to the crate and/or covering two sides of the crate to reduce the exciting stimuli would work just because he already knows what great fun could be going on there, but you never know. 

But if various attempts to _refocus attention_ don't work, it may be better to start leaving him at home.


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

Thanks polkan.

He gets very stimulated walks. Full on runs in the woods and fields lots of recall work and sit stays. Also gets kongs and chews in the crate. Still cries though and doesn't settle when he finishes them. He also has the crate with a blanket over it as he does at home so I am fearing we are going to have to leave him at home. I hope not as he gets a longer walk if my wife doesn't have to travel back home as then some of his walking time is eaten up in her traveling back and forth. 

Hope other have some advice too.


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## polkan (Dec 29, 2011)

Is it possible to leash him to something in the office (a table leg?) so that he has room to move around and so doesn't get frustrated with being locked up, but still doesn't get in the way? Or is the office too small?


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

We could try that. The office is pretty big. It is only my wife there but he still doesn't seem to settle. We can try the leash him to the table option. 

Any other ideas welcome too everyone. We need many options.


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## kristen (Oct 18, 2011)

Unlike most V's, my little guy doesn't like being in his crate while people are near. Usually they are comforted by it, mine thinks that he's missing out on something fun.

For example, I was at home one day and needed to do some work, and couldn't focus attention on him. I tried him in his crate with me in the room, and he whined, cried, barked etc. I tried moving to the next room, but he could still hear me, and wouldn't settle. BUT when I went upstairs, to the other end of the house where he couldn't see or hear me, he settled down immediately and didn't make a peep.


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## Crazy Kian (Aug 10, 2009)

If the office space is big enough and she is the only person in the office, why not set up a play area for the pup. You can get one of those temporary fence enclosures and block a portion off for him to play and nap.
Then when your wife has a few minutes between calls and work she can play with him for a bit and interact or do some training.
Just a thought, good luck.


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## anne_wilcrest (Oct 20, 2011)

i take penny to work with me too, and cover her kennel (like at home) - which definitely helps - but have also found she is more easily agitated there than at home

the things i've found that help her be less bratty and more subdued for the work day:

- i used to exercise her at the office, right before putting her in the kennel for the work day- i've since found that if i can exercise her before leaving my side of town (an hour commute away) she can get her grumblies out in the car ride, and settle down, and after a short walk to the office (no running, built in bathroom break) she is more likely to be settled sooner once at work.

- i have a speaker attached to my computer and took one of them and put it right on top of her kennel, i've found she's often responding to changes in the room (me moving about, leaving the room, etc) and the music helps keep those inconsistencies harder for her to detect.

- (i'm sure you guys are already doing this) but if i'm not sure if she has to go out i'll let her out on leash and right back in, no play break, no sniffing about, nothing.
if i KNOW she doesn't have to go, and we haven't recently been out i just keep correcting her and trying to be firm/calm and do not let her out during her fussing, no matter how loud she gets. (during rough times i've sometimes had to adjust my schedule to let her "cry it out" before anyone else gets in - hello 6am arrival!) it's so hard to not let her win when my patience is running thin!

that said, we do take a walking lunch and at least one other play break where we play light-med intensity (let her fetch things, but no FULL SPEED play) 

if she's being calm after a break i will sometimes let her mill about for a little bit, but it's pretty hard for me to have her out at the office and not have her be too distracting - they are such smart little buggers, i don't think i could really focus and have her tied up, she would get into SOMETHING for sure. 

i'm going to follow this thread closely to see if there's any other things that might also help us.


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## polkan (Dec 29, 2011)

I spoke to a trainer friend of mine about this. She was in general not a big fan of the idea of a covered crate in the office. In her view a covered crate is more applicable to initial crate training to create a sense of security and calm, so the dog doesn't get distressed and panicked at separation.

If a dog is already well crate-trained, had its morning walk and ate, and is alert and awake, it may simply perceive the covered crate in the office as isolation/confinement akin to "sensory deprivation" (as opposed to safety and security) and get frustrated. 

She suggested a couple more ideas to consider/experiment with:

- an uncovered crate, but trying out various spots for placement (experimenting with letting the dog see the owner, or be close to owner's feet/chair, or have a view of what's going on in the "territory", etc). Personally, I'm not very sure about this because it's a bit counter-intuitive, but worth a try I suppose.

- play pen (as already mentioned in comments here)

- leashing the dog in a way that it can move around and lie down at owner's feet, so it won't feel excluded, but also able to go into the crate (to chew on a toy that's tied to the crate wall)

- if a dog isn't easily excitable by temperament, perhaps taking 2 minute breaks throughout the work day and do a quick round of obedience training exercises. 

Basically, experimenting with various things until you find what works for you and your dog. 

Overall though, she suggested to consider day care for the morning. If dogs there are active and playing (not lying around), your puppy might be really looking forward to a nap in the office in the afternoon and won't miss out on socialization, play and so on.


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

Does your dog know the "stay" command? Why not have the dog stay in the crate with the door open? That way the dog doesn't feel trapped, but is still staying out of trouble in the crate.


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

If your wife spends a lot of time on the phone, Mac may wonder why everyone gets attention except him. When Savannah gets extremely vocal, I'll wait for a break to ensure I don't reward the singing, then get up and play hall ball with her for about 5 minutes. Like Anne_Wilcrest said, no full speed play, but enough that she takes the edge off her energy while she is interacting specifically with me. Crazy Kian's post about a play area is also a good one.


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## anne_wilcrest (Oct 20, 2011)

Re: @polkan
Remember, we aren't talking about exercise - these are dogs that have already have an hour or more of exercise before the day begins, bathroom breaks, (probably) a walking lunch, and I think it's safe to assume another hour exercise + play time at the end of the work day...
We're just talking about how to keep them manageable in an environment that requires calm.

Is my goal, (and Mac's mom's, I'm sure) to have our V's rest on a doggie bed under our desks, sans kennel? Of course! 
But asking an 8 month old to do so without crating seems like a bit of a lofty goal to me. (Penny is 5mo)

And maybe my pup is especially unruly, but asking her to stay in her kennel on command (door open) for any length of time would be exhausting and frustrating for *both* of us. But this is a good suggestion for an in-between step. We will start working on for about a few seconds to a minute at a time.

_On a side note:_ we start out with her in the kennel uncovered, but when she vocalizes I put down one side, then another if she continues, and when calm will remove one, etc. It's just generally, a couple sides remain covered (and I do think she complains sometimes just so I'll "turn off the lights" and make it warmer in her den)

Personally, I cannot financially justify using a doggie daycare when I am allowed to bring her in.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

It sound sto me just like a bored V. Especially as it is an 8 month old puppy. For a puppy, being quiet in a crate for so long is a big chore. I wouldn't worry too much about it, just keep on with some of the methods suggested already and you will get there.

****, my dogs would go nuts being still in a crate for that amount of time. I don;t blame pup for vocalising his/her unhappiness with the situation. Especially when you are right there in front of them and are just sooooo tempting to play with!!  

I would tend to put pup on a longer lead attached to the crate, so it can wander around a little without inhibiting anyone in their work. See if that helps.


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## polkan (Dec 29, 2011)

Anne: No, of course it's not exercise, no argument from me there. I just think that if a dog gets visibly bored and starts expressing it, a quick break with a round of sits, downs, stays and so on, acts as a kind of an interrupter. Maybe this is a _really bad_ analogy on predicting boredom threshold (and God knows Vs can bore easily), but I still remember the rule to take a puppy out for potty every 40 mins or an hour preemptively. A dog walker who comes to the house at noon to take a crated dog for a quick walk serves the same purpose. 

From the handling standpoint, I define the challenge as finding a solution that deals with avoiding excessive confinement and frustration on the one hand and being able to focus on the work, on the other. 

To me, leashing a dog between the crate and yourself could be one way to find such a compromise: it reduces the frustration barking by a locked up dog and it gives you a couple of options in terms of redirecting her when she gets bored: a crate for chewing, a place by your feet and perhaps a middle point for something else. I guess it won't be an option to a lot of people because of the office size (I won't be able to do this in my own office without moving visitor chairs out of the way). 

But I think there's gotta be a way to think creatively and out of the box about it. Could a toy be tied to a chair with a rubber string so that it has some give, for an imitation of tug play? What's the worst thing that can happen from trying various things, apart from back to the locked crate?


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

We are going to try some of the suggestions. We have a meeting room that has a door that faces my wifes desk. It might be that putting Mac in that room with lots of toys and his crate with the door open and putting a stair gate up might be the answer. Also my wife said that every once in awhile then she go into the room and do a few quick sit, stay, spin rounds with him or quick tug game. Of course not in a response to crying but when he is being calm. If this doesn't work we will try the leashing to chair option with toys around.

A couple weeks ago he cried like mad when we put him in his crate at my mother in laws in order to eat our dinner. So halfway through the meal I let him out and he layed in the hall while we ate in the dinningroom so we do think this is his protest at being in the crate and being bored. It is though easier to get up from a meal to check on him then what my wife faces at work. Meals only last an hour where as work is multiply hours. She needs to be able to concentrate without constantly stopping him from getting into things. I am guessing we are in a situation now where he feels his a big boy but isn't acting like one yet.

Also love the idea of attaching a tug toy to a chair that is on wheels. We will put this in the meeting room too. 

Keep the ideas coming if you have more everyone, and thanks to those that have contributed thus far.


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

Just a quick update as I wanted those who were also looking for help here. So my wife put up a stair gate for Mac and put him the meeting room where the door faces her desk. 

He has done amazing thus far....fingers crossed!

She set him up with his favorite bed and loads of toys and it took a little while of him staring at her with puppy eyes but I think he has now settled into it. Has slept and played through out the day. I guess this was his way of saying "I'm a big boy now and don't need to be in this crate!" Hope he continues to settle into it.


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

I honestly think you are asking to much from the dog. I would suggest that he be left home by himself instead of bringing him to work. They are just not wired to be in a crate for hours while everything around them is happening. I think 15 minutes of being in a crate maybe too much when his "pack" is out and about in front of his nose.


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