Growling and biting once in the kennel

[lsutter]

Our Corgi walks into his kennel happily on his own, then as we start to shut the kennel door, he growls, bares his teeth and lurches towards the door as if he is going to bite our hands as we attempt to lock the door. What can we do? It seems to be a learned behavior. A squirt bottle has not worked so far. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[darci]

Have you tried giving him a treat to go into the crate and if he turns to growl and bite you as you close the door use a can with pennies in it shake it loud and say no.

[corgimom]

I am with Cindy on this,

I have always given Cody a treat when I need to put him in the kennel. As soon as he sees me get the treat, he will go "diving" into his crate(it is quite cute) and then peek his head out to see if I am really coming there to give it to him. It is usually just a mini puppy bone - but he has never growled when I shut the door; he just lays down.

I would also do the soda can idea - it worked with my dog when he was chasing the cats(but he was not baring teeth or growling, but was chasing them to play) so try the can just for that behavior. if he growls, I would shake the can immediately and say "no" (like Darci said)- I know in puppy class last night the instructor said to not say "no" for behavior correction unless it was the utmost emergency - She had suggested using the word "enough" for a bad behavior like that, so I am not sure if no would qualify, but growling and showing his teeth at you doesn't sound like a pleasnt thing.

It may take much more than the ideas that Darci and I suggested. Do you know what caused him to act like this?

linda

[Michael Romanos]

Isutter's Corgi is most likely telling his owners in no uncertain terms, that the kennel is not the place he wants to be. Are there no alternatives? How long and how many times during a 24 hour day is he confined to the kennel? When you let him out of the kennel what are the most usual things he does at the onset. Does he have playthings and chewy things in the kennel and does he play with them or chew on them or usually leave them all alone?

[corgimom]

Michael,

You did ask some important questions regarding how long is the Corgi in the
crate, etc. and is there an alternative; however, the dog is growling and
baring his teeth and lurching at the door as if he wants to bite the owners.
The owners have to be in charge and this dog should not be doing this
behavior at his owners - hopefully this dog is getting other creative outlets
for his energy and positive reinforcement, but that behavior should not
be acceptable by his owners for putting him in a crate -

He didn't mention how old the dog is - maybe putting him in a bathroom behind a baby gate would work better.

Linda

[lsutter]

The amount of time in the crate is not an issue. He takes a long walk each day and has many toys and loves his rawhide. He used to stay in the laundry room, but chewed through the door! He seems to like his crate, especially when there are storms in the area or too many visitors at the house. This seems to be an issue that involves food or the anticipation of getting a treat once in the kennel. He will growl and snarl if you are too close to him when he is ready to eat his food too.

We are caring dog owners! We just can't figure out this behavior and what to do about it. We feel it is unacceptable.

[corgimom]

Isutter,

I am sure you are caring owners. I remember when Cody was about four and a half months old and I bought him this yummy bone and when anyone in our family reached for it, he barked at us and was somewhat aggressive about that. I put a stop to that immediately and scolded him right away for that behavior. I then had everyone in our family sit next to him and offer him that same bone as we held onto one end while he chewed the other and we petted him and told him he was a good boy. We touched the bone while he chewed on it so he would understand that it was okay for us to do that. and we also always stuck our hands into his food bowl when we fed him his meals - I just would not tolerate that behavior regarding aggressiveness with food. We can now come up to Cody when he is eating at any time, treats or meals, and take his food away, touch it, or pet him without any aggressiveness at all.

I wonder if you sat on the floor with your Corgi and tried the same thing with his food or treats if that would work or would he get upset about it? ; hold them at the same time he chewed on them, saying positive things, would he get upset?-hOW OLD is your dog and was he a RESCUE?

You say he chewed through a door - you mean a wood door?!! or did you
mean a baby gate? I don't think putting a Corgi in a laundry room and
then closing the door so he cannot see out is a good thing, I would think
that would make any dog sort of anxious - so a baby gate may work or
would he chew through that also?

I will say that I corrected Cody the very first time he did this so it did
not become a problem. You did not mention how long your dog has
been doing this, so solving this issue with your dog may not be so simple
as to what I suggested.

Linda

[darci]

Linda has given you some very good advice regarding his aggression with food, this is something you will want to stop now and let him know that you are in charge.

[Michael Romanos]

Isutter - Does your Corgi growl and snarl in any other circumstances? Can you and anyone play and pick up and fondle etc him to the fullest extent without any concern whatsoever? Is he around lots of people and other amimals and is perfectly happy. If yes to all these things, then it is the confinement in a small space, a caged like situation, he does not like. If he is also showing signs of a poor level of tolerance in other circumstances, you and him need to confer with an animal behaviourist to see if that person can nut out the problem and fix it quickly before it becomes an obsession and a way of life that gets more difficult to allay as time marches on.

[glencorgi]

Originally Posted by lsutter

The amount of time in the crate is not an issue. He takes a long walk each day and has many toys and loves his rawhide. He used to stay in the laundry room, but chewed through the door! He seems to like his crate, especially when there are storms in the area or too many visitors at the house. This seems to be an issue that involves food or the anticipation of getting a treat once in the kennel. He will growl and snarl if you are too close to him when he is ready to eat his food too.

We are caring dog owners! We just can't figure out this behavior and what to do about it. We feel it is unacceptable.

You are absolutely right, this is unacceptable behavior. Crate guarding is not a real good thing, nor is growling and snarling over his food - these fall into resource guarding. Chewing through the laundry room door sounds like there might be some separation anxiety going on too. One thing I'd recommend is put him on Nothing In Life is Free (NILF).
<http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/nothingfree.htm>
<http://www.samoyedrescue.com/nilif.htm>
<http://www.k9station.com/NILIF.htm>

I'd also start hand feeding him his meals. How is he with the crate door open?

I agree an animal behaviorist "should" be a good idea, however, some the advice I've heard from some lately falls within the realm of the absurd. IF you get a good one, then they are great. A good in home trainer would also be a good idea.

Debbie

[darci]

Isutter,

How is your corgi doing ???
Hope the crate is going better as well as his food issues.

[lsutter]

Originally Posted by darci

Isutter,

How is your corgi doing ???
Hope the crate is going better as well as his food issues.

No real improvement so far. Every once in awhile, it seems he is growling a bit less, and then the next time it is just as bad as always. We are stumped.

[Michael Romanos]

Isutter - it is more than a little difficult to assist if you are unable to answer questions I posed in two of my posts.