# Issues with crate training--excessive drooling



## ramonapants (Jun 12, 2013)

I have a 7 month old mutt (I'm guessing australian terrier/standard dachshund mix). My partner and I got her from the humane society at 4 months old. We are her third legitimate home. A week after we adopted her our landlord had a freak out and we had to move her into a temporary foster home where she stayed (with all of her things and things that smelled like us--along with weekly visits) for one month. We were able to get her back after that but had moved into a new apartment. Since we have been here it has been nothing but trouble when we leave her in our apartment by herself. She has always had the same crate and we have always kept the same things in her crate since we've had her--a felt blanket, a towel that we had used, and at least 2 stimulating chew toys. It used to be that she would just whine in her crate but it has gotten increasingly more troublesome in the recent month.

Our neighbor had complained to our current landlord that our puppy was barking all day and being disruptive. Around that time we had also started to notice that she was drooling excessively whenever she was in her crate while we were gone. Originally it just looked like she was chewing on her crate door which would soak not only the front of her crate but also the carpeting underneath her crate. When we noticed this, I thought I would try an herbal supplement to help ease some of her apparent anxiety (it's a GNC Pets calming tablet--she gets 2 tablets with food about 30 minutes before we plan on leaving so that they will have started to kick in a little bit). Although that seemed to have helped a little bit--she still got worse. Since she had started the excessive drooling we have had to move her crate into the kitchen (less than 7 feet from her crates original position) and her drooling and whining/barking problem has exploded. Most recently, my partner went to the gym for 45 minutes so the puppy was in her crate. My partner came back to Ramona 100% soaked in her own drool standing in a lake of her own drool at the bottom of her kennel as well as there being a lake of drool underneath her kennel. 

We are taking Ramona to the vet on Thursday morning to see what insight the vet may have but I was curious to see if anyone else had experienced an issue similar to hers and what solutions they've found to have helped the issue.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

To me it sounds like she has separation anxiety or something similar.

Here's a thread on SA from this forum: http://www.dogforums.com/dog-training-forum/60390-separation-anxiety-whats-whys.html


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

That sounds like real anxiety. Some barking is normal but drooling excessively and constant barking is not. 

Do you have a space that could be turned into a "dog safe" room? Of course, nothing is completely dog proof, but a space with tile or vinyl floors and no dangerous items in reach (no electrical wires, no chemicals or cleaners, no small objects etc). Put a baby gate across the door way of this room to make it feel more open. If her anxiety is based more on being in the crate rather than being alone, this may help quite a lot.

Exercise before being left alone helps, but isn't usually the whole solution for that level of anxiety. It can be the whole solution for just boredom barkers though.

I recently had a stray for the weekend and she was panicked at the crate the first night, puddles of drool and screaming, but when I let her stay loose (alone) in the dog room, she slept quietly and calmly all night on the old couch and was fine during the day too. Another long term foster of mine was so-so in the crate but totally chill and happy in a dog room. Mine is a finished porch with a solid door (not a baby gate) but with several windows it feels large and open to the dogs. 

Medication is an option and it can help a lot, there are different choices that you can discuss with your vet. They don't dope a dog up, they just reduce the anxiety.


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## Macee s mom (May 3, 2013)

I have a 4 month ols puppy that does the same thing. And she soaks all the blankets and around the crate with drool 


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## ramonapants (Jun 12, 2013)

Unfortunately my apartment doesn't really allow for a space large enough for her in which she wouldn't be able to get into/destroy everything. 95% of my apartment is carpeted except for a very tiny kitchen and a very tiny bathroom. I work as a dog groomer and occasionally she comes to work with me and does fine in her kennel at work, just not at home. They are exactly the same size and although she is at home alone in one, she can mostly only see other dogs when she is in her crate at work with me. I am seeing her vet tomorrow morning and hopefully he will have more insight into her anxiety.


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## HollowHeaven (Feb 5, 2012)

As a dog groomer, how possible is it for you to bring her to work more often?


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## ramonapants (Jun 12, 2013)

Its all up to my manager-- for a short while Ramona would come to work with me on her longer days in her kennel at home (so Mondays and Tuesdays when she would be at home, alone, from 4pm-930pm) but my manager started to not like her coming to work with me so now I have to be very careful about how often she's there with me. Thankfully I have Thursdays and Fridays off and my girlfriend doesn't work on the weekends so she has 4 days a week where she can be with us all day if necessary. 

After her vet visit today, her dr prescribed her with an anti-anxiety drug to take daily as well as recommending an in-home dog behaviour specialist to come and evaluate her behaviour. Hopefully something will start to make a difference.


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