My dog has worked out how to open his crate, can't be trusted not to chew the house up :(

[Marne]

We have used a crate since we got him as a pup last year, we only use it when we go out because if he's not in it he chews things up.

A few weeks ago a got home to find him out of his crate and asleep on the sofa, I then went to do the school run and left him out as a trial run, came home and he had chewed through the wires to my fish tank so we went back to crating and leaving him with a bone or kong to keep him busy! all was ok for a week or so but now he he is getting out every time I put him in, he manages to to the latches on both the doors on the cage by using his nose ( very clever but not great for me ), so I am leaving him out for the school run but I'm worried about leaving him for longer incase he chews through any wires or eats the furniture, I would love to get rid of the crate as it takes up a lot of room for something that's only used when we pop out but I don't think I can trust him. I can't put him in another room as my kitchen is used for a food business so no pets are allowed within 2 doors distance .

Is there anything else I can try and is there anyway of protecting the wires from being chewed?

We used the clips on the ends of a dog lead to close the crate flaps. Ours was a wire type crate.

TBH even if you put all wires/cables in conduit he would probably chew through that so the only answer is get wires out of reach ( not helpful) . My only other more useful suggestion is to get some long cable ties to use on the crate door to keep him in , not good from a safety POV but better for your sanity .

Padlock?

Definitely lead clips...I had to use lead rein clips on a stable door when I had a horse who learnt to let himself out. We arrived at stables early one morning to find him looking mighty pleased with himself and there were hundreds of hoofprints in a VERY tigjt circle around the owners daughters brand new Audi He didn't manage the clips!

We used a cheap carabiner to keep our dog's cage closed, when she learned how to open it.

If you're only crating him when you go out it's pretty obvious he's not going to want to be in there.

We used to do this with our dog but he could break out (even bending the metal bars of the cage!) so we stopped using the crate and trained him to be left without it. This was because we didn't want to put him in there for sleeping etc so we knew it wasn't going to work just for the times we wanted to go out.

You need to think about what's driving the behaviour, not just locking him up so he can't express it. Is it boredom, separation anxiety, puppy-chewiness? What is there for him to do when he's gone alone? What appropriate chew toys does he have? How long is he left for? Crates should be used as a 'safe place' or refuge where dogs relax and enjoy spending time - if he's breaking out he's telling you he's not happy being caged.

Turn the crate so the door is against the wall?

How would she get the dog in or out, Fucky?

Dandy, he sleeps in the crate during the day with the door open, he does suffer from separation anxiety due to issues when he was a pup (he was very poorly), he doesn't leave my side when I'm at home so hates being left alone. We do give him things to do in there, he has kongs, treat balls and bones to chew. I know he's not happy being crated but I cant risk him chewing through wires or eating the furniture (I don't trust him yet as it wasn't long ago he chewed through wires), he's only crated when I do the school run or when I go food shopping so he's never in there long, once I leave him he usually falls asleep until I get home (as I walk him before I go out).

I managed to go up to the school to watch the dd's school play this afternoon and left him out of the crate, I think its just building the trust, I would like to get rid of the crate but I'm just not sure about leaving him over an hour in case he does damage, I guess we can build the time up. We have another dog who is not crated (she's lazy and just sleeps)

Crates are unheard of here. Why on earth would you cage a dog?

There's loads of information on it if you google dippy. Works well for many dogs.

Where is "here" btw?

dippy Because many of us have open plan houses these days and can't restrict our dogs to an area where both they and our houses will be safe.

Replace the word crate with den if it worries you.

One of my dogs was a chewey land shark so the crate was a godsend, now the only time I get it out is for when fireworks are going on as it makes her feel safe. She's practically climbing in it before I can even get it up and she's 8 next month.

Reasons why I crate:
I have 2 dogs and I wouldn't risk leaving them both alone together.
We toilet trained using the crate ( took 3 days and was well worth it ).
I don't want my house chewed up or a electrocuted puppy.
He likes a place where he can go where he can have quite time and will happily sleep in there during the day with door left open.

I don't think using a crate is any more cruel than putting a child in a playpen or cot whilst you get on with house work or go for a bath, it's for there own safety and for the safety of your house.

We never planned on keeping the crate, we used it to toilet train, he then chose to sleep in there and is only shut in for a short time. He's still very young and still likes to chew ( that's the lab in him I think ) but he is getting much better so we will slowly build up the time he is left without the crate.

Thank you for the information. We live in South Africa (Durban) Sparkly. I think one of my dogs would like the crate idea - the other three would not. Our friends in London don't have animals, or didn't when we were there, hence the ignorance.

My other dog doesn't like the crate (we tried when she was a pup), its not for all dogs.