sweet_ceana Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 We took away crazy Ceana's crate the last week of September. We were hoping that by taking the crate away we would break her out of the habit of gaurding the crate. At first Ceana would get mad when the puppies got to go in a crate and she didn't. She would even hop in a puppy crate if the gates were left open. We began being deligent with keeping empty crates shut and not allowing Ceana around when the crate doors opened for the puppies. After about two weeks of no crates in Ceana's world we were able to leave the crate doors open for the pups. She would look at the crate longingly, and then *choose* not to go in and not to get snarly. We began to see an imporvement in her overall attitude. It seemed as if some of her anxiety was lifted. We also began feeding Ceana alone in our bedroom without the other 4 dogs around, while her food gaurding has imporved, it is still an area of anxiety for her. As of this evening Ceana is in a much improved mental state. She goes out front off leash without anxiety, and is not afraid of other people and dogs. She is overall happier and in a calmer mental state. I do not think we realized how much anxiety she was feeling until we started to eliminate stressers one by one. She does not even look or attempt to enter a crate. She has started eating her kibble slowly, and she is more relaxed around her bowl. She has felt anxiety at feeding time since she was 8 weeks old. I do not think we will be able to eliminate her anxiety completly, but hopefully we can bring it back down to a level that doesn't put her in an anxiety filled state when the food is not around. She is much more relaxed in general now. We will continue this experiment and see what else we can do to improve her mentality and quality of life. I am hopeful I with time and work she will go from crazy Ceana to content and mentally healthy Ceana. Maybe even jovial! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 I'm glad to see you and Ceana are making good progress. We are dealing with an aggression issue here (Celt and Dan) and every step in the right direction makes me hopeful that we will soon no longer have an issue, or at least will have it managed and controlled so that it is insignificant. Best wishes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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