Crate Training gone VERY bad!

ShiroInu · 04-05-2011, 06:44 PM

I am still here feeling sorry for myself about my health problems and hiding from the world, BUT I wanted to share a story with you all about something that JUST happened with one of our mix breed puppies!

The pups are 10 weeks old now and doing really nicely. Sit, stay, come is going well.

I have two wire crates, one of which I have had since adopting the adult Boxer we had before Shiro in 2004. I am crate training the puppies as I did with Shiro when he came to me at 8 weeks, and smaller than the pups are now.

This evening one of the puppies in a crate began SCREAMING! I ran to the crate and Idgie had one back leg caught through the wire. Her entire leg from her "knee" to her foot was trapped and sticking out the other side of the crate, and her body was twisted as she struggled to free herself. She was in a panic.

Since childhood I was taught to be very cautions with a dog that is in pain and frightened, but I was so scared that Idgie would break her leg that I reached right in to try to put her body back into a position where I could get her leg out of the wire without injuring her.

She bit the hell out of me and peed all over herself, but I was able to untwist her body and get her leg out without hurting her. She was still terrified so we cuddled for a long time in a rocking chair.

I have NEVER had anything like this happen before, and now I am worried about leaving dogs alone in a wire crate!

Has anyone here ever had a dog injured in a wire crate? The wire crates I have are all large and have the partition wire to adjust as pups grow larger.

Annie · 04-05-2011, 07:34 PM

ohhhhh poor thing! how traumatic for her, is her leg sore? i haven't had anything like that happen with newman, and hes the first dog i have ever had in a crate....sorry i am no help!
on a side note they are very pretty pups

Spyglass Sally · 04-05-2011, 07:38 PM

That sounds like an awful experience!!! It reminds me of a time years ago when one of our dogs was in the bathroom with the kids and somehow backed into the door as they were closing it. His tail got caught in the hinge and, just as you say, he screamed! I felt horrible every time I thought of it for months afterward - really until I made myself stop thinking about it. I'm so glad you could cuddle in the rocking chair later and reassure her.

We have a wire cage too and it seems about a year ago there was some talk about just this thing. I know that some of the cage cushions have a bumper on them so the dog's leg can't easily go out and get caught. This has never happened to us, but I can see with a young dog where it could.

Those are such cute pictures! I love them!!! What beautiful dogs!

ShiroInu · 04-05-2011, 08:21 PM

Thanks for the puppy cuteness compliments Annie and Sally! Idgie seems to be doing fine, thanks Annie.

Both she and LG napped for a long time after Idg's bad experience. Thank goodness I was home!

I found some old posts on a German Shepherd Dog forum about wire vs plastic. A couple of people have had similar experiences, one resulting in a broken leg. I think I am going to have to look into finding some extra large plastic crates. The forum lists a few links to sites with super large plastic crates.

Scooby · 04-05-2011, 08:32 PM

Poor little pup! They are just adorable by the way.
I'd think her leg got stuck because she's still young and so small! I'm not sure how big GWP grow, but I'm sure once she gets bigger, her leg getting stuck in a crate opening won't be a problem. We can hope!

purplelori · 04-05-2011, 10:13 PM

Oh how horrible--both for you and Idgie! Glad she seems to be doing ok. Have you tried to have her go back in the crate? (Sort of getting back on the horse who bucked you off?) We've always used a plastic crate for Wally--which we got at BiMart here in Portland. One thing you might want to keep in mind that I learned when ordering on line--different brands are different measurements for the same 'size'!! I ordered a new crate for him without realizing this fact, and ended up with one exactly the size we already had! And to ship it back would have cost more than the crate! Luckily, our groomer took it in trade for a bath, so it worked out all right.
I do hope she's ok, maybe you could tie some bumpers around the bottom of the crate to shield the wires---or even a beach towel or something. They are such pretty pups!

Marylou Mader · 04-06-2011, 06:44 AM

This is the drawback to certain wire crates, we have a couple of crates that are wire, but they are a wire mesh and the legs can't get caught at all.

Airline, or plastic crates are safe for this purpose but we don't like the lack of ventilation.

Hoping you are healing up, I know how painful bites are.

Main thing, the pup is ok, poor baby, I love their position on the pic, they look like a kalidescope ha ha ha

ShiroInu · 04-06-2011, 08:09 AM

Ya'll are SO sweet! Thanks for the suggestions and kind words.

Idgie has gone back in the crate on her own, but I am not going to leave either pup in a wire crate until they are bigger after yesterday. Padding and linings are a GREAT idea, but we have Shiro, the Big White Alligator Mouth Dog whose goal in life is to destroy such things. He is SO lucky he is SO cute as cuteness goes a long way with naughty Boxers. I once left a pamphlet on top of Shiro's crate while he was in it, and he somehow got a hold of it and tore it up. Good Boy!

I will be careful shopping on line. Thanks!

Doreen · 04-06-2011, 08:52 AM

Poor baby..... they are just the cutest looking pups!!!!!

Spyglass Sally · 04-06-2011, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShiroInu

I will be careful shopping on line. Thanks!

I'm wondering if something like this would work - either to purchase or make your own?

If you click on it it will take you to the Amazon product.