I've a 7 year old beagle who recently starts barking and whining and scratching in his crate trying to get out whenever I put him back inside before i leave the house. And whenever i come back home, I find that he has been peeing and defecating in his crate. He has always been pretty well behaved and has never reacted this way before whenever i put him back into his crate. Everyday when i come home i have to wash his entire crate and bathe him. Does anyone know how i can stop this behavior entirely? THanks!
I think your beagle is starting to get anxious in your cage....for whatever reason. Does he still need to be in his crate when you are not home. At this age you may find that he can be trusted walking around in the house or out in the back yard when you are not there.
If you want to leave him in the cage we need to make him a bit more relaxed in his cage. Here are some ideas - 1) Leave something with your scent on it in his crate with him - this will help calm him down a little bit
2) Use a spray called DAP in the cage. This is a natural animal calmer that works brilliantly on nervous dogs in these situations. Ask your vet and give it a try.
We also need to reduce his anxiety. I think he may be slightly attached to you so we are going to try and break this attachment. This will take time and may seem a little mean at times.
He needs to get used to you not being around so.... 1) When you arrive home completely ignore him. Go to his crate and let him out but otherwise ignore him. This means no looking at him, no petting him and no talking to him. Wait for 15 minutes till he is calm then get him to come over to you.
2) When you give him attention try not to get him overexcited. Give him some attention then stop and go away
3) When you go to leave or when you arrive back make sure not to make a big fuss over him. Just keep things nice and calm
4) At the weekends try to ignore him for a few hours at a time. This may seem a little mean but will help him get used to you not being around.
5) If possible get someone he doesn't seem so attached to to take him for walks, feed him etc. The less contact he has with you for the next few weeks the better.
6) When you are home on occasions go about your normal routine as if you were planning to go out, then don't. Do everything eg pick up your keys and walk around the house, get into your work clothes. The more you do this without actually going out the less he will associate things with.
Now when you come home and found he has made a mess make sure after you have cleaned it up that you use a good deodouriser eg SOX. This will help greatly with controlling the problem.
A big thing that may help is increasing the amount of exercise he gets and the number of toys he has. The more disctracted he is the less time he will have to get anxious.
I think getting him out of the crate will help a lot too. So try these out and let me know how things go Good luck
I've pretty much tried what you've suggested! I've thrown out like probably ten or more shirts that he soiled and he has countless toys and not to mention two/three hour long walks a day hahah, plus free roam of the house whenever someone's at home. But I guess i really do have to make him less attached to me, which probably will be pretty hard cos he's just so lovable i love being with him haha. But i guess i really have to give those steps a try and see how it goes (: Thanks!
