I've got a 10 month old Mini Aussie. She very intelligent and goes to her crate when ever we grab car keys or turn off the tv at night. The problem is that we can be away (i.e. another room, outside) and return in minutes or hours and she barks incessantly to get out to be with us. I have tried ignoring, treats when calm, never let her out when shes barking, but its the same every time. I even tried the highest rated bark collar and that didn't work. Any suggestions?
hi robhicks and thanks for your post, I was just wondering if your dog will calm down and sleep in there at night or whether she also barks at night? Does she only bark if you are in a different room while she is in her crate or would she even bark if she was crated overnight in your bedroom? Will she still bark if you give her something to distract her in her crate such as toys, a chew or a treat ball? Will she bark if you close her in a different room but not in her crate? Sorry for all of the questions I just need to get a clearer picture of the situation so I can healp you better.
She is calm at night or while we are out of sight and ear shot. She has no problems while in the crate until she sees a human. She is just ready to play and barks to be let out. I won't let her out while she is barking so as to not train her to bark for release. She will never quite get to a calm state although she will quiet down after several (sometimes 20) minutes. It's not that she dislikes the crate, we never use it in a negative manner, she just get too excited.