23/02/2024
Anyone who knows Star, knows how FULL of nervous energy she is. She suffers with separation anxiety and is unable to relax and sleep without being on or touching me or Darren. I have had the crate in the house for months but don’t leave her in it without being in the house with her in sight and even then not more than say how long it takes to eat dinner.
She is so highly strung and being 18 months old, is a trying teenage stage spanner. She play bites hard and barks a lot and whines and leaps in your face and is a massive food pest. She screams when she can’t get to me when in the car or van in a crate. Being over tired makes it all that bit worse and add to that the pain she is experiencing with suspected bad knees/hips, she turns into a Tasmanian devil toddler dog. It’s no fun for anyone when she is like this.
Today we had another vet appointment and pre authorisation forms in for the insurance have been completed to get her X-rays done on her legs and hips and to have her spayed at the same time. She will need to be in the crate after the op sometimes for her own safety and recovery so it’s time to get tough. Many people say slowly slowly with the crate but it isn’t working for Star. So I am having to ramp the training up and be more firm ignoring the whining and the screaming. It sounds like lasers being fired at your ear drums and really is unpleasant.
Today, I set up a slightly smaller crate with the bed she knows in, and a blanket over the back half so it’s darker in there. (Jesse has a little crate also so she isn’t left out.)
I have moved the crate from the original position which was a whole maybe 8 feet away from me to right by me next to the sofa. And the photo is the result. This is ten minutes in. The longest she has been quiet in a crate ever. And she is almost asleep. She won’t fully sleep as she is watching for me to move. ❤️🐶
