BehavioRx Case of the Month
for November 2006

Crate Aggression

The owner of a 6 year-old, neutered male Pit Bull Terrier was bitten while taking his reluctant pet out of his crate in the back of his station wagon after picking him up from his veterinary hospital following dental surgery to remove a broken tooth. The dog, "Tiny," had always slept in his crate at home and had never resisted coming out of it before.

During our consultation, we discovered that Tiny was easy-going and loved to be petted. He didn't seem to have any tender spots, but since the car incident, he growled whenever any family member even walked within a couple of feet of the crate when he was in it. After the door was opened Tiny came out, but seemed "on guard" for a few minutes. Unfortunately both parent. Frank and Molly, had scolded Tiny when he started growling. It had only made him worse. He had never bitten anyone, or even growled.

Both teenaged children avoided going near Tiny's crate at night or in the mornings on their parents' instructions.

Frank had a theory. It involved the possibility that Tiny may have associated being taken from his holding cage for dental surgery and, thereafter, decided to resist being handled while in close confinement. Whatever the cause, the clients were anxious to solve the problem. And the solution wasn't too complicated.

Molly said she had never really liked having to crate Tiny, but he was a chewer as a puppy, so she agreed to it. I asked if Tiny ever sought his crate, or showed any signs of enjoying it. Molly said, "Only if the door is open."

I didn't answer, waiting for Frank or one of the children to say something. After a two minutes Frank had an "Aha!" and said, "I'll bet you're going to suggest that we leave the crate door open all the time."

  "You've go it," I answered.

"But what do we do about his chewing?"

"We have a really positive program for that, if he hasn't destroyed anything recently."

"He hasn't really tried to chew on anything other than his bones for year," Molly replied.

With that, we discussed the BehavioRx Programs for Chewing and Separation Anxiety, the family loaded into their station wagon, with Tiny in his open crate, and reported the following week that Tiny seemed a much happier dog all around, "Now he's crate-free."

He still sleeps in his crate at night and uses it for naps when he is alone during the week.

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