My Dog is acting a little strange...

[mikester]

Just a little.

We got her in December - she's some sort of a lab mix - not sure what exactly but mostly lab it looks like. Definitely has that demeanor and generally speaking - she's wonderful.

This behavior has been the last couple of weeks and not often but definitely noticing a difference in her. She's about 2 years old and she is a rescue. She is very well behaved and has taken to training extremely well. When we got her we decided to crate her after some discussions with my dog lover friends and what not. I've had dogs all my life and never done it so I was very skeptical about it but we got the crate and she began using it on her own. She was probably crate trained by her previous owner (incidentally she was picked up as a stray). So at night as we would lay down to bed she would - on her own make her way into her crate and we would just close it up.

My wife is a stay at home mom and I work from home most of the time so we're home often. She goes in her crate on and off during the day and even now seems to prefer it.

She has started to seem more reluctant recently to go in - even at bed time we have had to instruct her to go to bed though it just takes us saying it and she does it. During the day we usually give her a treat to get in her crate - that is still the case.

The concern is that 1) she's been more reluctant and 2) twice now she has vomited for some reason in about 4 days time. We're not sure why and she has no other symptoms. When we get her out she's playful and active. It has been hotter recently of course and we do not have AC. The house can get near 80 degrees inside later in the day.

Since I have never crated a dog before I'm not quite sure of what behavior to expect. I know there are lots of dog folks here so I thought I might put the question out there.

[DUK]

Do you have any toys in the crate with her? Labs are prone to separation anxiety and nervousness.
Also, do you give her rawhide. That's a huge no no with labs.

[lane912]

crate is haunted.....

dog is hearing voices.....

[mikester]

Originally Posted by DUK

Do you have any toys in the crate with her? Labs are prone to separation anxiety and nervousness.
Also, do you give her rawhide. That's a huge no no with labs.

No toys, no raw hide. We used to do toys in the crate with her but she never really played with them.

I can go back to it though. Might help her...

[944Larry]

Heat-mine is doing the same thing in Florida. We have air but we have all spoiled our dogs.

[mikester]

I think it's heat related too...

[John Rogers]

I would say heat related also. Our two English Bulldogs and two Pugs all sleep on the bed at the foot so we feel what they feel.

[Grady Clay]

Mikester,

I too have a recent (1-yr) yellow lab-mix rescue dog (92#).
He is also about three years old and clearly was crate-trained.
He prefers the crate to almost anywhere else in normal use.
I give him incentive ‘treats’ when I leave the house and close the crate.

In our recent (Yellowstone) absence he welcomed his crate at a friend’s house.

A significant part of ‘crating’ is to have this the ‘usual’ situation.
This should be pleasant ‘home’.
I partially cover the crate to make it a ‘cave’.
In slightly warmer weather I have a box fan moving air through the crate.
The crate always has water, even when open.

This lab is very ‘clingy’, probably due to abandonment.
Whenever I am near the crate, he finds ‘home’.
Right now he is competing with ‘Garfield’ (14# cat) for space on my feet.

I hope this helps.

Best,
Grady

[mikester]

Yeah, she is clingy but not in a terribly bad way. When I am home - she is my shadow until she is comfortable I'm not going anywhere. Then she might go lay down in another room or in the hall outside my office. Otherwise - she's behind me snoring (which she is doing now). If I get up to go somewhere else and am gone for more than a couple of minutes - she comes looking for me.

She doesn't whine when she's in her crate but lately she's been 'knocking' on the door in the mornings before I Would normally wake up. I was considering not crating her at night but I have reconsidered and want to keep things consistent - I will continue with it but put a toy in with her.

[juanbenae]

no crate experience here, but in the summer months my lab prefers the cool tile of the bathroom or wood floors to his dog beds. also, when she hurls is it like egg white watery after drinking or is it after a meal? my lab experience is that they, at least mine often throw up in the summer after drinking too much, too fast water. if she's doing after meal id say something's amiss, just water and bile no worries.

the crate prolly holds in heat around her even at night and she aint comfy that way

[madmmac]

I have rescued dogs and have purchased others. The crate is a good idea I believe to begin with, especially with a rescue dog. The dog feels secure, it knows that it is surrounded by a shell and it feels the walls around it. For an owner, a dog in a crate will not "usually" release itself, this makes it easier for the new owner.

What the dog is doing now is showing that it is now comfortable with its new surroundings and your family....which is a great sign. But, it still may not be able,ready or willing to give you notification that it needs to go outside. Is the dog perfectly house trained? If so, you can probably lose the crate at this time. Many strays and rescues have emotional/psychology issues and the crate helps them hopefully move on from them once trust has been earned.

Dog snacks/treats are many times not tolerated with a lot of dogs and are never needed to train a dog or make it happy. They can tell the satisfaction in your voice and actions, they want to please you.

The vomiting can sometimes be heat related and stress related. Have you gotten any other pets recently? Labs are serious gulpers of their food. Try feeding the dog the same amount, only do it 4x a day instead of 2. Plenty of water at all times also...good luck.