I have a 5 month old, Kemba, who isn't doing well in her crate. We got her about 2 months ago.

I work from home, but i have been putting her in her crate a few hours each day to make sure she gets comfortable there. I usually walk her at 7 am then feed her and take her out again. She goes into the crate around 9 am until about noon, but i have been increasing this time until 1 or 2 pm over the last few weeks to make sure she is learning to hold it longer. I then take her out and let her play for a while before putting her back in the crate for another 2-4 hours in the afternoon. I always give her a kong or treats when putting her in the crate to keep her occupied. She usually barks for a few minutes but calms down pretty quickly and stays quiet for a few hours. She is also great at night - she may bark once or twice but then will sleep though the entire night, the crate is in the bedroom.

The problem comes when we leave her in the evening to go out. The last 3 days have really been a problem. On Friday, we took her for a walk at 9:45 pm. We left the house around 10 and came back at 3 am. My neighbor let me know that she barked from about midnight until we got home - but she isn't only barking, she is throwing herself against the side of the crate and crying. I am worried that she will hurt herself. The same thing happened on Saturday night. We took her out at 6 pm and were home before 12, but she cried the entire time we were gone. Today we left her at 3 pm and came back at 7 and she was crying. I know that by 5 months, she should be ok holding it for about 5 hours.

She was previously ok in the crate, but seems to be getting worse. Does anyone have any advice on how to keep her calm in the crate while we are out? I don't understand why it's only happening at night, she's fine during the day. I always leave the light on in the bedroom, so she isn't left in the dark.

When you crate her during the day, is she still in the bedroom? And are you still home? If you're still home, where are you? Does she know you're home?

Have you tried putting her in her crate during the day and leaving the house? If yes, is she OK? Does she cry, bark, or throw herself against the crate?

I'm wondering if she is starting to show signs of seperation anxiety?

I adopt Storm when he just turned 6 years old and tried to crate train him but he didn't do so well in his crate when we left the house, but when we were home, he would go in his crate and sleep and hang out with the door open or closed - but we were home.

I don't have much advice to offer if this is the start of seperation anxiety or how to make her feel a little better because with Storm, we ended up just leaving him un-crated and just monitored via a web cam that we could view via our iPhone/Android. (I believe he stresses out because his previous owner ended up putting him in a small crate with a bag of food and neglected him ).

Yes, the crate is in the bedroom all the time. When i'm home during the day, i am either down stairs or upstairs in the office. Either way, i leave the bedroom door closed so she can't hear me much. I do leave during the day sometimes for a while, and I don't hear her barking when i get home. I do think it could be separation anxiety, since she was doing alright but seems to be getting worse. Other than at night, she is fine in the crate.

We took her and her crate to my parents apartment in Maryland last week, and she didn't even bark when we went out. Sometimes, I am worried that she just doesn't like our home. We took her to a beach house in NC for 2 weeks in August, and she was great! Never cried in her crate then entire time we were there. But since we have been home, she just cries in the crate at night.

Our neighbor suggested just leaving her gated off in the kitchen rather than in the crate. I haven't tried it, but maybe it will help.

I paid the price for gating Kale up in the kitchen. He chewed the corner off my parents custom-made cabinets... But every dog is different.

i also paid the price for gating embry up, he ripped up all the vinyl flooring

Ok, so maybe I won't try gating her in the kitchen. I do like the floors and cabinets

I also have had problems with Meka and her crate. I tried to leave her in the basement, she eat all the carpet offthe stairs and eat my boyfriend brand new cowboy boots!! so she is back in the cage. She use to howl, bark and rip the inside of the crate apart. She broke one of the wire bars off and got that stuck through her foot also. So i know give her a kong with frozen yugut in it and a couple treats. turn on the de humidafier (sp), and put a fan so it blows on her. she seems to be getting better. At least when i get home the crate is still in the same spot. Use to be on the other side of the basement by the time i got home!