Hi,

No, Elsa doesn't get upset being in the crate even though my other two dogs Tesoro and Happy are never crated. It is because she looks at her crate as her own happy den place. I have a huge Orvis dog nest in there for her and her food and water dish are in there. She willingly goes in there when I say: "Elsa, go in your house" and she dashes right in because she knows she is going to get a peanut butter filled kong or a delectable treat and lots of praise for being in the crate. The crate is never used for punishment.

And she doesn't get angry at the other two dogs for being loose in the house. One time I videotaped her home alone in the crate with the other two dogs loose in the house and she was happy and fine with it. Set up the videocamera on a tripod and left it on to record with the camera focused on the crate when I left for about an hour. She wasn't crying or fussing at all. I leave my clothing from the night before in the crate with her because she finds my scent on the clothing to be re-assuring.

Elsa will get mad if one of the other dog wanders into her crate. She considers it her space, her den, her territory and it is her ORVIS dog nest. During the day if I'm home, I leave the crate door open and oftentimes she goes in there for a nap cause she likes it in there. And I have a big latch hooked rug on top of the crate to make it more enclosed, den like so that it has the appearance of a solid roof above her instead of crate wire.

All hell breaks loose if I leave the house and Elsa is uncrated. She can't be left unattended and uncrated for more than 5 minutes! Cause one time I let her loose in the house while I went to scrape off my windshield one winter morning. I was only out there 5 minutes and she trashed things! Just imagine what she could have done if I had left her for 30 min? Since she does have severe separation anxiety, the crate sure is a must for her.

Maybe you can test out your dog at 5 minute intervals. Leave the house and go outside for 5 min, see what happens. Try it the next day for 10, then 15, then 30 minutes and increase the time and see if there are any destruction issues. If your dog isn't destroying things, maybe the dog is just saying she doesn't want the crate.

Best regards,
Anna Lisa