Hi, newbie here. We adopted a boxer/bulldog/??? mix from the SPCA today. She is about 16 months old. We have had her for about 5 hours.

Given that she was a stray and we know nothing of her history, we are crate training her, or attempting to. The crate is in the basement.

1) she has not yet eliminated, either outdoors or in her crate.
2) she lays down and suddenly seems to weigh about 2000 pounds when I try to put her in her crate. (it is a roomy wire cage with a comforter in the bottom.
3) while someone is in the basement, she is fine. When we come upstairs, she begins to bark after about 30 seconds. oh, now she is quiet, making a liar out of me! Anyway, that does not seem to fit any other problem barking scenarios I have found, as we are still in the house making noises and things. well, she has now been quiet for over a minute.

Ok, well, I will have to assume she fell asleep... nope, there she goes!

4)she was completly oblivious to the other dogs at the spca. They were all barking and howling and jumping like crazy. (Ok she has a little problem with jumping up.) She was also quiet when we brought her out to play a bit, and to petsmart, and in the car. Not a single bark. So we thought we got a quiet one. oops!

Any advice??

She will be crated when we leave the house, probably forever. <<ETA: I am home full time, so this would be at night or for errands>> Once she gets housebroken, she will not have to live in the basement full time. We have given her several walks and sessions of playtime this evening, and she is always very quiet during these.

TIA!

TIA