# Why does he keep moving his crate?!



## ashleygrimaldi (Sep 6, 2011)

I just moved Finn's crate into the living room with us. Previously he's been in the kitchen, but about a week ago we rearranged some furniture so now there's room and I really prefer to have him in here with us so when he's in his crate he doesn't feel exiled. But since I moved his crate, he won't stay put!

It's happened every day, but today was the most extreme. I left to drop my husband off at work, I wasn't gone longer than an hour. I came home, and found his crate in the middle of the room and he had somehow gotten a pair of my husband's jeans in his crate with him? Idk how he managed to fit them through the holes, they're pretty heavy weight pants lol. He was just cuddling with them so I think he just missed him and wanted his scent. I picked EVERYTHING off the floor other than the furniture before I left again to see if he'd stay put, but nope.

I got home about 20 minutes ago and again he moved his crate into the middle of the room. He does it when I'm upstairs too, I go upstairs during the day to talk on the phone and I can always hear him down here shimmying his crate around. When I leave the house sometimes he cries, but he stops pretty much immediately.

Could this be a separation anxiety thing? I just don't understand why he never did this when his crate was in the kitchen. Did he just figure out he could? Idk how to make him stop either, when I notice him doing it I come downstairs and I tell him NO in my mom voice and move his crate back, but I can't figure out how to discipline him after the fact when he does this when I'm not here without confusing him.

I don't want to put anything around his crate so he can't move it because he has a tendency to chew. Whenever I leave I always make sure he has a rawhide chew and a couple toys in his crate with him to keep him occupied, but he still chews on his crate sometimes and we have a spot on the wall where his crate used to be that I suspect he chewed as well.

I know sometimes dog do weird things out of boredom, but it's not like he doesn't get attention. I'm a stay at home wife and he's my little buddy so we play quite a lot, I take him for walks, we practice tricks, etc. Idk how to give him more attention without totally spoiling him so I don't see how that could be the problem.

I'm totally at a loss! He needs to stop though because I'm nervous I'm going to come home one day and he will have chewed a hole through the couch or he will have hurt himself somehow. I can't really keep him safe in his crate if he figured out how to make his crate mobile!


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## elly (Nov 21, 2010)

My immediate thought is that if his crate was always in the same place in the kitchen hes feeling insecure with its new home. Its a bit like someone moving your bed into a new room without any explanation I guess. He wont know why, he liked it where it was, it was where he learned to settle and feel secure when he came to your family when he left his Mummy and now wham...what happened?! I dont want it here..so I am going to try to move it and put things in it that make me feel secure like my Dads pants. 
I am probably completely wrong as I am just a plain dog owner and no expert but its how I would read my dog if he did the same thing and as we are going to have to move Chesters crate when we do our kitchen I have been concerned about the same issues!


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## ashleygrimaldi (Sep 6, 2011)

elly said:


> My immediate thought is that if his crate was always in the same place in the kitchen hes feeling insecure with its new home. Its a bit like someone moving your bed into a new room without any explanation I guess. He wont know why, he liked it where it was, it was where he learned to settle and feel secure when he came to your family when he left his Mummy and now wham...what happened?! I dont want it here..so I am going to try to move it and put things in it that make me feel secure like my Dads pants.
> I am probably completely wrong as I am just a plain dog owner and no expert but its how I would read my dog if he did the same thing and as we are going to have to move Chesters crate when we do our kitchen I have been concerned about the same issues!


That definitely makes sense. I thought he'd like being closer to us but maybe I should put him back?


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## sdain31y (Jul 5, 2010)

Worth a try. Also, is it on a slick floor? Could you put someting under it to help keep it in one place?


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