No one likes to come home finding out that their dog has run off or destroyed the house. Dogs that want to escape their crates have all sorts of reasons for doing this. Therefore, it is important to understand and know why your dog does this so you can stop him from doing it. People think that keeping their dog in a crate will lock them up whenever they want that, but even crates do not always escape-proof.
It is essential to know why your dog keeps escaping its crate and how. It can lead to dangerous situations when the dog is able to leave the house and wanders off or it might tear apart your beautiful furniture.
Figuring out why your dog wants to escape his crate is not always a clear thing.
Usually, it is an accumulation of multiple factors that makes a dog do something. Since we cannot ask our dog why he keeps breaking out of his crate, it is helpful to study his overall behavior and patterns to figure things out.
In this article, we will go over several reasons why dogs escape their crates and how to prevent them from doing so.
Your dog has too much energy left
This is probably one of the most apparent reasons. Dogs love to be active, play and move. When you leave your dog alone in his crate for a long period of time, he might get bored. Since it is really not so tough for them to escape the crate, they might just get out and entertain themselves. So, whenever you leave your dog alone in a crate for a longer period of time, try to get some entertaining stuff in the crate like a dog toy or treat. Dogs have a lot of energy and normally they walk it off, but when you do not let them have enough exercise, they will go in the crate with way too much energy. Do not expect them to just go to sleep. To solve this, you should make sure that they have plenty of exercise throughout the day: take them on a walk or run, play with them, get them exhausted. When they are tired, they probably will just fall asleep and you do not have to worry about anything.
You do not have a dog crate that is escape-proof
The market is full of different types of dog crates. It can be hard to find the right one for you since there are so many different types with different price ranges. You should pick a crate that fits the characteristics of your dog. Things to think about are its size and its activeness.
Usually, crates from strong and good material can be more expensive, but they usually last much longer and are ‘safer.
Plastic ones or nylon crates tend to be less secure than metal ones and they last longer. You can always add extra security later on when it still turns out to not work. Eliminate breaking out points. If your dog knows that he can easily escape out of his crate, he might just do it whenever he wants to. So don’t only look at the price but also at the quality and its security system. More expensive crates might last much longer than cheaper ones and they might work better and pretty crates might just only be pretty but not safe at all.
Regular exercise
This one is probably the most important thing to think about. Dogs have a lot of energy and they are very active animals. Do not put them in their crate when they haven’t had enough exercise because they will simply not go to rest.
As mentioned earlier, your dog might get bored in its crate and because of that, he wants to entertain himself by breaking out. A good solution for this is to keep your dog entertained during the day, walk with them regularly, and make sure that they get plenty of exercises every day. If you are lucky your dog will be tired when he is locked in his crate and he might pass out after a long run at the park. Putting your dog in its crate while he still has a lot of energy is just not a good idea.
Sometimes you can feel that your dog still has too much energy when you put him in its crate. When you know that your dog escapes the crate when he has too much energy and you notice that he still has too much energy when put in the crate, then try to play with him extensively before you put him in the crate.
When you leave your dog in its crate but you do not have enough time to make him tired beforehand, try to give the dog entertainment in its crate. Look for food toys that they can play with or use other dog toys that they can play with within their crate. This way you can prevent them from getting bored and as a result, they don’t want to break out of their crate. They might even become tired and fall asleep.
Conclusion
As mentioned above, there are many reasons why a dog might want to break out of his crate. We have given a few possible causes that might apply to your dog. Usually, when you give your dog enough entertainment and exercising moments, there shouldn’t be a problem. If nothing seems to work, consider taking your dog to a trainer or the vet to look for other solutions.