Heeler Help

[awakeninglife]

I’m sure this gets asked a lot, but here it goes…
We have an almost 1 year old Heeler mix we rescued from the SPCA. She’s smart and loving and overall a good dog when she’s outside living her best life on the farm. Unfortunately, she’s not great in her 4x6 kennel while we are gone to work. She is able to scoot it around and get into everything she can in the garage. She somehow knocked over one of my tree saplings I’m growing and chewed it up she occasionally poops in her crate too. When she’s out, she’s a completely different dog, and I understand Heelers aren’t meant to be caged up. But it’s just for a few hours. She does great in her crate when she sleeps in the house at night. She plays outside for hours in the mornings and evenings. She runs all over the property to her heart’s desire, so she gets the exercise. However, we just can’t get her to chill in the kennel. Should I keep her in the crate since she does better? Should I put her kennel outside with a dog house? Should I invest in an electric fence?

All advice welcome. She’s definitely not my first working dog, just my first heeler. I did a lot of research going into this and my husband is threatening to taking her back. The excuse of being a puppy isn’t working either. Please don’t comment on how I should’ve known this going in….or negative comments…just need constructive advice to keep her calm while we are away, please.

 

[jamessmith112]

@awakeninglife Had the exact same issue with our ACD. We even had a behaviorist come out to the house to observe. Our girl would bite her crate so hard to get out that she broke teeth. She would rock it back and forth into the wall and chip the drywall. The behaviorist said she was a dog that could not, under any circumstance, be crated. We ended up pad training her and giving her the run of the lower level while we are away. We use a baby gate at the top of the stairs to keep her downstairs and we make sure the pantry and bathroom doors are secure (we found out the hard way when we came home to an upended trash can and a guilty-looking pup after leaving the pantry door open). Puppy pads for the win…if she goes at all while we are gone, it’s always on the pad.

 

[longsho7]

@jamessmith112 We do the same!

 

[kathleenloveschrist]

@awakeninglife How many hours is she in the kennel/crate?