How long has he lived with you? If he has been with you 6 years and his behavior is new, what has changed? (For example is he home alone after years of having someone around all the time?) Please explain what you mean by 'trying to get into the garage.' Is he trying to get out of the house to be with you, or do you have raw meat in the garage :) Clues please. We need a little more background to understand what is going on with him in order to figure out the best way to help you. (Although someone will be right along to say 'crate him' and someone else will say 'walk him.' Both may be reasonable approachs, but better to know what triggered the change in behavior and work from there.)

He's lived with us all his life (7yrs.) Nothing has changed that I can think of. I'm a stay at home mom so am around most of the time except when I'm running errands. I may be gone 1 hr. or as long as 4 hrs. This is nothing new to him. As far as the garage goes, he knows that it leads outside and as soon as I open the garage door, he's out of there like a streak of lightening. He gets a walk in the morning and later in the afternoon. I can't figure out what triggered this behavior. This is not something that happens every time we're gone but like I said 3 times in the last 5 months is 3 times too much. I'm wondering if now that he had figured out that he can get into the garage, (unfortunately by destroying the door or wall) he keeps doing it. Remember that I said the first time he did it was because he was afraid of a fly in the house.
As far as crates go, do they even make a crate that big? Are they expensive?

Longer walks, trips to any dog parks you might have available, if you don't have those, arrange play dates with other dogs.

I believe I have read about a product that plugs in like an air freshener but has a soothing effect on dogs. Some people find putting a T-shirt on the dog before a stressful event is soothing. Not sure if it is the feeling of being hugged or what the reason might be, but it is supposed to hug the dog, not dangle and catch his feet. There is an herbal preparation that has been around a while called Rescue Remedy. I thought it was just for pets, but I saw it in the people homeopathic department at the Lowes' food store tonight when I was shopping. Another idea might be doggy day care like PetSmart has, or having a neighbor check on the dog.

Crating works for many dogs, but other dogs can shred a crate (Just finished reading Marley and Me).

Call in Cesar Milan. :o) Okay, maybe just get his books.

Anxiety was one problem we never had to deal with with Siberian huskies, so the suggestions above are just ideas I've read from people with nervous dogs, often hunting type dogs. If you haven't read Marley and Me yet, I think you'd find it funny.

okay, lets figure this out. You walk your dog a couple of ties a day, that is a good start, do you walk him before you leave the house?? I suspect something else is going on....what has changed in your dogs environment, is there some local construction going on nearby? Did one of you experiece an illness? Did you have a recent new visitor? New louder neighbors? If there is a new neighbor, are they the okay type type or are they the kind you dont trust? Is it possible someone recently tried to break in to your home??? Since this is a new behavior, trying to figure out what has changed recently might help with what is going on...When is the last time your dog had a physical check up? Normally I would suggest longer walks, or harder play time, more time outside the home to combat what I call the fishbowl syndrome, where dogs get bored being in the same place all the time without enough outside stimulation IE playtime with other dogs, long hard walks of 30 to 45 minutes etc...but I have a sneakig suspicion something else is going on with your dog.

A ton of exercise and crating him when he can't be supervised (crating with proper crate-training, that is) would be my first attempts.

I suggest having the vet check him out to see if anything is going on with him medically to cause this change. Before my we realized my dog was sick she started doing some behaviors that she had never done before. You may also want to make sure that no rodents or small animals have been able to get into your garage.

I agree that looking into 'what else' is going on. It sounds like he is settled, well-loved, exercised, etc. This reminded me of a situation one of my friend's went through several years ago.

Our friend had a daushund that also went insane trying to get into the garage out of the blue one day while she was at work. It started in Fall as well. She couldn't figure it out initially. He'd never been destructive, nervous dog, and the dog always went out the front or side door. Never the garage. The car was parked in the driveway. The only good-thing she could think of was his dog food was stored out there. She switched rooms for day-time enclosure which worked for a few days, but he chomped through the baby gate and she found him curled up next to a very chewed up door frame by the garage.

That evening they were in the kitchen and he suddenly went wild barking and trying to dig under the door. She went out to investigate what had triggered him and spotted a very large possume shuffling away under the ladders! The little guy was just doing his job and finding pests.

They had a pest control guy trap it. :: He said it was a common call in the autumn. The little critters want a nice warm place to sleep.

Thanks everyone for your input. He gets plenty of free time out doors as well as his walks. Absolutely nothing has changed.
I think I'm going to have to crate him. I was looking on line and think a wire crate would be best. He might destroy the plastic or wooden ones. Should I get a large, which is suppose to be large enough for labs or should I get a extra large to give him more room? What is the best way to train him to get use to the crate? It doesn't seem right to just put him in there and leave him. How should I gradually do it? I appreciate your advice.
Thanks.

I would like to add my 2cents about wire crates. They are not all created equal! If this is the route you choose, buy a GOOD one! The cheep ones that you can buy at say Wal Mart or Tractor Supply can be destroyed very quickly. My friend has a black lab 5 years oled that is not particularly destructive, destroyed one from Wal Mart while she was gone for 4 hours, she got one from TSC it was bent beyond compare in less that 3 hours. She finally bought the Extra large plastic crate (they sell them in green and grey) at Wal Mart, He has been in that only when she is gone from the house(she is a stay at home mom) for a few hours at a time and has not destroyed that at all.

sorry I hit submit before I was done. I spelled old wrong. I also wanted to add that she has had this crate for 5 months now.

The crate has to be introduced slowly and made out to be disney land, a rewarding place to be. Lots of treats, stuffed kongs etc for going inside of it. Start out brief periods, not all day while you're at work. If you just put the dog in there while you're going to work you might get some rebellion. Search the forum for many more detailed posts on the subject.

Has the dog been altered?

Yes, the dog has been altered. He was at the vet just 2 or 3 weeks ago and checked out good.
I will search the forums to see if there is more info on crating him.
Thanks.

I would definately suspect a pest of some variety has made it into the garage and your guy just wants to get at it. Fall is prime time for mice, voles, racoons, possums, and other creatures to come into a nice warm garage to set up home. I just had to run a possum out of my sunroom this evening. We have a cat door through one of the windows, and it's usually the cats bringing a mouse or vole in that's still alive, but this time when I looked out it was a nasty giant rat of a possum! ICK! I'd take a really good look in the garage and put out some mouse traps before I'd crate the dog. Not that I wouldn't crate him if needed, but I do think you have something else going on.

On crates - some dogs like them ,even love em, some dogs hate them. Dont make the crate a punitive thing, easy crate training wil involve you getting a crate big enough for your dog to stretch his legs out and turn around easily. Think about yourself in a smal tent - you wuld not walnt your legs folded all the time, they would cramp up. Put some things in the crate your dog likes, a favorite blanket, a kong filled with treats or something he likes like a stuffed animal. Add a bowl of water and a blanket or dog bed for comfort. Keep the door open and toss things in the crate very now and then leaving the door open so that while you are home, your dog gets use to the crate. Then it is not a trigger for you leaving. Before you get a crate, go get yourself some rescue remedy and dose your dog about a half an hour or more before you leave the house, it has helped my dog tremendously when he is in a situation which causes anxiety. Sorry you are having to deal with this problem and I hope it gets resolved quickly - I have one last question - can you take your dog with you??

This might sound like a dumb question, and I'm sure you would have mentioned it, but it MIGHT be one of those over-looked things.

Do you keep the dog food, or any treats in the garage? Do you feed him in there? Does he have toys in there, a leash? anything? And has it recently been placed in the garage?

my parents had a a lab that suddenly went bezerk at about 7 years old. she had never been a problem, until one day the neighbors kids threw a pack of firecrackers inteh pen with her. after tha tANY loud noise and she lost it. the onlythign that would calm her down was human contact. then she got to where she would destroy the fence and hurt herself trying to get out. i watched her chew a hole in a chain link fence, then chew thru at the bottom of 2 boards on the 6ft fence and squeeze thru. the dog literally chewed right them! the vet finally gave up on trying to treat her, after giving her several doses a day of valium had no effect.

your problem sounds to me like seperation anxiety, and if you don't get it under control it will get worse. the dog will eventually hurt itself, or cause so much damage you will get rid of it.

BTW, i have a black lab now that has decided to start having SA. he was never left indoors when we are not home, but we decided he was finally thru his chewing stage and we would try it. worked fine for 2 weeks, but now i have 2 walls to fix next to the door to the garage! our other lab could care less if we are there or not, as long as SOMEBODY throws the ball for him every day.

I had the same problem w/ my lab. We also have a St. Bernard, which has always been fine in the house... he just sleeps when we're gone. However, the lab would tear up anything he could get to... I never had him try to get out of the house, but he would tear up rolls of toilet paper, boxes, shoes, pretty much anything. So, one day while garage sale-ing I came across an extra large pet taxi & bought it. My lab was very apprehensive about going into the crate, so I (5'5" and approx. 115 lbs.) actually got into the crate, with treats in hand, and lured him in w/ me. (Can you imagine how silly I felt? But, it was well worth it!) After he was fine to go in w/ me, I would throw treats to the back of the cage so he would have to go in to get them. When he would finally go into the crate w/o being nervous, I would close the door and give him more treats and tell him what a good boy he was. Finally, I got him to the point where I would say, "Go get in your cage." and he would run to the cage, climb inside and eagerly await his treat, never attempting to get out. He never whined when I would lock him in & leave the room. From the first day I got him to go in w/o being scared, he loved his cage... I would sometimes even find him laying in it when I was home, just playing w/ a toy. The first time I did leave him alone in it, I made sure it was for only about an hour & he was fine, the longest I ever left him was for about 6 hrs. and the only draw back to that is that he was VERY energetic when I let him out... He never tried to chew his way out or anything.

I believe that my lab had some separation issues. Even though there was another dog in the house w/ him, I think he still felt insecure or maybe even a little scared when we were gone. I honestly think he was quite content being in his cage while we were gone & it may have even made him feel a little safer.

Hope this helps!

Munkos, The food is kept in the garage but I doubt he realizes it.
mc_hudd, Thanks for the good advice on how to crate train him.
I haven't bought a crate yet because I can't figure out where to put it. If I put it into the garage then it would be like a punishment to him.
I wonder why all of a sudden he would have separation anxiety when he never had it before?

Mst___~ I forgot to mention that our pet taxi is in what we call the living room, however, we never use that room except for storage & it has the "front door" coming into it & no other doors that shut, so it's open to the rest of the house. This way he could still hear/see my other dog in the house (I'm sure that made him feel safer). I wouldn't put a crate in the garage... I would pick a spot in the house that it won't be in the way. Just my opinon. Good luck.

Has the food always been out there? Do you go get his food out of there every day, or have a separate container inside with a few days of food in it?? Has it always been in the garage?

You should see the line up of animals I get hovering around our garage door if I'm running late on feeding time. They know, and only one gets food out there.

We used to keep the food in the hall closet, now it's been in the garage for a few months. Now I have to be careful going out there because I have furry things trying to burst through the door.

Though if you've always kept it out there, then you're probably right, and it isn't the food. But I know with my animals, the slightest changes that I don't even think about, can cause huge behavioural differences.