Major issues
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Patricia McConnell has a book on working with dogs with separation anxiety, I'll Be Home Soon.
http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/product/dog-separation-anxiety
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that's not excessive but has she always been left or is it a fairly new arrangement? Why i ask is if it has always been the arrangement, she should be used to it by now. But if not, maybe she still has to adjust. Can anyone look in on her for you while you are out, say after a couple of hours? Have you tried leaving a radio on, some background noise. Do you take her for a good long walk when you get home? etc
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We do not exercise her before we crate her bc it's usually early in the morning. She has been crated ever since she was 6wks old and still hates it. She gets a treat in her crate but we do have put her in there. We leave the radio on while we are gone and my mom comes by to take her out if we will be gone longer than 4 hrs.
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It sounds like she has never truly been crate trained and that is contributing to her anxiety.
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I have used the process in the video and even after a day of intensive work there is a difference but it is a long term process. You could use that in conjunction with DAP spray or diffuser to help with anxiety.
Since this has been going on for quite sometime, you will proabably be best served by hiring a behaviorist or trainer to help you with the short term and develop a long term plan.
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I would highly recommend that you get the book that lvoss recommended. It is inexpensive and very helpful. In the meantime, buy a large sheet of plywood to put under the crate to keep her from eating the carpet. A muzzle is a bad idea. The dog is stressed out enough already and a muzzle would only compound the problem.
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I had a similar situation with Cody when I first got him. One of the things that helped was that I put an old sheet in his crate that smelled like me. I slept on it for one night before putting it in there.
I don't have to crate him regularly anymore, but I still put it in there (wash it once a week, sleep on it for a night, the put it back in there). I also still put his favorite treats and new toys in there instead of giving them directly to him. Now he willingly goes in his crate when he needs some alone time away from Moe (or my family :) ).
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We got chill pills from the vet too. they did not change the personality( although the first time we dosed it was too strong so we lowered it and that was ok) it is about 20 cents a pill and we give one a day. It was AMAZING the difference it made. we started out with 3 a day and it was way too much … went to 2 a day and now are down to one a day. just helps them be very much calmer and less anxiety. sometimes i think i would like one too.lol but it really helped..... was not expensive and made the worry much better.
