Scratching

This isn't your normal scratching....

In a morning when Teagan wants to get out of bed (her cage) she scratches at the plastic flooring.
I have tried ignoring her. If I ignore her, she stops whining, but not scratching. If I don't hear her, then she will carry on scratching until I do - which could be 2 hours until I get up!

The thing is, she practically has NO nails left on her front paws. I'm worried she will scratch that much, one day she will make herself bleed.
She only ever does this in a morning. If she's locked in at all during the day, she's fine!

Is there any way of stopping her doing this?

Hevvur I think what Teagan is saying is 'I am bored/frustrated/lonely or all three She has had enough of being confined and wants to be 'up and doing' If I am on the telephone for a long time, and pass the magic hour of 8:30pm when Amy has her supper Keltie biscuit, she will jump on the sofa and scratch it like mad in frustration just to let me know she feels ignored.
The answer? Go and let Teagan out.. maybe a cuddle too...dogs get lonely and being confined for a long time is not natural for an animal who likes to roam
And before anyone dares say 'I am teaching Teagan bad habbits and to ask for attention' tough cos in my book dogs have the right to be happy too Sorry Hevvur hope that does not sound like criticism non intended Perhaps I better go away and shut up today ...Mini sculks off

Cassy is prone to do this and I agree with Mini, its amazing what a good walk can do.

It's ok, it doesn't sound like criticism!

I do go and let her out if I hear her, but sometimes I don't hear her, and when I wake up, she's scratching, and I can tell she has been scratching for a while, as there are marks on the plastic, and her nails are shorter!

I'm just worried about the times I don't hear her, I don't want to come down to a pool of blood

Could you not leave her cage door open?

I'd like to, but when i've done it in the past, she wee's & poo's all over the floor, and eats my chairs

I might try it again though, as she's a little older now, so hopefully better behaved!

Yes its definatly worth a try, maybe she's telling you that she's gonner be a good girl now and its time for her to come out of her cage.

Hevvur ..is Teagan is still a puppy? I have just been looking back and now realise she may only be 7 /8 months If this is the case she would have done the things you say because she was a puppy, not houstrained, teething and without bladder/bowel control You need to think about whether she is houstrained or not and as Anne says get her out of the cage. (There is a section on housetraining on my homepage click below.) If she spends too much time in a cage you could make her frustrated, and this can result in behaviour problems later

She's nearly 10 months old now Mini.
She is housetrained, apart from when it's raining
She's a wuss, and hates going out when it's raining, I have to push her bottom outside! I don't blame her though!
I will leave her cage door open tonight, and let you know how it goes.

Hi Hevvur
Think I'd tend to go along with Mini on this. Dinah was in her crate overnight till about a month ago but we thought she was maturing quite well then. She still wakes a little earlier than we would like at weekends, but one of us comes down, lets her out for a wee and gives her a 'cuddling-down' biscuit and she just goes straight back to her bed till proper getting up time.
It's worth a try, and apologies in advance if your furniture gets trashed
We don't use the crate at all now.
Good luck.