I use a biner to latch Scout's sad crate. Its sad because I reinforced it so she couldn't undo the latches and well yeah that didn't stop her. So I kinda made the executive decision that I'm okay with her being able to get out without hurting herself. Lol, probably not helpful eh?
We're to the point now though where anything I care about it where she can't get to it and she only ever shreds her leash or my shoes (I miss my tevas
)... it is really rare now though, like once or twice a year now?
I am always always working on crate games to up the value of the crate. Helps a LOT. I also do it with my bedroom door, the front door, and the vehicles. Smart dog with low impulse control thresholds needs many little tasks.
My girl specifically has SA related to me and my other dog (to a lesser extent other dogs/people she has bonded to) and some general anxiety, but I'm pretty sure she'd still be a handful without that because she is creepy smart.
She also let Lily out once. That was insane. And she can open the bathroom door to creep on me.
Smart dogs are really fun to train though! I sure hope things even out and you can enjoy her more! Many vibes for progress! Hopefully its just having a big life change that she's responding to.
