Open to other ideas if anyone has one I didn't come up with.

Mdln has a genius idea.

Maybe you can just roll up a towel between crate and wall (or will dog eat towel?).

A tip you didn't ask for: I've seen Cesar Millan deal with dogs who do this kind of thing.It's been awhile, but I know the general idea is to wait until the dog exhibits calm behaviors (ceasing barking, sitting or laying down) before entering the room. And at the moment of the calm behavior, a "good dog" and then a calm opening of the crate. And all of the calmness (and only the calmness) is rewarded and none of the freakout.

Instead of putting the crate in the closet, why not install a gate across the opening? It would be their own little room.

I'm an experienced dog owner and do understand the benefit of training. I worked in the humane industries and had dogs that went to work with me and stayed in a sit stay while I worked with other animals.

Willow is not as well trained as dogs from my past, but we have had a pretty crazy ride. I left my husband, live alone and work from home and got Willow as a companion pet. She is 3 1/2 years old. Since I got her I had cancer, fractured 4 vertebra, had a heart attack and just 2 weeks ago had a hernia repaired.

She has spent far too much time laying by my side and didn't get much of an opportunity to be left at home by herself. She lays by my desk all day, sleeps with me all night and generally stays within about 10 feet from me the rest of the day unless she is running across the yard when we are playing catch.

Willow knows that I won't open the crate until she sits quietly - but she does go crazy from the time I open the back door until I walk into the room.

I love the idea of pool noodles! Easy, inexpensive and should protect the trim work and walls.

Pool noodles are handy for lots of things, including a bit of fun!

Just be sure the noodles aren't in nibble range. They'd probably pass right through the dog, but...you know. Colorful poop is alarming.

There is also a type of pipe insulation which is similar to pool noodles but a little denser. I'm not sure how the pricing goes. Depending on your location, as pool noodles get harder to find with the season, pipe insulation gets easier. :)

Bath towels rolled tightly lengthwise and secured to the crate with cable ties might work too.

Similar to pool noodles but a bit smaller are the foam pipe insulation tubes. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Frost-King-0-75-in-x-6-ft-Foam-Plumbing-Tubular-Pipe-Insulation/1001089480

Willow won't chew it. She still has the squeakers in the soft toys I got her last Christmas - carries them around and squeaks them incessantly - but is very careful not to harm her toys. Gentle mouth - bird dog.

My niece also recommended the foam furniture bumpers for babies. She has a 3 month old infant.

Can we see a pic of Willow who sounds so sweet & happy?

Or wrap noodles or pipe insulation in towels or fabric, even use a bed sheet...if noodles are to big you can cut them with a sharp serrated knife.

I would not take a chance with anything that could be chewed and ingested, even if she has never done this in the past. Our golden retriever had a soft mouth, but unbeknownst to us, she ate a dish towel (!) and had to have it removed surgically. Sorry, but I don’t have a solution to offer. However, I do know there are harder, more rubber-like “bumpers” that we used on furniture corners in preschools. I don’t have any specifics, but I hope that can be a lead for you.

They have FOAM for pipes and hardware that you can cut to size and its kind of like those noodles but there are smaller they would fit the handles

Use stale baguettes!

:)

Maybe a crib bumper

This is Willow - Listening to me while I am on a call at work

And this was her letting me know which floor tile she liked better with out paint colors.

IMO anyrhing chewable witll be chewed and often require a vet visit. Why not just put some wood blocks on the floor to keep the kennel from moving and out of the reach of teeth or anchor it to the back wall.

Willow is beautiful!

Why not do plexiglass on the walls and fireplace bumpers for the trim and edges. The fireplace bumpers are generally like a harder rubber, similar to a kong dog toy.

**says non-toxic since it's made with the idea that kids may chew on it.

I did the exact same thing - put a crate inside a closet. :) I have a large closet with double doors in a spare room, and my boy likes to be cozy. So I put his crate inside the closet and he loves it in there. That's his safe spot to retreat to when he needs a nap - he's often in there snoozing away throughout the day.

Neither of my current dogs are chewers. Once they passed the teething stage neither one of them has any interest in chewing/wrecking "soft" stuff. Both of them have soft bedding in their crates and have never once chewed it.

I've had chewers so know what that's like. I had a lab who would eat drywall and wood trim around the doors. Fun times. It's nice having dogs who have no desire to wreck your house. :)

Willow is beautiful. I think I would take a chance on getting a bit of wall damage, rather than put anything around the crate, that she could possibly get in her mouth. My guy likes his crate a lot too. Its also the very large size one. Its in a corner of the laundry, and yes, it has made a few marks on the walls, but, they were easily fixed, and the paint touched up. He doesnt go around chewing and destroying furniture etc but, he would chew anything that touched his crate. He also destroyed his nice soft cushion that was inside, so he has nothing in there now, and seems to be the way he likes it. He is a full sized very busy beagle.

I'm sure you can arrange the whatevers to not be within chew range, even if she's not a chewer. You put the padding on the wall, not the crate, just for those few minutes when the crate is bouncing around.

She looks better on the first tile but I think the other is better with your paint. She'll understand.

I like the idea of installing special doors and turning the actual closet into a dog room! I wonder if you could install the grate doors inside the real doors? that way you could hide the dog room when not in use!

we have heavy closet doors that tend to bang open and shut loudly. I put three of these bumpers on each side of the door frame. they're big enough to cushion the blow really well (about 1.5" diameter), but small enough to not stand out too much. it would look nicer than pool noodles:

edit: I realize these could be a chew hazard but I'll leave it up for anyone who might find it useful anyway.

from amazon:

These are all awesome ideas you've gotten, Jennifer! I'm just chiming in here for anyone reading this in the future: ignore any advice where someone recommends Cesar Milan. His reliance on dominance theory, especially for reactive dogs, shows his ignorance in areas of animal behavior - this theory has been out of date for over a decade, if not longer. Positive reinforcement training produces much better, more consistent results long term. It also does not cause harm, mental or physical, to the animal. It does, however, require more patience and effort by the humans, however. So worth it though.

Agree with wiscokid about Ceasar Milan. Your dog it’s beautiful and it doesn’t sound like you have a training problem just an irritating little issue you’re trying to prevent for the sake of your walls😊 you and Willow have such a close relationship how could she not miss you and be excited beyond belief when you return home! We have three dogs and I had to purchase a large removable gate to keep them off the hardwood floors in the kitchen (which we just had refinished) because they are so excited when we get home before we get in the door🤦‍♀️.
Although I don’t think this is an option for you, I wanted to share a picture of what my talented husband did in our TV room to a closet.

What about a dutch door on the closet with the lower door panel replaced with a grill? Then the upper portion of the closet is still usable.

Instead of zip tying noodles to the crate (in case Willow starts chewing) maybe noodles or fireplace bumpers could be attached to the wall somehow? Cute dog.

How about attaching those gym floormats to the wall?

@Linda Stefanish - I am open to your talented hubby coming over and making a special closet just for Willow - would never ask just for me - but she is deserving. (You don't happen to live in Pennsylvania?)

I think what I suggested was positive reinforcement theory.

What's negative about what I suggested? I certainly didn't suggest dominating the dog, my goodness, that's quite an extrapolation!

@wiscokid I've taken hundreds if not thousands of hours of dog training courses and competed, too. I'm not an ignoramus when it comes to dog training. However, I didn't invent the techniques, so referenced where I first saw it. I wouldn't use that trainer's techniques that youdiscuss, but then I dont spend time with bully breeds, and don't pretend to know how they're different. I've trained with a dozen different trainers, too, and all have differences. I'm always open to techniques other than what I know. Every dog is different, and every trainer is different. I make suggestions, not commands. Training people and dogs is mostly training people. And she didn't ask for training advice. But since you scoff at mine, I bet you have better techniques. I would love to hear them! Not being sarcastic either. I love learning what works for other people.

Thank you everyone for the ideas and for raising concerns to think about.

For the moment I am going to just do the baby bumper on the crate. This will get the crate out of my office and into the seldom used spare room.

Then I am going to add "Build Willow her own custom closet crate" to my list of projects.

I really like what Linda's husband did and think that is the ultimate final answer - just not something I can do this weekend. Maybe a few months down the road before I can get to it.

@Jennifer Hogan, lol! Actually we do live in Pennsylvania!!

There was a one in 50 chance on that one! Amazing!