Nothing in this world hurts me more than seeing my dog fearing the loud noises like thunders. Eventually, I’ve figured out how I can help him by soundproofing my dog crate.
It has been documented that over 20% of all dogs suffer from separation anxiety or fear of loud noises, such as thunder or fireworks. Considering that almost 37% of all U.S. households own a dog, this means there are more than 32 million households who share a fear of thunder with Charger.
A NY Based Study
So, you’re not alone fighting this war for your dog. That 32 million isn’t a small number.
If you’re reading this, then you probably love dogs and can’t resist having them. That would be an excellent choice if you think of adopting a pet.
Dogs are the wonderful pets and best friends any person could wish for.
Dogs are lovable creatures and most households will at least own a dog at some point or other.
But not will be fond of loud barking. They’re not only impossible to ignore, but also very annoying.
Wouldn’t it be great if we can avoid that annoying sounds so that we can love our dogs full fledge?
I’ve gone through all those phases and don’t want any other pets and pet lovers getting hurt by them.
So, I’ve made this detailed guide on how to soundproof your dog crate or kennel to stop external loud noises like thunderstorms from reaching dogs and also reduce internal barking sounds.
Bear with me, because I’m going to show you not how to soundproof your dog crate but also proven expert tips to stop barking and anxiety.
Look:
This is a one-stop guide where I’m not only going to share how I’ve soundproofed my dog’s crate and how efficiently I’ve done but also did detailed research on ways & products that I should’ve used too.
DID YOU KNOW: Female dogs are found to be 30% more likely to be more fearful of noises then are male dogs
On searching for a solution during initial phases, I’m stumbled on dog crates. I felt the soundproofing concept was very lucrative and I immediately bought one.
The results are awesome and I also soundproofed the existing dog crate.
For each additional year of a dog’s age there was a 3.4% increase in the likelihood that the dog would show strong or very strong signs of fear when exposed to loud noises
Though, you cannot make your dog crate 100% soundproof, but it will certainly reduce the sounds from your dogs.
I’m really confident that this article will be of great use to you and make sure you read till the end so that you won’t miss any alternatives may be.
Make sure you bookmark this page so that you can return here if you’re any doubts.
Let’s get started
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What are soundproof dog crates?
Soundproof crates are tiny crates (big enough to fit your dog), usually, build with an objective of soundproofing/stopping transfer of noise (like barking) between the internal and external environment of the dog crate.
They’re built with soundproofing and sound dampening material, which ensures the noise reduction. They usually absorb the dog’s barking and also reduce the reverberations caused due to barking.
Soundproof dog crates also add comfort to your dog’s night. This thing made me finalise buying one.
Do you know how anxious dogs become during thunderstorms? These soundproof dog crates stop that kind of unpleasant noises too, ensures that noises won’t disturb your doggy’s sleep.
Soundproofing the dog crate alone won’t reduce all noise completely, there are few other things you need to make sure to keep the barking sounds to a minimum.
Make sure that your dog feels safe:
Before jumping into the soundproofing things, don’t miss the part of your dog’s emotions.
Think, when does your dog bark the most? Probably when you (owner) is not around and when it’s terribly excited about something (like the sight of a stranger).
So, when you’re leaving your dog in a crate, make sure that your dog feels safe in there. You can eliminate the fear of your dog by following the below steps
How to stop dog barking in Crate:
Make your dog exhausted
No dog will ever bark if it is tired.
If you can make your dog tired by playing with them, or taking them to walk in the evening, then they will get tired and they lack the energy to bark in the night.
And the best part?
Doing this not only calms your dog but also refreshes your mind by spending time with your favourite pet.
Try this as much as possible. This way will assure the silence in the crate, as they won’t sleep at night.
Never ever leave your Dog in the bathroom
Most people will prefer leaving their dogs in the bathroom while they leave for their work.
That’s a pretty bad idea. Because your dog won’t get used to relax and sleep in the bathroom. They’ll feel weird and barks all day.
Another thing to consider is, the walls of the bathroom are very bad sound absorbers.
They reflect sound and resonates due to echo with the barking of your dog. This sound will pass through walls and wakes up the entire house.
So, I can say that leaving your dog in the bathroom won’t be a good idea, especially your untrained puppy.
Instead, Place the Dog Crate in a comfortable room
Just observe, in which room does your dog feel to get relaxed and would feel more comfortable when left alone?
Remember: Consider these three factors while choosing the best room for your dog.
- Echo
- Familiarity
- Distance
That will be the most suitable room to leave your dog when you‘re not around.
In my case, my puppies are habituated to both bedroom and living room.
The reason may be these rooms have more of my scent and as dogs are very smell-oriented, they’ll feel like being around with you even you aren’t.
It really is that simple.
Avoid emotional farewells with your doggy
Many people have a habit of hugging or squeezing their dogs while they’re leaving to work.
Now that’s a problem
Because that action may leave the wrong impression by dogs. They’ll think that the situation is serious and you’re leaving forever.
Instead, you can go to work straight without making eye contact with your dog.
This may hurt you, but it’ll make your dog feel like you’ll be back soon.
With time, your dog will get used to you going out and coming back, it won’t feel much concerned about it.
Make sure your dog doesn’t disturb your neighbours
When you’re out, your dog may bark and disturb your neighbours.
I suggest you place the dog crate away from your neighbour’s house. More the distance, the better it is.
But, if that particular distanced room is happened to be your basement or something (which violates our previous step) then, it is not suggested to do that.
Instead, you can place it in the bedroom or living room and close the door.
Find someone to look after your dog
Puppies love attention and having fun and play all day.
If you’re someone who leaves home for about 9-10 hours daily then you need someone else to take care of your dog.
If you can find someone from your family or from neighbours or even their kids who love being with dogs and taking care of them, then it will do a world of good to them.
Even elderly neighbours who’re feeling lonely at home will find some fun with your dog.
Asking won’t hurt and your dog will find another friend to enjoy all day.
If possible, hire a pet sitter
Not all are able to hire a pet sitter, but if you’re; then it is will be a very good option to choose.
Generally, a baby sitter will charge about 10$ per hour. Later you can negotiate it to a lower price.
Make your doggy to be comfortable in Dog Crate
One of the most common misconceptions is disciplining a dog hurts its emotions and it is cruel to do so.
But the truth?
It’s actually not only good but also necessary. Disciplining your dog is absolutely fine. Dogs, just like children, need to be taught how to behave according to the environment.
You need to train your dog to be comfortable with the environment of the dog crate.
During initial days, your doggy will behave badly like barking or may whine because of small space to move inside a dog crate.
But later it will adopt the dog crate environment and the bad manners will leave.
This only happens when you give assurance to your dog that you aren’t thinking of hurting him.
Get your puppy a Toy
How would you treat your few months old baby?
Won’t you buy a couple of toys for some entertainment?
Why should you treat your puppy differently?
If your dog doesn’t have a toy, then you should really consider having one.
Dogs usually get easily distracted. So these comfort toys make your dog less anxious and keep away from barking while you’re not around.
I’ve bought snuggle puppy for zee, my third dog. It worked very well. Snuggle puppy has a relaxing effect on dogs. It emits pulses of heartbeat and a small amount of heat. It is a great toy to reduce barking for both puppies and grown-up dogs.
Also if you think of keeping your dog busy, you can also get Kong toy. I’ve bought this one when I thought my doggy started to have a very good sleep and trying to do something else when awake.
This toy needs your dog to chew in a particular way to make tasty treat pop out. This process may take a few hours so your dog will be busy in some work instead of barking.
Check out the below video to know how helpful the Kong toy can be and how to use it.
From the above steps, you’ve learnt about making sure that your dog feels safe in a dog crate.
Once you did that, your next question will be: Does my dog bark after doing that stuff? The answer is “yes, it’ll”.
But, they’ll make a tremendous difference in your dog’s behaviour if you didn’t do that stuff.
Till now, you’ve done all the necessary things to stop barking from your dog’s side. But, your dog will still bark every now and then.
So, we’ll come back to soundproofing concept.
Why soundproof a dog crate?
Here, I’ll give you 4 reasons why you should consider soundproofing your dog crate or kennel.
- Reduce unpleasant noise for you and your neighbour.
- Your pet will feel much safer in there.
- Reduce dog barking and whining sounds.
- A peaceful space is created for your dog against terrific noises like thunders.
- Reduce sound heard by dog allowing it to relax and stop barking.
How to soundproof your dog crate:
I love soundproofing things and this thing is no different.
But soundproofing a dog crate is a challenge. Here’s why.
Blocking sounds means, you need to cover the smallest gaps of your dog crate as they will let sound pass through.
But, that’s simply not in the case of your dog crate.
Because:
Blocking all the gaps of your dog crate let your dog suffocate, but it doesn’t have to.
Making it simple: you should leave gaps so that your dog can breathe.
So, soundproofing your dog crate is not realistic. Then, what else you can do to block noise?
The answer is sound absorbing.
Yeah, increasing the sound absorbing potential of your dog crate is the realistic way to block noise.
Got confused?
Well, soundproofing means blocking sound to pass from one side to another of a room, or a thing maybe. Sound absorbing mean reducing the sound reverberations or echo in a room or object.
So it sounds easier, right?
And it is.
Well, that’s what you want to do to quiet your crate.
I’ll show you some steps I’ve followed to soundproof (sorry, sound absorbing I meant) my dog crate.
Want to see how it works right now?
Get Dog crate covers first
Soundproof dog crate covers are an economical solution to barking issues. The fact that buying a soundproof dog crate cover costs much lower than a soundproof dog crate.
For this, I don’t recommend putting unwanted old clothes on the dog crate, as it’ll make them look much messy.
Instead, you can have a look at affordable and good looking that can fit that job perfectly.
These are just covers that are made up of sound deadening material which absorbs the barking noise.
Though you can get regular crate covers at a much cheaper price, I personally decided to buy much more efficient soundproof dog crate covers.
Here, is a dog crate cover that worked very well for me, and I personally recommend buying this. The crate pad and bumper which comes along with the cover makes it a must buy.
These covers are made of noise deadening materials that make the noise difficult to escape but don’t get the crate too hot.
And yeah, believe me, it’s worth much more than the price you pay for.
That makes this option the best alternative to manually block the barking noise.
NOTE: While buying a cover, make sure it fits your dog crate.
If you’re on a tight budget and searching for some cheaper alternatives for soundproofing dog crate covers, then we also have something for you.
You can put a blanket or two in the top of your dog crate, more dense material is covering a dog crate, the more difficult it is for the noise to escape.
But, DO NOT overdo it, because your crate might become too hot and dark which makes too uncomfortable for your dog to sleep in.
It depends upon the temperature of your home too.
If your dog doesn’t feel good, then it’s better to change the idea of putting blankets.
Get Crate Absorption sheets
You can use these other inexpensive absorbing sheets as an alternative to soundproof dog crate to further enhance your sound absorption.
These absorbing sheets absorb mid to high-frequency sounds, are excellent for small-medium sized pets.
Crate absorption sheets are the best go when you’re ready to put some more bucks in. you’ll get surprised by the incredible amount of noise reduction they offer.
Though, these sheets won’t completely block the noise but will have a significant impact on the reduction of noise levels to almost zero.
NOTE: Make sure that the absorption sheet should be large enough to cover your dog crate completely.
Furthermore, these sheets create a quiet and dark atmosphere which will be perfect for your doggo to take naps and bedtime.
The best thing about these absorption sheets is, they require absolutely zero special knowledge or skills.
When you purchase them, they come with grommets with which you can hang the sheets to the crate (and thus cover the walls).
If you’re looking for inexpensive options, then you can use old sheets as well. They may not be that effective as absorption sheets but will reduce the noise to some extent.
NOTE: Using cheaper methods like thick carpets or egg cartons will not really solve the problem.
Using moving blankets.
Another inexpensive and yet effective option to soundproof is covering the dog crate with moving blankets. Moving blankets differ from ordinary blankets in such a way that they also absorb sounds.
Moving blankets are made from a mixture of soft and hard sound deadening material and designed in such a way that it absorbs noise and used for insulation purposes.
The best thing about moving blankets is they can be cleaned very easily. So, using them, you can keep your dog crate clean all the times.
To make an impressive difference, it is recommended to use 2-3 blankets.
During covering with moving blankets, make sure that your doggo has enough space to be comfortable and gaps to breathe.
Acoustic foam panels
If the budget allows you, the acoustic foam panels can be a great option to look at. Follow the following steps to set up the foam panels.
- Make sure that you’ve all the dimensions of your dog crate like length, width and surface areas.
- Get acoustic panels. I suggest you read [[buying acoustic foam panels]].
- It is technically suggested to work from bottom to top and attach foam panels to make work easier.
- Using clips, you can easily attach foam panels to the dog crate.
Soundproof the wall, floor or ceiling.
Though you cannot soundproof the dog crate completely, you can block the [[noise transfer through the walls]], if your neighbours are giving you a hard time and you’ve got a shared wall to deal with.
It will not only give the serenity to your neighbours, but it will also absorb internal noise.
If your upstairs neighbours are unhappy with your barking dog, then you must have a look at [[ceiling solution]].
If the same is the situation with the downstairs neighbours, then [[flooring soundproofing]] is a good option.
Though, these are a bit expensive ones than merely soundproofing your dog crate alone.
But, if you have enough budget and you want more peace in your home, then they will be the best solutions.
3 Best affordable soundproof dog crates
I believe most people who are owning dogs don’t have much time to do the above things for themselves.
And they also don’t mind spending few bucks for a ready-made soundproof dog crate that will get their dog ultimate comfort and peace of mind to them too.
I decided to add this list to avoid confusion, as it can be very tricky to buy a soundproof dog crate.
I’ve made this unbiased list on careful consideration of quality, price, durability, sound deadening nature, comfort and many more.
They have repeatedly and consistently proven to be an ideal choice not for just me but for tens of thousands of people who love dogs.
I’d like to mention that this isn’t a necessity if you don’t have a budget but they’re pretty inexpensive and that can be your best ever gift to your doggo.
ZenCrate Smart Anxiety Relief Crate
This is the first smart dog den that reduces the anxiety of your doggo caused by separation, loud noises, storm phobia and even when you are not home to take care.
This anti-anxiety pet crate works around the clock, with many advanced technologies included.
This crate is simply elegant and beautiful and does what it is intended to do.
The technology includes playing calming music selected based on research studies when your doggo goes in, blocks the sounds from outside noises. It comes with a detachable door too.
The reduced light exposure and its geometry also help calm your doggo once he enters into the crate. The design also includes vibration damping technology to reduce physical vibrations like heavy machinery or thunders.
The high quality comes with a high price. And “you get much more than what you pay for” is the most common feedback of its users.
Petsfit Soft Portable and Foldable Pet Crate
Petsfit Soft Portable and Foldable Pet Crate is an easy choice if you’re searching for a sophisticated and efficient crate in the market. The design is a simple yet elegant look.
The crate is portable, long lasting, easy to clean, easy to store and applicable to kinds of situations.
The best sound absorbing material is used to craft this crate which absorbs the noise to null. The incredible material regulates the temperature which will make your dog feel comfortable.
Removable and washable soft pads give your pet a comfortable place to sleep.
The crate is designed relatively small, so puppies and small dogs up to 17” H can fit comfortably.
AmazonBasics Folding Soft Dog Crate
AmazonBasics never compromise on quality and performance. Being a trusted brand and produces nothing but one of the best in the market. This Crate is nothing less.
The best thing about this crate is its flexibility. Unlike the previous one, this crate comes in different sizes, which is suitable for bigger dogs.
It does soundproofing perfectly, as it is supposed to. This crate is completely foldable and can be carried in hand or can be placed somewhere to save space.
It is made of PVC and fabric and absorbs noises to keep your dos comfortable. Check out the reviews as it is with the best quality with the best price.
How to soundproof a kennel
The scenario will be different in soundproofing a kennel.
Unlike crates, sound in the kennels will be overwhelming due to the echo produced by the reflection of sounds at hard surfaces.
Here: these echo and reverberations are needed to be dealt a bit differently.
The key here is to reduce the echo in the dog kennel by using various acoustic treatments considering it as a room. Maybe it’ll better be called “Soundproofing a dog room”.
We’ve various products to do that thing.
Using acoustic panels.
Using acoustic panels can be an innovative option for soundproofing a kennel as you can choose a variety of fabrics. You can also get custom panels by having images printed on them.
Acoustic panels usually offer great sound absorption for mid-high range frequencies.
Using acoustic tiles.
(improvement needed)You can easily use acoustic tiles to soundproof your kennel. As they are made of industrial strength adhesives, you can easily adhere directly to the walls and ceilings.
They’re usually made from recycled cotton materials which makes it a very good sound absorber. They are also available in various colours, designs, sizes etc.
[[check out]] these tiles from amazon, these has very good reviews.Sound Baffles
Using Sound baffles is yet another option for reducing echoes. They are usually suspended vertically from the ceiling.
They are decorative, light weighted, and easy to self-install.
Possible Problems with Soundproofing Your Dog Crate:
You should consider this possible problems while setting up the soundproof dog crate.
- Temperature:– While setting the soundproof covers or sheets to your dog crate, make sure that it won’t cause much heat inside the crate. High temperature can also be caused by placing the crate in sunlight or poor ventilation.
- Dark environment:- A dark environment can be good for your dog to some extent by providing calm and quieter surroundings. But excess dark may cause stress and confusion to your doggy.
- Poor Ventilation:- You SHOULD consider the ventilation while soundproofing your crate. Poor ventilation may cause your dog to suffocate which is something you’re not wishing to happen.
Soundproof Dog Crate FAQ
Here, I’ll be answering a few most common queries regarding soundproof dog crate.
In case you have any doubts please feel free to post it down in the comment section down below.
How To Stop my Puppy from Whining in Crate?
Look:
It doesn’t matter whether it is young puppy or fully grown dog, it can whine all night if not taken care properly.
Make sure you follow these tips:
- DO NOT reward your puppy for whining.
- If your dog is upset, take your dog out for fresh air and only after she became calm, send him into crate.
- DO NOT use the dog crate as a punishment.
- Giving him water before sleep may wake him up during night to pee.
- DO NOT keep your puppy too long in the crate.
How To Stop my dog from Pooping inside the Crate?
I’ve solved this issue by training my dog. You can also do the same.
No, I’m not talking about punishing your dog, doing horrible things, blah blah
I’ve started rewarding and praising him whenever he poops outside.
And whenever he’s going to poop inside the crate, just calling him and saying “NO” and taking him to the right place to do the work.
This way your dog can know doing what is right and what is wrong.
Final words on Soundproofing Dog Crate:
So, these are the major strategies you can use to quiet your favourite four-legged friend.
Making your doggo feel safe and comfortable inside a crate is the most important step to reduce whining and barking noise.
After having a terrible first month with my first puppy, I was very much glad after I’ve soundproofed the crates. The journey after that has been going quite beautiful.
In addition to strategies, using plush toys, adding a cover and blankets to your dog crate can certainly further reduce noise nevertheless of previous steps.
I hope my effort helps! If you’ve any questions or tips for other readers, you can leave them in the comment section below
