Help

[Caro]

The other is I am crate training her, she sleeps in there fine during the night, by the side of our bed, and will go in it to sleep in day, but if I shut the door and move away she creates. I really dont want a clingy dog. I am at home most the time, but want to be able to leave her for a couple of hours without her creating.

Also she barks at the slightest noise is there anyway to discourage this?

Apart from all the above she is a sweetheart.

I am afraid if you didnt want a clingy dog you may have gotten the wrong breed. Shelties can be very clingy dogs. They are shepherding dogs after all so are bred to develop a very close bond with their owners.

Of course having been a rescue dog she will be a little fearful as well, and many rescue dogs can be prone to seperation anxiety. I would try some of the techniques for seperation anxiety to help her work through this, at such a young age there is a good chance to work through it. One approach is to leave her in there for very short periods at first (like 10secs) and then slowly lengthen the time she is alone in her crate.
I would also leave her with a Kong in her crate so she learns to keep herself occupied when alone.

I would definately take her to the vet to check for a UTI. Otherwise get her on a strict routine for toileting so she knows what times to expect to be able to toilet. Also write down the times she is toileting. Is she toileting straight after she comes inside, half an hour later, an hour? You may need to keep her outside longer after she toilets or just take her out and hour or 1/2 hour later and work on lengthening the periods between.

My older dog was a real pain to toilet train so not all shelties are that easy.

Also you do not mention how long you have had her for. It may be a settling in period and she is yet to establish a routine. Take her out every hour like you would a pup until you can work out how long she will hold between toilets.