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First, I’ll bet some won’t like this, but discussion is what this is for.
I’ve been reading these forums awhile & just don’t understand something:
What’s with the mania for crating a dog?
I’m 52. I was raised old-school: the dog was a member of the family, he lives in the house with the rest of us, w/his own bed, but pretty much gets to wander the house at will (or most of it).
He’s trained to behave when you aren’t home, taught not to chew furniture or piddle inside. If he needed limits, he spent his alone hours in a spare room or porch w/his couch.
Why would anyone want to confine thier dog to a crate for the whole day? Would you like to be stuck in a box all day w/nothing to do? It’s not fair to the dog. He can’t trot arnd the house, stretch his legs & talk to the cats, or look out the window when bored to watch people, dogs & squirrels, or stretch out & nap – & can’t scare the burglars away, barking at the door.
To me, a crate is an excuse not to train your dog to behave while he’s alone.
My dog won’t go into a crate: at his last home he was crated for 3/4 of the day & obviously hated it. He sleeps on the couch or on the bed. I’d never force him into a crate just for my convenience.
The floor is now open for discussion and responses…I totally agree. I have three dogs now, and have never crated. I think it’s an overused tool. It can be helpful with potty training, but people overuse it way beyond that stage.
Yes! Finally, somebody who agrees!
It’s not only overused, but it’s only very recently become the accepted way to treat Man’s Best Friend.
And if you’re potty training, why not just enclose the little fellow in a puppy-fence (useful later for other puppies, house bunnies & the occasional small baby), so he doesn’t feel so cramped? Then, he’d have a place to lay down and a place for his training pad, and can learn the differences between Sleep Place and Pooping Place.
Perhaps it has something to do with the modern obsession with over-scheduling & over-controlling small children – which is how many people treat their pets.
I also find it rather surprising, that after almost 30 views of this (some were mine), only 1 person actually expressed an opinion of any kind.I can’t believe that. I would never crate my dogs for the entire day while I’m at work, then for another 8 hours while I sleep!! In my mind, that borders on cruelty! I’ve had this discussion with others before, and they always bring out the old "dogs are den animals" line. I’d LOVE to see a wolf or other natural den animal voluntarily stay in it’s den, alone, for 16+ hours per day.
PS, below pics of my happy, uncrated babies.Click on any picture to see full size:
Wow! That’s quite a bit of crate hate going on. When used correctly, a crate is a wonderful tool for housetraining. It is also great for dogs who are nervous and need a place to feel safe. My boxer does not use a crate. My beagle/dachsund mix does. She is a wire chewer. She’s over a year and still likes to chew. Important wires are her chew toy of choice. If we are in the kitchen, she goes in her "house" by her own choice. Crates should have enough room for your dog to stand up and not hit his/her head. It also should be big enough for your dog to turn around in. Most adult dogs will sleep all day whether inside a crate or outside a crate when their owners are not home. What works for one person does not work for another and what works for one dog does not work for another. So to say someone is lazy in training their dog and that is why they are using a crate is ridiculous and insulting. You cannot make a generalization like that. Especially when you have no experience in crate training. Do people over use it? Yes. When someone leaves their dog in a crate for 16 hours a day it is cruelty? Yes. But when a cat or a small dog is at the vet they are in a very small cage around the clock. Is that cruelty? The larger dogs are in a concrete kennel standing in their own pee and feces. Isn’t that cruel? Please educate yourself before making a generalization on everyone who uses crates and what was it? Oh yeah, "Crate Mania".
I agree. I do crate my dog when I am not home, but it is brief and it is because he pees in my house. I’ve tried re potty training him, but crating him when I am out is the only thing that works.
I don’t like the idea of dogs being crated for a long period of time.HI
I totally agree with you! I am having some problems with my Great Pyrnees puppy and have been told to crate him (especially before he was housebroken) but I couldn’t afford the crate the housebreaking problems worked themselves out …as I’m sure the other problems will too.
I was also raised old school…the dogs were either outside or in the house! No crates, no fences…if they were bad in the house they got put outside and brought back in after a suitable punishment period or if they were older…when they were ready to come back in.
HelenOur two GSPs have wire kennels where they go when no one is home and at night. We cannot let them have the run of the house unsupervised because they are high-energy dogs who will tear the house apart if left to their own devices and inevitably end up hurting themselves. They are both generally well-behaved and housebroken, but when they get bored or over-excited they can wreck the place if left unchecked.
As puppies, the "puppy fence" never would have worked. These dogs can climb and jump very high at a very young age.
They will also eat anything that doesn’t eat them. While I am careful to keep hazardous materials out of their reach, GSPs seem to have a knack for finding things we overlook. I also have two young boys in the house and they leave things lying around.
My female chewed the plug off a cube freezer when she was a puppy (luckily it wasn’t plugged in) and last year she ate a small toy and had to have surgery to have it removed from her intestines – because she got upstairs after one of the boys left the baby gate open and I didn’t realize she was up there til after the fact. The baby gate at the foot of the stairs is more a psychological barrier for them – my female can jump it, but knows she isn’t supposed to. My male is too lazy. 🙂
I can’t take these kinds of chances with my babies, so I don’t see where there is a problem with crating them when we can’t be there to supervise them, or when we are in bed at night.
Their kennels have plenty of room for them to stand up and move around, have big soft blankets for them to sleep on, and both dogs always have a rawhide and a couple of chew toys. I don’t work so they are never kenneled for very long during the day.I was glad to see this post! I have just gotten my first "grown up" dog (meaning the first dog I actually have total responsiblity for) from a shelter. She is proving a challenge to house break, and the only advice I can find is to put her in a crate. That’s just cruel! She’s obviously miserable in there. She likes to hide food/toys in her "room" but that’s it. I am a teacher and work 8-9 hour days. Leaving her in a crate that long would be abusive. Plus I like her snoring near me at night. 🙂
Old school here, too. I don’t believe in crates at all or whatsoever. Now, there may be times where it’s necessary, but generally speaking, training is solid when done the old fashioned way. There is NEVER an accident with a well trained pup. (Obviously illness is an exception) But that takes time. But time well spent.
In fact, you’ll rest better when they’re trained properly. Sleep til noon? Not a problem. Crate trained? Ok, get up at 7 am to take them out.I see the point of all the posts about crate training them. I personally believe in it whole heartedly because the crate is your dogs own private space that no other member of the family can invade, a place for the dog to go of his/her own free will to have time to its self if it feels the need to. Crate training is also a plus to help with potty training *** not as an excuse to not train your dog***. a dog will not mess where it sleeps and eats, (yes some dogs mess in kitchens but probably on the other side of the room from where the food bowls are), i had crate trained a boxer puppy and she would go in there to sleep during the day and at night.
I have a puggle now and he goes into his crate when we are eating dinner (of his own will) and sits there with the door open. when used correctly the crate is an amazing asset as a training tool. *** i have never and will never use a crate as a punishment*** that is the only cruel part of a crate are the owners that dont use them properly. i hope that the people that dont agree with crate training will have a little better view as to why some do prefer to utilize a crate. also i would like to note that some dogs dont like the wire crates because they feel vulnerable the "airline" crates are better because the appeal to the primal instinct of the dogs and create a cave like place for them to rest.All very good points Bean and my sentiments also.
Also my vet is very much infavor of crate training. In addition to the points you made he said that a dog who must be hospitalized and has not been "crate trained" suffers much greater stress than a dog who is used to using a crate as his den. The non crate trained dog, in addition to being ill, is at greater risk of taking longer to heal or even not getting better because of the extra strain placed on him by the unfamiliar confinement.I would like to add that I have an almost 11year old Irish settter who has cancer and is going through chemo treatments. He was crate trained by his previous owners but no longer uses a crate as it is too big for my bedrooms. However, because he is used to the idea he does not freak out and voluntarily goes into "his" crate when he is about to be treated at the cancer facility. I am so glad he doesn’t have to contend with the extra stress of not being familiar with crates. Also when I take him along while I visit with my friend, who has a grooming shop, he always meanders into an empty crate and makes himself comfortable and at home. This tells me that the crate is a"treat" and is not considered a "punishment’ in his mind.
I also have a four year old Border Terrier whom I crate trained as soon as I got her at 9 months old. She was never in the crate for more than 4 hours, usually less, during the day. I planned my errands for times after she had eaten and relieved herself. As with most dogs that is sleep time and it makes no difference to a dog if it is sleeping in a comfortable crate or some where else. I agree that dogs should not be crated for long periods of time, except at bed time. The crate should definitely be large enough to stand up, stretch and turn around and have comfortable pads etc.
Now, at 4 years old, Dixie goes into her crate as soon as she realizes I am going to leave. She obviously loves her space and likes being in there while I am away.Thank you! We just got 3 puppies and everyone and all information I have found just talks about crate training. I never trained my 10 yo lab that way and he has the run of the house when we are out with no problems. I of course bought the crates to try this method. I can’t stand it. I now have them gated in my sunroom with access to their crates at night and when I am gone and I like it much better. The puppys seem happy either way. But I was taking them out at 11 pm and back up at 6am 7 days a week to take them out when they were crated and they still were going in the crate and then stepping in it and it was awful they were miserable and I was too.
My dog loves his crate. He is a Scottie and instinctually looks for places to sleep that are like caves because dogs are cave dwellers. When he wants to be left alone or is afraid of something it is his safe haven. He doesn’t spend more than 2 hours actually locked in it, but I bet he spends about 8 hours in it. If you are forcing a dog to be a crate he won’t like it, especially for long periods of time.
Used correctly they can be a great place for your dog to feel safe and secure – a place in the house all to his own!
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