Crate Training

[hoover]

Goog luck with it.  We had an awful time for 2 or 3 weeks trying to get Ollie used to it and then one day something just seemed to click and he settled down very nicely to sleep in it for periods of about 2 hours 3 times a day.  I never intended to use a crate but it was an absolute godsend.  Now we very rarely close the door on it.  We positioned it in a large open floor to ceiling cupboard in the kitchen with a loose curtain hanging down so he can sneak in and out of as he pleases.  He chooses to go in for his naps during the day and sleeps there at night. 

The only time we would close the door on it now would be if he needed an enforced break, for eg, when visitors are over and he seems to think he has to be awake and alert all the time.  On these occasions he would get shattered following us around and trying to stay awake and then he would actually start pawing me and I knew what he needed was to be told he could go to his crate, stay there and not worry, and having the gate closed enabled him to do that.

It has also been invaluable to take with us if we are going away for a few days or staying with family - it's his safe space where he can truly relax when he feels unsettled in new environments.

[bizzylizzy]

It has also been invaluable to take with us if we are going away for a few days or staying with family - it's his safe space where he can truly relax when he feels unsettled in new environments

We found the same - took it to my sisters where he'd never been before and he slept downstairs on his own with no problems at all, also left him in it in a hotel room while we went for breakfast and he never made a sound........

[aliceandlouis]

Well done Barley 

I know that there are heartfelt and differing views on the use of crates, with the implication by some that their use borders on cruelty (and like all things, if taken to extreme I can see how that could be the case).  In my experience using a crate has been an absolute godsend with regard to allowing Louis to settle down, even in a strange place at night (as per bizzylizzy and hoover above).  It has also been incredibly useful to be able to say to holiday lettings that would normally not allow a dog that ours is crated at night and on the odd occasion we might leave him in the evening - to the point where a booking that otherwise wouldn't be allowed has been agreed!

However, the major reason I am in favour has a lot to do with Louis' personality/temperament - as a youngster there were some issues with resource guarding and it rapidly became obvious that he took the 'responsibility' of being the dog of the house very seriously.  Even now, when he is roaming free when I am at home, any noise (real or imagined) that he doesn't 'understand' is met with a noisy volley of woofage and he is very assertive with strangers who enter the house until he has made friends.  The crate for him is somewhere where he feels that he can drop the reins of responsibility and truly relax - window cleaners, workmen, strangers - they can all walk past his crate when he is shut in and they may be lucky to get one eye opened - if Louis was out of his crate it would be a very different story.  I feel less stressed under these circumstances, and more importantly it is patently obvious that Louis is happier as well.  On a typical day Louis doesn't go back into his crate once he has woken up in the morning unless I need to go out, and if I do leave him the most it will be is a couple of hours - and on those occasions he has been known to stay in there for as long as an hour even after I have opened the door!!  As a 7 year old mature dog the issue of resource guarding is no more and he is a very mellow dog now - but his use of, and love for his crate continues 

We all make decisions based on our own experiences and our own dogs and being 'dogmatic' (sorry!) one way or the other isn't always helpful, so I hope that you have all the success in the world Clawson77 with whatever you decide - there is no 'right' or 'wrong' in my book, just what works for you and Barley and makes you both happy (so that by definition rules out extreme/excessive use of the crate)

Good Luck xxx

PS - love the name!

[Mudmagnets]

We all make decisions based on our own experiences and our own dogs and being 'dogmatic' (sorry!) one way or the other isn't always helpful, so I hope that you have all the success in the world Clawson77 with whatever you decide - there is no 'right' or 'wrong' in my book, just what works for you and Barley and makes you both happy (so that by definition rules out extreme/excessive use of the crate)

Quite agree, as a 'mum' to 3 young dogs I also find crates so useful for many reasons and in many circumstances.

[Helen]

Actually I think there is only one member on this board that is vehemently anti-crate. 

If used as everyone else has stated on this thread crates are a brilliant tool.

In the nearly 11 years of being on this forum there has never been one case of ill treatment or suffering via crate use.  Not one.  Says something 

Good luck with you and your pup.  It sounds like you have the right idea of how and when to use a crate.  My 22 month old was crate trained and he loved it, it was his den, he happily settled in it.   When he was fast asleep we closed the door.  No issues, no problem and he's far more adaptable than my older cocker was and is 

[Clawson77]

Barley is settling into his crate more and more, especially when there is a juicy lamb rib as a reward.. Crate training will come in extremely handy with toilet training as he is not holding much at the moment and unfortunately my wife and I cannot be around to watch him 24/7.

[daw]

I don't see how crate training will help a dog that can't 'hold it'. If he can't, he can't. Do you mean he soils his crate? Surely this is distressing for him?

[Clawson77]

He doesn't soil his crate, when left alone he will use newspaper, however there have been numerous times where he has gone when there is newspaper within 5 yards. Maybe I'm expecting a little too much too soon of my furry companion.

[Londongirl]

Re toilet training - if at all possible, you might get more success by getting rid of the newspaper. Although it makes cleaning up easier, you are teaching him to go in the house when the ultimate goal is to have him only go outside.