to crate or not to crate

[ziggy]

i always thought that putting your dog in a crate wasn,t very nice,,howeverwe went on holiday,and left jasper with a very good friend
who has spaniels amongst others,,and isn,t as daft as me where strictness is concerned,she is very good at getting her dogs to do as they are told,i warned her that when he is away from me he will become very distressed,and as a consequence he would wee or no;2 on the floor,she wasn,t worried,,i now know why,,and it worked,,she put him in a crate,,i can,t do it,because i,m a softie and a wimp ,,worried i may be upsetting my dog,,but i have to say  it did the trick,,since i came back from hols,,he hasn,t done a thing,do you think it may have something to do with him going in the crate??

thanx ziggy and a well behaved jasper                          

[suzysu]

Ziggy

Dont' know if the crate is responsible.  All I can say is that my two have been crated (at night) since I had them (2yrs and 1yr). At night I say 'beddy byes' (don't laugh) they jump up, go outside for a quick wee and then take themselves off into their crate - they are quite happy.

During the day I leave the crate doors open and they often go into the crates and have a sleep in them.  They would'nt do this if they were not happy - I think they like their own bit of space.

PS Hope Jasper is recovering well after his op - cocker kisses to him x                    

[padfoot]

I used to think crates were cruel until I started fostering dogs.
Now I think they're a Godsend.
Toby in particular loves his crate. I never shut him in it, even at night, I leave the door open. But he chooses to go in there.
When he was younger I did crate him at night and it definitely helped with housetraining.
As long as crates are the right size and are used sensibly...ie NEVER as a punishment and only for short periods (or night time), I think they are great.
They are very useful for keeping a puppy safe for short periods.                    

[ziggy]

thanx for the reply suzy,,i think you are right,,they know there own spaceand welcome their privacy,,thanx for asking about him,,he,s doing well,,he,s such a soldier.his pic is in the solids gallery,,you can,t miss him,,red and yellow bandage,lol,,,beddie byes sounds good  sweety,,lol,we say all sorts,,lol                    

[ziggy]

thanx padfoot,,i know now it,s not a cruel thing to do,,but i wouldn,t have done if my friend hadn,t done this with jasper,,although i have to say,,when we picked him up he was in a crate,,and oh,,my god did he sulk :shock: i haven,t had the need to put him in one since,,he has never wet the floor at night since that,, :wink:

p.s must have been mommy being too kind,,moaning about it but not doing anything to stop it,,,xxxx                    

[suki1964]

I also thought that crating dogs was cruel until I started to do some research into it. It appears that dogs actually like their crates as its their "safe" place. And the amount of members who have posted to this site in favour of them has really swayed me so I will be getting a crate for Alfie

Suki                    

[PennyB]

I have a crate as part of the furniture and it was worth every penny. Its left open more often than its closed but it was great for puppy things so I could go out knowing they were safe (I have the sort of open plan downstairs that you can't put a decent barrier across as its basically all one room). It was brilliant when I had to keep Wilf confined to a small area 24/7 for 2 weeks after his lymph node op, and any other thing where they have to 'rest' away from the other or themselves.

Ruby sleeps in it quite often and considers it her bed (or at least one of them).

Got some ear cleaning stuff out tonight for them and found both of them sitting in there as they think of it as their refuge from me LOL                    

[Louis]

Crates are the best thing ever to be invented.  We got one when Louis was a puppy, he felt safe and secure in it.  He goes in himself now and loves it, its his own space.  We got the biggest one you can get and we leave him in there when we go out, no longer than 3-4 hours, but when we go to bed he goes in and stays in all night, even if we decide to have a lie in and get up at 8.80-9am, he doesn't make a sound.  He's quite happy in there and not distressed in anyway. Sometimes in the morning he doesn't even seem keen on coming out.  I think I have a very laid back cocker, a lot of people who have met him say they can't believe how placid and laid back he is for a cocker, but I haven't got anything to compare him with so I wouldn't know.

I did recently dismantle the crate and I left him in the living room and the passage, he was ok the first few times, then he started chewing the carpet, so I put the crate straight back up.  He is 10 months now and I often wonder whether I will be able to leave him in the house without chewing, or whether it's going to be the crate forever.!

Gemma&Louis                    

[Juel]

I too agree that i used to think crates or puppy pens as i call them were cruel but mine was a Godsend when i had my pups. I bought 2 of the largest ones & i used to push/clip them together doors open  so that they had  a decent area to move around in.
<Honey> often went in hers  (i always left hers up) for some quiet times but neither of them seemed to bother infact i only needed to open their treat jar & they'd run straight in whether they needed to or not :roll: !!!

I also found Honey's to be a real help at meal times as she would try to eat Harveys food as well as her own & daft as he is he'd back off & let her so i started to put her food in her pen so that he could eat in peace & again i'd only start preparing her food & se'd be straight in there.
As someone said earlier as long as they associate their pens with good times & things then they are a great thing to have.

My breeder recommended them to me as he said that pups don't like to soil their bed area so they would help with toilet training... don't know how true this is but it seemed to work for me.

I'm glad that i had the biggest ones as it gave them more room as they grew but the only down side was that they wouldn't fit in our car when they were up!!

luv
juels,Harveymonster & our foster daughter :wink: ...Amber bear (gaynors pooch!!)                    

[Cob-Web]

We've not even got Molo home yet, but the crate is up and in place, lined with newspaper with vet-bedding etc all ready (no, we are not at all anxious for him to come home   )

We have a young daughter and the crate (Giant dog size, I should add) is as much to allow Molo somewhere to get away from her as it is to keep him from doing himself or the house harm.

A number of people, including my mum, have expressed their 'horror' that I could consider use a 'cage' - hopefully in 12 months time, when I have a well behaved Cocker spaniel, they will understand the reasons for it.

As we go away alot (weekends at friends and in hotels/self catering) we also think that taking the crate will give Molo security and hopefully he will settle wherever we go.

I first learned about crating from a family we stayed with in the USA about 8 years ago; they rescued abandoned puppies in a very amatur way, but could not live without it. Crates were not really available on the Pet maket in the UK then, and I'd not come across them despite having being involved with a vet practice and rescue centre!                    

[bluegirl]

Hi,
I'm new to crates as well. I bought it when I was showing my cocker. But I really used it when I started to look after my brothers 8 wk old Border Collie whilst he was at work. We had this arrangement where I picked her up and looked after her 7 hrs/day 3 days a week. She is a lovely dog, but totally hyper. I used to give her time out in it to get her to rest. She soon understood it was quiet time and settled down well.

From Karen                    

[Mightyjoe]

Sorry I have to say I am not in favor of putting a dog in create, Oscar is now six months old and apart from the odd bit of chewing Oscar has been no problems. The breeder that we got Oscar from had already started paper training him. I can understand why people put there dogs in creates but is not for me, or should I say Oscar. We allow Oscar to sleep on the floor in our room at night so there is no need for a create, but this is not for everybody. Oscar does have a couple of safe places, but most of the time he is asleep on his back next to us. As there is only me my wife, Oscar seems he does not need to go and hide. I think most of the time a dog needs a safe place is when they are trying to escape form very lively children.                    

[looby lou]

Mighty joe, love your avatar.
I didn't use a crate in the house at the beginning only for the car because I too thought it was cruel. However when doggy no.2 came along I had real problems with her house training and was persuaded to try the crates, I am converetd and it is now the best thing ever, no more messes and more so the dogs love their crates. We have a similar night time ritual. Telly off, lights off, doggies go to crates and in they leap and cuddle up for the night. Nighty night                    

[Mightyjoe]

I can see it works for you. Me and Sharon Just love spending as much time as we can with Oscar. We like him in our room at night and we don't even mind the 6am wakeup for a play. In the car we have a harness for Oscar on the back seat.                    

[looby lou]

must confess my first cocker norbert sleeps in the bed with us. it is the girlies who sleep in their crates.
i went to stay at a friends house last friday with norbert as we were going to show sat am, Norbert slept with me in her sons room, we left doors open in case he wanted to go downstairs and at 4 am she was awoken by norbert jumping on her bed with my bra in his mouth wagging his tail. Great eh , they are a great breed :!:
love the looks of oscar lively and happy