To hate dog crates?

[DannyOD]

I used to use one myself but I looked at her in there in day like a little prisoner and I just thought No!!! Ready to be flamed but there you go

So what people are saying is that crates that are too small and dogs locked in crates for long periods are cruel? I don’t think there’s a single person on this thread who wouldn’t agree with that

My dogs have crates covered with a fleecy blanket. The doors were taken off when I put the crates together. I would not close the door on them, ever. People who buy puppies and lock them in a crate all day whilst they go to work are nothing short of cruel!

My dogs have beds in the living room and beds in their crates in the utility room. They always choose to sleep in their beds in their crates, at night. The house doors are left open so they can choose to sleep in their beds in the living room or the sofa - they prefer their crates. They retreat to their crates when the grandchildren arrive too. I don't blame them. Sometimes I wish I had a crate to retreat to 😁

Dottie
What I don't get is all this talk of 'safety' what is it about these dogs' living arrangements that means they don't feel safe in the house in general? Mine flops down and sleeps all over the house, she feels safe because it's her home...as did my previous dog, my husband's previous dogs and his family's dogs.

In the case of my dog it is because of her temperament. She has a bit of food aggression which we are not going to be able to train her out of. It is less stressful for her if she knows she can take her special treats to her crate away from the family, and take herself off if she's feeling grumpy. As I said above, the rest of house is shared space but, for my dog at least, it is important to her to have somewhere that is a human-free zone.

Wendy sounds perfect to me.

My spaniel has just had a mad half hour and exhausted her self. I've put her in her crate and she's immediately switched off and gone to sleep.

She gets in there her self when she's tired.

She puts her toys in there.

Its a god send when I'm doing something like sewing and have needles and patterns about.

And I get the safety thing. My girl chews everything. Including wires.

I couldn't leave her free roaming whilst I go out.

She would choke to death or electrocute herself.

YABU.

We have one. She chooses to go in there, we don’t shut the door though we do sometimes if we are in and out the front door to save her running off.

Yes our bad dog hasn’t got a great recall despite training for this. It’s an ongoing process.

I often put a kong in there with her to occupy her. She hasn’t suffered any like effects from being crated.

She is on our bed/floor at night.

It’s also her safe space away from the kids as they seem to have an issue with listening to me.

Yabvu. The crate represents a safe den for the dog.
If people misuse it as a battery cage that isnt the fault of the cage, its the fault of people demanding the right to own a live animal who dont have the ability to meet its needs.

We rarely use our anymore as we only have one dig and he is an adult but I wouldn't be without one.

We use it when we go camping or if we stay in accommodation or friends places. Although he is 10 and house trained you never know what other dogs have marked in the house and it is pretty tempting for a male dog to over mark in a strange house.

Our dogs have all been great in crates as we crate train when they are pups. The crate we have now is a soft crate so if our dog didn't want to be in there he could chew his way out pretty quickly. I don't think they are cruel if used correctly, simply a tool to help us share our lives with out pets.

Don’t use one then

I couldn’t care less what people think about crates, so long as they don’t use them in a way that causes distress to the dog. I have open crates for any of the dogs that want a bit of peace from their pals. They take themselves off into the crate and have a wee sleep. Using them because you can’t be arsed house training them, don’t like them looking for attention/affection, or putting them in all day because you’re at work and don’t want to pay a dog walker, is completely different.

After reading all the comments I would like to add that our BC is in fact very well trained, he is actually the best behaved dog we have ever owned, he free runs our back yard with chicks/ducklings/chickens and ducks, visits my in laws property and mixes with their cats, has free run of their property while we are there and never wanders, has immediate recall and responds excellently to verbal commands but I still crate him if we are tenting or staying in someone else's property, particularly if other dogs have stayed there.

Doesn't mean we haven't trained him, it means I can sleep easy knowing our kids wont be stepping on him in the middle of the night in the tent or we can go out for an hour or two without worrying about him marking someone else's house (he is housetrained but you never know).

I think people are talking about 2 different thing here.

1. grate on the floor. Doors open. Dogs free to roam around. It's Just a bed with a roof if it chooses so.
2. you leave for work. Close the crate and leave the dog there until you come back.

Haven't ever used crates apart from on my youngest dog, who used to look for the quietest darkest spot to sleep. He ignored his dog bed and you would find him snoozing under the dinner table or squished behind a sofa.

We got him a crate and covered it with a blanket. He has never been locked in it, or physically put in his crate but walks in of his own accord when he wants a nap.

All dogs have free run when I'm out and sleep in the bedroom with me so crates can be used positively as their own space without being a prison or to mitigate poor training.

Dottie, as I already said, when we got our pup at 9 weeks we lived in an open plan house. There was no way we could make it totally safe for him - tv wires, internet wires, stereo wires etc. He was only locked in his crate overnight and even then not the whole night as we would get up a couple of times to see if he was ok or needed to pee or poo.

He was not left alone during the days. I was normally with him or, if I had to go out, one of our nieces or a neighbour came in to be with him. So hardly cruel owners are we?

Now he can sleep where he chooses and, most of the time, he chooses his bed. I do know that if he is not well he always goes in his bed and if he is worried at all he goes in his bed. He is not happy when fireworks are going off and will always go in his bed then. He is fine in there but otherwise he will cry.

He is not keen on any loud noise or anything strange to him (we moved the living room furniture round the other day and he went straight into his bed as he was obviously not happy about it).

I get that not everyone thinks crates are a good idea. I had never used them with all our other dogs (over 10) and only got one for this dog because of not being able to make the house safe. I would definitely use them for any future dogs though.

Quite a lot of dog trainers and behaviourists recommend crate training because if, for any reason, a dog has to go in a crate such as at the vet or if injured etc, they will be used to one.

A friend's dog broke his toe and the vet told her that he had to rest. Of course he wouldn't rest so the vet recommended a crate. Because he wasn't crate trained he wouldn't stay in it and just flung himself around and howled. He had to have his toe amputated because he did not rest and it didn't heal properly

I resisted them for a long time. When I finally got one, I found my dogs would choose to use it with the door was open. Same with the car and van cages. They all became go-to private spaces.

I fucking hate them. Our dog has a “safe space” - his bed! It seems like an excuse to me to not have to monitor them properly or puppy proof things. Horrible concept of a confined space and people use them incorrectly too.

🙄 you're right, I'm such a terrible dog owner because I crate my labrador at night. I should let her ingest the majority of the kitchen, who cares if she gets an obstruction.

You are looking at it from your point of view, not a dog's. It's a den substitute.
I initially felt the same about them but after having one of mine freak out in a crate during a stay at the vets I would always crate train now, even if I didn't always use it.
I actually have difficulty getting mine OUT of their crates now, they love them - and they are always open.

Trainer hat on..

It is pretty much inevitable that at some point, every dog will need to be kept in a crate for veterinary reasons (at the vets, for recovery from injury/surgery) and possibly for travel as well.

It makes sense to teach your dog, kindly, using force free methods, to accept and relax in a crate with the door shut and the person out of sight - this method takes patience and time and at NO point involves shutting the dog or ignoring them crying.

Crates can be really helpful, once the dog or puppy is happy in the crate, for those moments where you need to be in two places at once, or they need to be kept safe (builders in and out, christmas party things got rowdy... lots of reasons).

However they can, like anything else, be misused - most commonly I see people trying to mitigate the effects of separation anxiety by locking the dog in a crate. This tends to mean the dog damages himself rather than the home :(

For all those who hate them and don't have one - can you tell me how your dog is going to cope when hes crated overnight in the vets for an emergency? Do you seriously think you are doing your dog a favour by NOT preparing him for this eventuality, and thereby adding the distress of being crated without prior training, to whatever illness or injury the dog has?

widdlindiddlin

My dog has had to be in a crate several times at the vets and also when he goes out with the dog walker he goes in the crate in the van. He has never had any problems and has just gone in them, despite me having never used one at home. So not sure wtf your point is really 🤷🏻‍♀️

Dog groomer, we use crates to keep dogs safe when they are not being worked on for their own safety.

crispysausagerolls, "an excuse not to puppy proof"! So how exactly could I have puppy proofed a house where the whole of the downstairs was open plan. How could I make sure my puppy didn't chew any of the wires (tv, stereo, internet etc)?

I had never used one before with other dogs but we lived in houses that could be made safe.

If you read my post you will see that I spent literally every day with my puppy while he was young and, if I had to go out, would have someone else come in and look after him. So hardly "couldn't be bothered to monitor him". I crated him at night for HIS safety not my convenience.

If your dog was ok in a crate at the vets even though he wasn't used to them then you were very very lucky. As I said, my friend's dog had to have his toe amputated because he would not rest and would not stay in a crate.

I know a vet nurse and she said most dogs that have not been crate trained are a nightmare when they have to be in one.

I agree with the dog trainer and dog groomer that it is a good idea to crate train as you never know when your dog may need to be crated. They can injure themselves if they are not used to crates

My whole house is the dogs crate. He does have dog beds in various rooms but prefers the sofa mostly.

If they are usd correctly, and a dog is not left in one with the door shut, and the dog likes his crate I don’t think there is a problem.

We have never used a crate for our dog and he coped just fine at the vet’s in an emergency. Having said that, I think crates can work well if used properly. Unfortunately, I do think the potential is there for overuse or misuse of crates.

My dog often chooses to lie under a desk or table. He does seem to enjoy creating that sort of environment, so I can well believe that some dogs love their crates.