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

I think this is each to their own kind of thing..I've managed to raise my girl without one.but I have rooms I can pop her in for some space for her from the kids...if you haven't got a safe place you can pop them when needs be ,crates can be useful

Yes because everything you hadn't heard of when you were younger is automatically wrong and awful

Our dog has a safe space - the sofa. And an extra-safe space - our bedroom. She is anxious about lots of visitors, big shouty men, toddlers, loud noises, fireworks. (rescue). All you people who are ace dog trainers but never had a rescue dog, you may not appreciate that not every dog can be made perfect.

Crikey there are some angry defensive people on this thread.

If used properly they are great. mine will take themself to it to get away from the others if they are doing their In, also one likes to go.off and hide after she has a seizure and she always either goes in my airing cupboard or her cage. I had them when we had them all as pups to help with the craziness with (up untill 1st birthdays ) two intact males and a un spayed bitch. They are 4 now and still haven't taken them down they use them as beds or as a hideaway of one isn't feeling to good can't remember the last time I actually closed the door on them to be honest....no I can it was the day their mum died I couldn't take her bed and blankets out so I closed it after the dogs had said their good bye and had a sniff of her things. I didn't want them pawing at them or getting distressed i let them in it once a day to lay on her bed vet said it would help, untill I was strong enough to take her things and put her blankets somewhere safe.

We use one for our 5 month old pup. She chews the woodwork due to teething we give her different toys alternate them etc. Once she’s stopped chewing we won’t use it as much. We use it ONLY when we are not at home or for bedtime she’s never in it if we are home.

I’m with you 100% OP. I absolutely loathe them.

We’ve just taken in a dog who was kept in a crate 12 hours a day due to his old owners work situation. (Not her fault ..... ). He was so frantic he literally fought and chewed his way out of his crate. Now he has the run of the house and garden, gets daily walks, is relaxed and happy and will never be forced into a cage again.

No amount of defensive argument will ever convince me that cages are any place for a pet dog kept in a domestic environment. Vile things.

YANBU.

Yabu.

IMO every dog should be trained to feel comfortable in a crate. For all of you who swear you’d never use them and loathe them- what do you do if your dog is injured? What if the vet says cage rest? How do you travel your dog in a vehicle?

Please, please, don’t let the first time your dog is crated be a) at the vets waiting for surgery, or b) at your home recovering from an accident, sore and miserable.

I don’t use them routinely, but I make sure all my dogs are used to them. You never know when as a foster home, we may need to separate a dog, or one may need nursing, or someone will dump a bitch in season on me.

Leaving a dog crated all day is heinous. Not one person has said otherwise.

I’m with you 100% OP. I absolutely loathe them.

We’ve just taken in a dog who was kept in a crate 12 hours a day due to his old owners work situation. (Not her fault ..... ). He was so frantic he literally fought and chewed his way out of his crate. Now he has the run of the house and garden, gets daily walks, is relaxed and happy and will never be forced into a cage again.

No amount of defensive argument will ever convince me that cages are any place for a pet dog kept in a domestic environment. Vile things.

YANBU."

The problem there wasn't the crate, it was the idiot owners.

Those saying dogs that are institutionalised or that's it's cruel to lock them in crates, please, stop generalising. The dog in the picture never saw a crate til he was 6 and we bought one to crate rest his brother who had a snapped cruciate. Notice the open door. He chose to go in there, has never been locked in.

The crate was then used for new puppies who eventually preferred another bed. It comes out when needed, if one of them is injured, for example and they don't mind because they're used to it. I'd hate to need to restrict them suddenly when they've never seen a crate.

Dogs shouldn't be locked up all day, no, but crate training is a useful go to for when needed.

Brigante9 your dog would be more comfortable in there if you at least covered the sides with blankets or something.

its only cruel if you lock them in there when you are out at work / all night.

What is the point of a dog if you are going to keep them locked up in acage / crate 16+ hours a day?

Our spaniel is 8 and came to us as a very fraught, very stressed 12 month old who'd been badly treated. We crate trained her on the advice of a specialist we brought in, never closed the door, never used it as a punishment, never raised our voices at her, never touched or moved it etc and 7 years on she loves it. The door is always open and the DC know to leave her alone once she's in it. As others have said, some dogs need their own space that's just theirs. Our dog is happier and calmer for having it.

Our new puppy is 10 weeks and, again, his crate is always open, it's just a space that's his. No stress, no locking away, nothing but a calm, quiet space. Even at 10 weeks once the 8 year old takes herself off to bed he follows her and trots off into his crate. They're side by side but covered in warm blankets, and in the winter they have little microwave heat pads under their beds to keep them snug. The puppy often goes and has ten minutes in his crate throughout the day. The spaniel takes herself in less frequently but when the DC's friend visit or things get too hectic she heads off and has a little peace.

We have two DC who often have noisy friends over, we have cats and we often have guests. It's a busy house and for our dogs, their crates are simply a little bedroom of their own.

crispysausagerolls, I did loads of training with my dog (still do) but how exactly do you train a 9 week old puppy immediately so it doesn't chew a wire and electrocute itself?

He had someone with him all day, usually me, but I do need to go to the loo, have a shower, make something to eat. Also what about overnight? Me and DH slept downstairs but we did actually need to sleep not stay awake to make sure he didn't hurt himself.

He is pretty intelligent - was completely house trained in less than a week and learned to sit, lay down, lay on his side, roll over, shake paws, high 5 in just over a week but you can't train a pup not to chew something in a day or less

I got a crate when he was a young puppy. He would sleep in it, but not with the door closed. He has a dog bed in a quiet corner, and he goes there when he wants his own space and we have quite a quiet household. He stays downstairs and we have a stair gate so he doesn’t go upstairs as we have a timid house at up there.

I feel like so many people have misbehaved dogs because they won't do what needs to be done. If the dog whines or gives sad eyes they just chuck in the training.

Anyway, my dog literally won't sleep at night unless he is crated. He knows once he is in there it's sleep time.

One of my dogs is anxious because he is a rescue who, at only 7 months, had been neglected, almost starved, kept in a barn, never socialised at all, never seen a tree or a bird or grass, never seen a toy, abused and then had 3 supposed new homes who all gave up on him because he messed in the house (hello he had lived in a barn!), chewed things and would not walk on a lead. A week in one home, 3 days in another and a whole night in the third!

My other dog we got at 9 weeks but he was the shyest and most nervous of his litter. Most of the time he is fine but anything that worries him - fireworks, loud noises, changes at home and he goes in his bed

We don't use one, but we have a small room with tile floor to contain ddog at night and when we are out, nor do we have small kids

nor do we have small kids to be fair, it’s probably best not to cage kids, no matter how tempting.

@starcrossedseahorse No he wouldn't. He goes in occasionally, it is not his preferred sleeping location. If we are in the house, he uses one of three beds in the kitchen or lounge. The crate is only used, as I mentioned, for injuries (very lively springers, like to push through cover and occasionally hurt themselves) All three are in the same room as us-velcro dogs indeed- when we are at home. You don't know our circumstances so it's a bit silly to say he'd rather have covers over it. He's now 15, doddery, blind in one eye and would be very disorientated by covers. Not all dogs are alike. The same thing doesn't work for every dog.

Apologies - I was only trying to be helpful. I have had many ancient spaniels myself and currently have a 16 year old.

I am also the owner of several younger spaniels and, despite being very active working dogs, they are all velcro dogs.

*crispysausagerolls, I did loads of training with my dog (still do) but how exactly do you train a 9 week old puppy immediately so it doesn't chew a wire and electrocute itself?

He had someone with him all day, usually me, but I do need to go to the loo, have a shower, make something to eat. Also what about overnight? Me and DH slept downstairs but we did actually need to sleep not stay awake to make sure he didn't hurt himself.*

I really don’t understand what you mean, sorry. What you are describing (eg having to shower or otherwise and leave pup alone) is what people have been doing since the beginning of time - perhaps there weren’t wires then but other hazards. Every time my puppy went over to wires or something unsuitable I simply said “no” firmly, and picked him up and put him away from it. That, combined with the fact that puppies sleep about 20 hours a day in the beginnng, meant I just didn’t have any issues. And I have a working cocker, so not exactly an easy going dog! I probably unplugged wires etc just to be safe but in my experience it isn’t until they are a few months old that they start destructive behaviour, and by then they have been trained.