AIBU to leave dog in shower for one day?

[showerdog]

Elderly dog has back issues, can't be left unsupervised not in a crate because he will jump on and off furniture and risks hurting himself. He is not destructive and never has been, but his crate is broken. Can I leave him in a large, walk in shower for one day whilst I'm at work? He sleeps in the shower in the summer when it's shut, only difference is the door will be shut. He will obviously have his usual blanket and water. AIBU? I can't think of another safe place in my open plan house. Even the toilet is a risk as he will try and sit on it or jump on it.

Do people not understand that the dog is recovering from serious surgery which means he MUST be crated?!?

Honestly, I absolutely detest dogs being caged, but if they are recovering from surgery- it's actually necessary. It's like bed-rest for humans. It's miserable, but sometimes necessary to recover.

My cat broke a hip years ago, and I was told to keep him in a cage for 6 weeks. It's very common for such injuries. I felt awful and we compromised on shutting him in the bathroom when I was at work.

You are not being cruel, you're making the best of a bad situation and doing what you have to. I'm sure the shower is fine.

@AmberLynn1536 fair play to you, not many people on MN apologise when they’ve made an ill-judged comment and I am always impressed when people do. Good on you for recognising that it was unnecessarily harsh and apologising for it.

@Redbone read the posts. OP doesn’t routinely crate the dog, he needs to be crated for his own safety due to back injuries. Like a human being put on bed rest.

@ChardonnaysBeastlyCat I don’t have kids but as far as I’m aware, young kids are often left in cots overnight while their parents sleep in another room. Is that not the case?

FWIW I’m ambivalent about crates for dogs. I sometimes go on a primarily American forum for dog owners though and ‘crate training’ is REALLY pushed on there, to the point that you’re almost made to feel like a bad owner if you don’t do it. And then on the other hand there are countries where crating your dog is actually illegal. I had a crate for mine when he was a very young puppy and we found it helpful for night time and getting him to settle down for naps (much like a child’s cot) but I never really liked the idea of daytime crating while we were out, so we puppy-proofed our living room instead and he just roams freely in there. But if a vet told me he needed to be crated for a while or risk seriously injuring himself then I would probably get the crate out again. Most dog owners really are just trying to do the best for their dogs.

Crate training is not cruel. It may not suit all dogs if not introduced in the right way, but it's not cruel.
Our dogs sleep in crates at night and if we go out during the day, and actually even when we are at home they will often choose to go and sleep/sit in there for a while.
When done properly, a dog sees a crate, not as a cage/prison, but as their safe space where they can go for some peace from the other pets/kid, etc.

With respect to the OP, I would worry about your dog slipping on the surface especially after spinal surgery, otherwise I think it would've been okay as a one time solution. Your 2nd option sounds much better though. Hope ddog recovery continues well.

Make me walk about with no clothes on all day, see if I like it. Make me eat a dried pigs ear, see if I like it. Make me shit outside on the floor, see if I like it.

I wouldn't like it. Because I'm not a dog.

I have never crated - I used a playpen in one section of my kitchen - for my puppy - I could not bear to put the puppy in a locked cage with hardly any room!

I once fell awkwardly in the shower and somehow twisted the glass as I fell against it. The thing exploded. I found myself surrounded by thousands of pieces of glass. It was the safety kind, so fortunately not sharp shards, but it was a hell of a shock and a nightmare to clear up. So, I've voted no.

Agree

I agree, the level of comprehension on this site is shocking.

OP, not ideal but if you don't have any other option then it will have to be OK. Leave him a few treats to find and a bit of food smeared somewhere safe to lick off.

Why join a forum if you can't be arsed to read the full thread or at least the OP's posts.

She's made it clear he's crated for a few hours in a morning, some days of the week, because he has an injury that takes a LONG time to heal from.

Patronising.

Age doesn’t automatically bring knowledge.

The degree of cruelty to dogs is what is shocking.

Sticking a dog in a cage for hours, with no room to move and nothing to do, and no company, instead of training it is what's irresponsible.

Safety reasons my poodle, it's all done for the sake of convenience of the owner.

Age doesn’t automatically bring knowledge.

Experience does.

Do you struggle with reading comprehension Chardonnay like a lot of the posters on this thread? It’s recovering from a serious back injury.

Good God op! You've got the patience of a saint. The crate is prescribed for recuperation after the operation. Rtft people.

When our dog had surgery on both knees, one after the other, and then a further surgery for a dislocated kneecap, she had to be on cage rest, post-op - that was what the vet hospital instructions said. Six weeks of staying in a cage, after each op, being very carefully walked to the garden to do her business, and after a couple of weeks, gentle mobilisation, starting with 2x10 minute walks each day, no more, gradually building up as she healed. After the dislocated patella surgery she was on full cage rest until her bones had healed - they did regular x-rays to check, and she wasn’t allowed to start even the gentle walks until they were happy with the bony healing - which took 9 weeks.

If we had not followed the vet’s instructions, we would have undone all the good that the surgeries had done, and we would not have got her back to 90%+ of her mobility before she bust her cruciates. We asked if we could restrict her to one carpeted room, and they said absolutely not - it HAD to be cage rest.

In total, she had 24 weeks of cage rest (we had to keep her on modified cage rest between the first two operations) - which I am sure will horrify you - we didn’t like the idea - but she accepted it without a fuss, and it meant she made a nearly full recovery, so I think it was worth it.

I don't own a dog but I wouldn't dream of leaving my cat locked in a crate for hours. Sounds like a sad life for the animal. Does the dog enjoy being locked in there?

Probably more than it would enjoy being paralysed or PTS, which were the other options other than surgery. RTFT.

I can only answer for our dog, @MountainClimber22 - she accepted being in the crate, after her operations. It was our only option, to keep her safe and to prevent her from damaging the knees that had already had orthopaedic surgery done on them. If she had been allowed free run of the house, or even a single room, and had slipped, or tried to jump up, she could have done irreparable damage.

If your cat needed to spend some days or weeks on cage rest to recover from surgery or an injury, I’m sure you would do it, for their best interests in the long-term. Surely it is better than letting the animal hurt themselves even more - maybe to the point where the damage couldn’t be fixed?

People are bonkers. It's like when horses have to go on box rest - they're confined for their safety
I dog sat for a husky that was crated when I went food shopping. Otherwise she would destroy everything, you would come back to mattress/ugg boots/coat all ripped up
Shutting them in it for hours and hours on end and ignoring them is totally different to having to use it for an injury or their own safety

you say the dog is elderly - when he dies, please do not get another dog given that you do not have time to spend with him.
How would you like to spend your days locked up in a cage?

You're doing the right thing OP. The only mistake you made was posting this in AIBU rather than The Doghouse. It appears that you're getting comments from the "experts" that got lockdown dogs to post on "Insta" as they clearly don't understand what crate trained means.

Crates used correctly are a god send . The dog will be happy and relaxed in it . And one day in the shower at his size is fine as he’s used to it

So people should only have dogs if they have a "pack?"
Having one dog is wrong?

Has everyone had their Pimms spiked at the Jubilee parties?
I don't think I've ever seen such batshit responses to a thread. Ever.