Dog crates are cruel

[Poppycorn123]

In light of this terrible story I think they should be banned. Yes people will say they are good for training etc but I think in general they are being overused. A family member would put the dog in it while they have guests. Dog is not vicious or anything, just gets a bit excited as a young dog should. I think this is awful.

My dog is crate trained. It’s used when I go out she has no problem with it and knows I am going out and see needs to go to sleep. Which she does.

she also takes herself if into the crate when there are thunderstorms etc it’s her safe place

when I am home it’s never used even when visitors come

used correctly it’s fine

SO your dog hasn't had to have crate rest for say cruciate ligment ops or flown in a crate... thats fine if you can guarantee that your dog will never need to use a crate. Most people can't quite see into the future that well.

Do note that most vets will tell you your dog was 'just fine' waiting in the crate at the vet (they're built in but still the same as a crate) before an op, even if they were absolutely not 'just fine' at all. Groomers tend to do the same thing.

They really only tell you your dog is not handling being crated if they are actually going to hurt themselves trying to get out or howling the place down without stopping for breath.

Our dog had a crate as a puppy. It no longer has a door on it. She chooses to sleep there.

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Oh wow there's alot isn't there !!!
I didn't realise someone was monitoring my typing and use of exclamation marks sooooo sorry !!!!!
You must be super bored 😴

They often don't, but cats tend not to be confined so much and when they are - at the vets for example - the owner is unaware that their cat has spent several hours pre-op screaming and trying to get out. However cats typically shut down and withdraw when upset rather than scream to get out.

All pets would benefit from early handling training to get them comfy with crates/carriers/confinement, being handled up on an exam table, getting jabs (fake it with an empty biro case, pair it with treats). Cats are small enough to be manhandled though and have this myth that they can't be trained so many of them suffer when they do need to be handled... but again that often happens out of the owners sight (vets, groomers) and unless the cat has actually caused the vet/groomer to require stitches, often the owner will be told 'oh he was fine'.

A crate is just a nice word for cage

Well shit guess I better tell my dog his crate is cruel

Hes currently lying upside down in it, legs in the air snoring. The door is open, he puts himself in there.

Mind you it is an xxl crate so he can sprawl

I’m happy to call ours a cage 🤷🏻‍♀️, doesn’t change the fact that our dog takes herself off there to snooze happily!

Very silly post. Of course they shouldn't be. A dog has a crate as a safe space that's theirs as generally they will be fed in there.

I didn't realise you knew my vets better than I do they're very honest about any behavioural issues or problems they have - they've looked after all our animals over the past decade and I take many dogs there for clients too.

In terms of cruciate repair, crate rest is not the only option. And I know full-well my dog will never have to go on a plane, lol.

Actually DDog's favourite place is my bed, wriggling herself under the duvet. It's where she goes if she is scared, e.g. because of thunder or fireworks.

Sadly for dDog, I am a restless sleeper and disturb her sleep. So she emerges from the duvet, sighs reproachfully, and settles on the cushion under the bed.

In the very hot weather she chose to snooze under a corner table that had just floor boards underneath to keep cooler.

I am part of an ad hoc dog walking group of a dozen or so dogs, we just happen to walk.our dogs at the same time in the same place and have become friends. The only dog from this group that is put in a cage is for travelling - his iwners visit family in Eastern Europe 3 or 4 times a year, so the cage is used in the car to get thete and back, and when staying with relatives in city flats for a day or 2 - with plenty of walks. The dog is a high energy spaniel, if it was a calmer dog they probably wouldn't need to restrict it so much in the flat. It's very much a temporary measure.

Yes, i know 3 dogs who have had cruciate repair rest - successfully. None were put in a cage.

We have foster kittens from birth sometimes, and they teeth...

Really tiny kittens have no sense of self preservation.

As in remove all wood furniture, all sofas annd chairs, all cushions all electrical cables etc etc. You are being silly.

I had two litters of lab puppies and at eight weeks it was hard keeping them in. After that forget it.

And yet so many of us have never caged our dogs, and still have houses intact. How is that possible?!

@beaglescurleduplikebagels I work with multiple vets across the country, so yeah I know that they often tell clients one thing and the truth is actually something else.

Ditto groomers - if you tell every pet owner 'Fido has a horrible time because you've never bothered to teach him to handle being crated for an hour' then you don't improve matters for Fido, you just lose a client who takes Fido to another vet or groomer who doesn't tell them the truth.

I don't really care if people use crates or not, as long as IF they use them they use them properly.

I do care when someone hasn't bothered to teach a dog or cat or rabbit or whatever, a useful skill and that animal suffers when that skill is needed and not there, and they're not in a position to learn because they're not well or there is no time.

That is setting animals up to fail. I am not sure why you'd be so enormously proud of doing that, but you do you eh.

And yet, as i said, many many dog owners don't cage their dogs, and don't experience any negative behaviours.

Because (and this may come as a huge shock to you, so maybe sit down before reading this) not all dogs are the same.

The problem in this case wasnt the crate... it was that the owner had moved out of the property, and the dogs were left to starve. Even if they weren't in a crate it would have had the same outcome so I can't see how banning crates would help. What we actually need is harsher punishments for people who do this kind of thing.

Not cruel, my dog freely goes in his at night it's never locked. Things like fireworks his crate is his safety. So I don't agree with your post.

Well, exactly. So a cage might be needed in some specific situations with some specific dogs. But not for every dog - or even most dogs.

Bollocks.

The crate was misused in that case. They could have locked the dog in a living room, are living rooms evil too?

My dogs love their crates. We really lock them but they run to them to sleep in, to chill in, to take special treats in.

Small dogs v big dogs. Breeds that chew v breeds that snuggle.

And I think you’reAnd I think you’re stupid. One of my dogs, an Irish Terrier, is crated when we leave the house because he can’t be trusted loose and unsupervised. My Lab, on the other hand, is perfectly trustworthy and gets left out but guess where I routinely find her hanging out anyway? In the Irish Terrier’s crate. She was crate-trained as a puppy and still chooses to hang out in one even when she has the entire house available to her.

A crate is a tool, not some inherently cruel dog prison. Yes, people can overuse them, just as people can misuse virtually anything in dog training, but “someone I know crates their excitable young dog when guests come over, therefore crates should be banned” is an absurd leap. Pretty much anyone seriously involved in dogs, whether that’s conformation, other dog sports, breeding, training, etc., uses crates because they’re useful for safe transport, management, rest, recovery, and keeping dogs secure in busy environments. Properly crate-trained dogs very often regard them as comfortable, familiar spaces and voluntarily seek them out. The problem is irresponsible use, not the existence of crates and banning them because some people misuse them is ridiculous.