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.

When my 2 dogs were puppies and up to a year old we used a crate for them. After walking they would go in crate to sleep. As they got to about 6-7 months the door to the crates were left open but they still chose to sleep in the crates after their walks. They carried on sleeping in their crates, despite having comfy dog beds, up until about 24 months old. Then we fazed the crates out and they slept in their dog beds. I don't see a problem with it. They were put in crates to rest for a couple of hours each day.

Yes, always said they are cruel. Dogs are pack animals. Abandoning them when you go out or to bed,. Poor puppy.

Can I ask why you feel the need to close it though?

But this is probably because dogs like to conform.

Yes it does say that they were in crates.

I'm not the person you asked, but I close the door on my dog at night because DH is long-term unwell and is careless with medication and sharp objects. I'd rather shut the cage door and be sure that our (entirely relaxed and unbothered) dog is safe than panic as DH yet again blindly searches for "a pill, about 5mm, probably dropped it on the floor in here or maybe I forgot to get it out of the packet".

She could have the run of the whole downstairs, but she prefers to share the room with us.

The amount of people defending themselves is telling. Personally I think they are wrong, but if it has no door and the dog is free to come and go that's ok. Imagine being locked in one for hours on end, it would be horrible. For the passive people saying the dogs like them/ don't mind them (locked) you're deluded. The dog is just conforming because you're their owner. I had the same sort of argument years ago with a friend who used a spike collar on her dog. She was not going to admit that it was cruel.

What are you supposed to do with them when you go out then?

I don’t work, but today, I’ve got a hospital appointment that will take around 3 hours. Then, I have to pick my daughter up from school this afternoon, a half an hour round trip. My dog isn’t allowed in the playground and I doubt the hospital would be happy with me turning up with my massive, bouncy 2 year old golden retriever.

I also have to run errands most days, go to the gym, the supermarket, the school run. All places a dog can’t go.

What do you propose I do with my dog during those times?

She’s happy to be left at home. She just sleeps on the sofa when she’s alone (we used a crate until she was 1 and we knew she was over chewing or getting into anything where she would harm herself). And yes, the terrible person I am, the
crate door was closed - otherwise she would have been able to get out, rendering the crate to keep her safe pointless.

I can’t spend my life only going to places where I can take my dog, or sitting with her all day. And I’m certainly not going to pay someone to come and sit with a dog who is absolutely fine left alone for a few hours.

Mumsnet is bonkers sometimes.

You must be a responsible dog owner, have the best insurance, feed them only the best food, but oh hang on, you have to also be at their side 24/7.

Life doesn’t work that way.

Why are you asking a silly question like that?

You shut the door to keep them in there.

You’ve never owned a dog if you believe that.

o the. Reeders advice we tried a cage with our older lab. He wasn’t happy unless he could see me from the crate, and he quickly learned to settle in a soft bed by my desk. We trained him not to chew ( directed chewing toys, bitter apple spray), and being the smart dog he was, he learned quickly and the cage was gone.

Lab 2 was rehomed to use, and it was clear she had been left, a.one, in a cage for much of the day . The cage was too small and she has a deformed spine as a result .

Neither dog has been destructive, and both settle on their own if I am out. It’s all training.

Is it only crate doors that you don't like closed, OP? How about room doors, pen doors, stairgates and house doors?

I could shut the bedroom door or stair gate to separate scavenging dog from bumbling DH at night. It's still a shut door. The difference is that the dog would be unhappy. Trust me on that one.

But all these posters saying that the dog likes it etc. If they liked it so much they would stay in it without the door closed. Hence why it is cruel
Would you like to be locked in one not knowing when youll get out? It's completely at your owner's convenience.

Yes but they can't even stretch their legs in one of those things. At least in a room they can look out the window. They have no entertainment and people wonder why they are so hyper.

They can like it and also just randomly decide to chew on a skirting board and hurt themselves at 2am.

The same reason my children slept in cots and no just on the living room floor unattended.

I wanted to make sure my dog was safe as a puppy when I wasn’t with her.

Okay then. You know it all.

She doesn't need entertainment at night. She's asleep.

She's also small enough to stand up fully and sprawl out fully in it (though she usually curls up into the corner anyway).

If you have a crate where your dog can’t stretch, you have the wrong size crate.

And hyper dogs can find crates calming. It’s a dark, quiet space like a den, away from distractions. You can teach them to switch off and relax.

For example, my dog was terrified of workmen when she was younger. We had an incident which required a couple of weeks of workmen in and out of the house.

She could have just been distressed, OR, I could have put her crate upstairs in a quiet room, blanket over the top, put her in there and she felt safe to chill out.

Thats what happened. And she was happy rather than yelping.

And as far as training, yes, we trained her not to be afraid, eventually, but while people were there, rectifying my ceiling that had fallen in and trying to do their jobs, it wasn’t the time to. She was far happier in a crate in a quiet room while I was in and out sorting things out.

I hate them. Our puppy was frantic when we had to put her in there. We didn't use one for long and she's been a happy, non chewing and just a bit excitable dog since! What bothers me is that a dog will be absolutely distressed if someone leaves them in there for a long time, if they don't have water ( or food) , or if they soiled the cage. They have no way of escaping if there's a fire too. At least, they might stand a chance if they're out and can find an opening through a door or window. Or come barking at the door where someone might hear them. Im my opinion, they're awful.

Why does my dog choose his crate when he has other beds scattered around the house?

He chose to sleep on a cool, tiled floor during the hot weather. Now, he has chosen to sleep in his crate again.

The crate is huge. I want to get rid of it. Please advise how I should proceed. Do I keep the crate to please the dog? Or should I dismantle it regardless of his feelings?

They CAN stretch their legs as we have said repeatedly. They can stand up turn around and choose one end or the other. They can have water, food, a kong, toys, whatever you choose to put in. Ours had a big lump of wood to chew in lieu of our table legs. Crates are big relative to the dog. And if you go out the only thing your dog does is sleep till you get back. They get up and stretch then turn around and settle back down. OP do you even have a dog as you know precious little about dogs or crates.

😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

Well I certainly know more than you.

But then so does a gold fish judging by your comments on this thread.

I know there always one PP like this…sigh.

This is a good point because we do shut doors when we want the dog to stay in one room, be it the kitchen or the living room. Sometimes we’re bringing in shopping from the car or doing a deep clean or decorating - situations where we don’t want her under our feet so put her in a safer room out of the way. Is that not ok? Are we cruel? She can’t be with us every second of the day. We have to nip out sometimes to the supermarket or do the school run, she can’t always come with us. We would never leave her longer than a couple of hours (DH predominantly works from home) but there are times she has to be left at home alone. Are we neglecting her?

We’ve never really allowed her upstairs as we don’t want her in our bed. I know a few people whose dogs slept in bed with them and started to become territorial and aggressive about the bed. One woman had a dog who wouldn’t let her husband get back in bed if he went to the toilet during the night. The dog became aggressive and bit him a few times when he tried to get in his own bed, so he would have to sleep in the spare room. They had it put down eventually because they couldn’t get control of the situation. To me that is madness. It works for us that Ddog has her sleeping area and we have ours. In the early days when we first brought her home I slept on the sofa in the room with her until she settled, she’s been fine ever since.