Crates

[mrsrhodgilbert]

At the risk of being absolutely roasted, this is a genuine query from a non dog owner. I have 2 sets of friends who have got puppies in the last 18 months. Both have used crates which I understand are places of security for the dogs. However, both friends work, although close enough to home to return at lunchtime to let the dogs out. But whilst they are at work and when they are out of the house at other times these dogs are crated and locked in. Both families readily say it is because the dogs will cause damage otherwise. Am I being over sensitive to feel bothered by this? I want to believe that if you have a dog you should be prepared for it to live in your house fairly freely, maybe keep it in the kitchen when you are out. I am looking for serious responses here bacause I feel really uncomfortable about this and sadly feel a bit disappointed in my friends. Am I being daft?

No, I don't think you are. I am a big fan of crates, and have two for my dog - one in the house and one in the car. However, he is rarely shut in the one in the house (he does spend a lot of time in it voluntarily though), and he is never in the car one for more than a few hours between decent walks (some people woulndt' even approve of this, but it works for us and our dog who seems happy with this).

If I worked full time though, I would not get a puppy - just don't think it's fair for it to be crated all day five days a week.

I'm not saying it's wrong - depends on the breed, the particular dog, etc. etc. but it's not something I'd feel comfortable with.

Hello again, one of the dogs is a jack russell, about 18months old. It goes absolutely mad when it is released and has a really bad reputation on their dog walking circuit for attacking other dogs. I just wonder if keeping it confined so much has affected its personality. The other is a small spaniel born this summer and this is the one I really feel for. It's not much of a life it seems to me and I really don't feel ok about my friends doing this.

I have always used crates and in my experience dogs are very happy if properly trained to them. My current pup (15 wks) spends a lot of time there voluntarily with the door open. He is shut in at night which means no wee on the floor in the morning, no teasing of my older dog and not quite such an early start. When we are out he is in for up to an hour or so with no signs of stress or anxiety (having been exercised first and with a kong). I agree that pups should not be left for longer than this and mine goes to a friends to play with her dogs on the days when I am at work. My old boy on the other hand will happily sleep all day and does after his 6am walk.

It's not just about not wanting them to chew something because it might be annoying to you, it might be soemthing dangerous to the dogs - i.e electric cable or cleaning products. It's amazing what they can get when they put their mind to it.

I agree that it doesn't sound right for either of those dogs though. At 18 months I'd hope to be able to leave a dog without locking the crate and if I couldn't I don't think I'd be leaving for more than a couple of hours regularly. A sub 6-month Springer certainly shouldn't be crated for that long in my book.

Like Battery says though, some dogs would just be sleeping all day anyway, so they may as well do it in their own secure bed, it's not wrong for every dog.

I have a crate for my 12 wk old puppy, we use it at night time and during the day if needed, she goes into it voluntarily, is her 'safe' place and also keeps her and my items unchewed.

Having owned a dog previously who did chew through a mains cable (and survived) and only through sheer luck and a tiled floor the house wasnt on fire! He did cause a huge scorch mark on the tiles, a rather large blister inside his mouth and a nice Vets bill to boot.

I wouldnt be without a crate, that said my 18 month old GSD does not go in a crate, hasnt done for the past 8 months or so, he is a good boy, doesnt chew and isnt really interested in mischief so long as he has had his walk.

A crate shouldnt be used for punishment in my view and it shouldnt be used to keep dogs all day long.

I have one dog crated and one who roams the living room when we are out.

The crated dog is very fond of his crate, he spends time there voluntarily when we are at home, with the door open, and sleeps. It's a good respite for him to get away from the other dog, as obviously when she wants to play and he doesn't it can get annoying for him.

I did orginally have both dogs crated and the bitch was fine for about a year but then started escaping by both nudging the bolts with her nose and bending the doors! I decided to leave her out as I would rather this than her injure herself escaping. The other one has never tried to do this and I am sure he feels more secure in the crate if we are out.

It depends on the breed of dog too. My dogs are staffies, and it would not be a good idea to leave them together uncrated, as a fight (without us there to intervene) could easily escalate and end in serious injury or death for either dog. It is a risk I am not willing to take. Unfortunately I do not have the space to leave them in separate rooms, but they do not like being in separate rooms anyway, so would be worse off if uncrated.

Also, my dog that is crated was a chewer/"destroyer" when he was younger. I lost skirting boards! Although this didn't bother me too much, but I would not like him to chew through electrical cables and injure himself.

I would like to think that most people who crate their dogs do it for the welfare and safety of the dog.

In the case of your friends' dogs, as long as cables and things are hidden and the room is "dog-proofed", I would have no qualms about leaving either breed with the run of the house, unless it had shown particularly destructive tendencies or insecurity at being left with the run of the house (some dogs get this - my dog hated being left out to the point where he would mess himself). It doesn't necessarily sound like these dogs need to be crated all day but many dogs will sleep all day anyway (mine do) so it probably wouldn't make much difference whether it was in the crate or on the sofa.

Essay, sorry!

Thank you for so many well considered replies. The thing I have learnt is that dogs obviously sleep a lot more than I realised. I have always owned cats which are obviously the laziest of ceatures.

This makes me feel a little better, but I would still like to hope that these dogs, particularly the spaniel, will not spend their whole lives crated. Aside from the safety issue if you have pets I think you have to be prepared not to be too precious about your house, our cats have caused some damage over the years, but so have our children and whilst crating them mught be tempting at times I'd better not!