Crating

[murphys]

I am fairly new to this forum due to getting a puppy recently, although I am not a new dog owner as my Lab is 8 now.

I didn't do much Googling for advice when we got our Lab boy as a pup, but have more so now getting our little girl.

I have to be honest to say that before I Googled a bit and read on here, I had never heard of crating a dog before. My first reaction was of shock and horror. I don't live in the UK, and from what I read it seems to be more of an European and American thing to do.

On reading at first, it felt a bit like caging the animal, and I am quite a firm believer that dogs need space to run around and play at will. Also, where do they soil whilst in the crate?

As I thought about it more, I understand that living in Africa where the weather is great most of the time, and living in UK during a long winter are two different things.

So I am genuinely curious about this now. Although she is still very young, at 10 weeks old, my pup stays in the garden while I am out, and sleeps in the kitchen at night now with our Lab whilst it is cold. However, once summer comes around, she will also sleep outdoors with him. I couldn't crate her as she is just to used to being able to roam about as she pleases all day. She comes in the house and the door is left open for her to wander in and out while I am home, but she spends most of her time outside in the garden. She has her 'spot' where she sleeps in the sun already .

This brings me to walking of your dogs. I am generalizing now, but from what I have read, most families walk their dogs twice a day. Is this because they have been crated during the day? I don't walk our dogs every day. They get plenty exercise tearing around the garden, so we do walk them a few times a week, but we are not set to times etc like some families do.

I am not knocking the crating at all, I understand we live in a different environments. It does seem though, that the way we raise our furry members of the family, does vary quite a lot from country to country.

You will no doubt be as shocked by the fact that we don't walk our dogs every day as I was about the crate . But I am sure we love them just the same though .

I live in the UK ,I don't use a crate and I walk my dog 3/4 times a day depending on what is going on . With the best will in the world running around a garden ( even a large garden) does not equate to walking/ exercising a dog .

I'm still new to puppyhood (although not dog hood)- we don't have set times to walk, but for me it's about all the experiences that pup needs- meeting dogs, other animals, different kinds of people, kids, cars, buses- I don't want her to develop any fear- or fear aggression!
I do crate now, because there are too many tiny toys bloody Lego and playmobil and cables- and she's a chewer and is teething.
She gets crated overnight for all our safety. She is 16 weeks today and hasn't soiled or weed overnight for about a month.
I was not happy about crating at first, but she is happy to go in her little den to sleep

Should you crate your dog?

I hope when she's older that we can get shot of it, because it's rather big- but will be guided by her on that.

I also live in the UK and did have a crate for when mine was a puppy. He arrived crate trained and was happy for it to be his bed from day one, but it was only used as a safe place to retreat to and occasionally to keep him safe when I couldn't supervise him. We stopped using it at about 6 months of age, iirc, as he wasn't/isn't a chewer and by then had already chosen one of our other dog beds as his favoured resting place.

I vary how much my dogs get walked, some days one really nice long one, other days (more regularly) a shorter morning walk and reasonable (hour to hour and a half-ish) afternoon walk. We're not on a strict schedule, but do go out at roughly the same time afternoon most days, more because of fitting walks in around school runs than anything else. I also alter walk times based around daylight hours and weather - as in, if it's hot we tend to walk earlier and later.

Walks aren't just about exercise, they're about socialisation and mental stimulation. The dogs get to see, smell, hear different things and meet different dogs and people. I also have a large garden, I play with and train them out there and the pup uses it like a race-track, flinging toys here, there and everywhere, but there's no way they would get enough stimulation just from spending time out there.

In addition, dog walking is one of my greatest pleasures in life. I love to see my dogs running off-lead, enjoying their freedom and seeing their delight with every new scent and sight etc. It's not something I consider a chore.

We used the crate for a 8 week old lab and it helped with house training when we had to do school runs etc. Now (lab is 21 months old!) it is still in the kitchen, no door, and punter lab uses it as his bed at night (with blanket over top as per budgie) and when he wants to get away from annoying children. Not sure whether to buy a grown up bed and get shot of crate but as he chooses to go in it staying with it for the mo. Luckily have a large kitchen. Actually he would happily sleep on sofa as well which he has done when we have taken him away.
Think a crate should be just used as a comfort and/or safety zone not as a cage at all.
Punter lab gets 2 long walks a day at least, loves everyone to bits and is so gentle with other dogs, and spends a lot of time trying to pin me down on the sofa to snooze.

Absolutely not.

Crating isn't something that is generally done all day, a maximum of 4 hours a day is what it should be.

A lot of people crate puppies and then stop as they get older and leave the door open or get rid of it entirely once they're trustworthy about not chewing things.

Crating is to keep them safe while you're not there and helps with toilet training because they're reluctant to go to the toilet in the crate, so they shouldn't actually be going to the toilet in it and if they really need to then really they're being crated for too long.

You can't really leave dogs in gardens here, firstly the weather's not so good a lot of the time, but there's also things like dog theft to worry about.

So I crate my dog because he chews, but, he's with me most of the day and can roam the house or garden...but I crate him if I have to go out. Some days that's not at all, some days it's an hour here and there, very rarely is it anywhere near 4 hours.

Walking...well it's exercise, socialisation, training and mental stimulation all rolled into one. It also means you're not reliant on having a large garden for exercise, mine is only about 30 feet squared.

Both my dogs are crate trained - initially to help with toilet training, but also to give them a 'safe place' where they can relax and switch off. My older dog was rehomed to me, and I think had spent a lot of time in a crate, because if I left her uncrated while i went out, she got very anxious and would wreck the joint, despite being totally placid, so it's only relatively recently that she's happy to sleep free range in the kitchen. The younger dog was a chewer, so he was definitely crated at night until I could trust him. Now, I leave their crate (supercosy, with memory foam mattress, etc) open at night and they either snuggle up together, or, more often, big dog will repair to the sofa and leave the younger dog to it. I don't have a problem with crates, if used properly; this is a big fabric one, not a metal-barred cage, and I like knowing I can pop them in there if non-dog-loving visitors come, and it won't feel like a banishment to them. It also means they're happy in a car cage, or at the vets.

The only time I really crate them now is if I go out during the day, and never for more than 4 hours. In the crate, they sleep, off-duty. Outside the crate, they'll be up at the window, barking at every passing horse, dog walker, postman...

And yes, they get walked every day, for the my mental stimulation as much as the exercise.

Mine was crate trained as a pup and after he got past any chewing it was put away.

Now I know if he ever has to be crated at the vets or have crate rest for an injury it won't add any more stress to those experiences.

Eric hasn't ever been crated, he has free reign of the house and garden, he has a bed and sleeps either in there or on the sofa. He is walked 3 and sometimes 4 times a day some of it on a lead but also the opportunity to run free off lead. Eric would be bored stiff if he only got to mooch around the garden, the new sights, sounds and smells stop him getting bored I think. He's a mischievous little devil as it is he'd be impossible if he was bored and garden bound for any length of time.

Wild, can you link to the type of crate you have got as i am looking for a larger fabric one for travel.

Do they grow out of chewing when they get new teeth or have they been trained out of it?

Mine love this one Maelson soft kennel - it's cosy, chew proof, easy to Hoover out, and not such a 'dog incarceration facility' looking thing to have in the house.

My chewer stopped chewing at about 2, when his adult teeth settled in. Now he doesn't chew anything, not even the expensive lovely Stag bars I got him.

My lab is crate trained. She is shut in it overnight with crate covers down. I suspect it is like us going to out cosy bed in a darkened bedroom.During the day it is open and she comes and goes. She is now 2 and is not destructive so the door is left open but i don't think she ventures out it if we are not in.

We walk her twice a day and we also have a large garden for her to run about in. We like walking her so it is not a chore. My parens look after her when i am working and they give her shorter walks but she never seems to mind what walks she gets. She is very easy going.

Our ridgeback x staffy is crated at night and occasionally during the day if I go out for more than an hour. She is nearly 12 months old and has chewed everything from remote controls to electric cables but is much better now so we are working towards not crating her although will keep the crate with no door on for her to go in. She likes a lie in so stays in there for about 30mins after we open the door in the morning, she's not in a hurry to get up! It's a really useful tool to teach kids to respect a dogs space too.... My 5yo knows never to touch her when she's in her crate or her bed.

Our crate is massive, 1.2m x 1m x 1m tall .... It's the biggest I could get (for Great Danes apparently) and makes me feel better about leaving our 20kg collie sized dog in it. She's never been crated for more than 3 hours and then only once as I was held up. She's at doggie daycare once or twice a week so I save big outings for then.

I think crate training can be helpful for dogs and owners in the right circumstances but like all training, it can be done wrong.

Forgot about the walking thing. Our dog gets walked every day for about an hour on the extendable lead, a bit less now it's so hot (in Texas, it's about 37C at midday) or two walks.

She does doggie daycare which involves wrestlemania and romping round a field all day with another 30 or so dogs except for an hour sleeping and having treats at lunchtime. We also go to the bark park (for vaccinated and spayed / neutered dogs only) once a week. All dogs are off the lead, it's fully fenced basically 3 acres of waste ground, very secure, trees, doggie water fountains, poop bags and bins, grass, a big pond and shade. She adores it and makes loads of friends, runs like the greyhound she thinks she is......

She gets walking or good long running exercise every day, plus garden access all day. We've had her since last autumn and I think there have been 2 days when she didn't get a walk. Dogs love it, it's mentally stimulating as well as good physically. I really think a dog should be walked or run every day.

Our Border Collie was crated until he was nine months old, at night and for enforced naps during the day. He never soiled his crate from the start, in fact he never had an accident/needed to go out at night. He's walked twice a day, one 30 minute and one at least an hour both off lead plus training. He still goes into his crate to sleep, we just don't shut the door.

Walks, as other posters have said, are about more than just exercise, stimulation, training and a change of scenery and smells are all points to consider.

Thanks for all the posts.

Definitely see that there is a place for crating, even though it isn't something I will do.

I should just add in though that its not like our dog doesn't get walked at all. He goes out 3-4 times a week (sometimes more, just depends) so he isn't shut up in the garden 24/7. We also have a dogpark nearby where they go off for a runabout off leads.

Butterflies our puppy is also a Ridgeback cross. Dad is 75kg Ridgeback and Mummy is a Boerbul Mastiff. At 10 weeks old she weighs 8kgs.. She is going to be a very big girl judging from the size of her feet. How big is your ridgeback/staffy cross at one year now?

For me when I decided to crate - it wasn't really to do with housetraining, though I did think it would be handy to know where to look for accidents, lol.

But because I also have cats, it was just about giving them their own space so they couldn't harass each other when I wasn't there to supervise.

As it turned out, he's an awful chewer, still... and it's not that he chews furniture or that I'm worried about my stuff, it's that he chews things that would actually kill him.

He's also the unluckiest dog in the world when it comes to his health and he's had two stays at the vets now recovering from operations - so knowing that he wasn't more stressed by being crated there did make it better for him, well me anyway, lol

Ours is 20kg and the size of a small collie. She is a quarter ridgeback, quarter staffy and half a gazillion other dogs (she was a a stray picked up at 4 weeks). She has the ridgeback body shape and ridge when she barks but more a staffy face and coloring like a Dalmatian. She's a pretty dog but she seems to have stopped growing now and has good proportion ie her feet fit her body.

Ridgebacks can be huge and boerboels are bigger, around 80kgs for a female isn't unusual. They are working farm dogs that need to roam and be occupied, they chase everything and can be very dominant, you'll need a good trainer to work with. They are ranch dogs here in Texas. But they are loyal and loving. I guess all dogs need the right environment and handling and that's when they thrive.

Got a picture of her?

My dogs are all crate trained and they love their crates.

They are crated in the car for safety when travelling. They are not locked in their crates at home but just love to sleep in them. We have soft crates for the big dogs but I train the puppies in wire crates.

All my dogs compete in agility and love their crates when I go training. They are able to fully relax in the crates in a high energy environment. We also travel a lot and they are crated in planes and to them it is no big deal - the crate is where they relax whatever is going on around them. When we stay in new places if their crate is there too they will happily relax anywhere.

Re walking dogs my dogs would absolutely hate it if they were left just to run around a garden. They have daily walks, daily training sessions and all go to agility training several times a week. A couple are trained assistance dogs so are working during the day.

All dogs require mental stimulation and human interaction and would not really get that from being left in the garden to amuse themselves.

Butterflies, you will regret asking for a picture I promise not to post them all....

Boerbuls are a common breed here in SA, as are Ridgebacks, of course originally from Rhodesia, bred to hunt lions. They are strong powerful dogs, but such so good natured at the same time. She starts at puppy school next week, but already has learned sit and other commands.

She has a very prominent ridge, which you will see in one of the pics where she came for a drive on the school run.

She had her second set of vacs yesterday, so confirm her weight at 8.5kg at 10 weeks old.

Ae, shes gorgeous, love her ridge. Such an expressive face!