Did anyone just not bother with the crate/did it not work for you?

[Dieu]

Hi. We have a 4 and a half month old Shih Tzu pup, with moderate separation anxiety (although it seems to be slowly easing over time). He likes to be near us, but is not a lap dog (his choice). On occasion, he is left for up to a couple of hours on his own. I have sometimes put him in the crate, and have done all the usual things to make it a pleasant place to be. At other times I have closed him in the living room at home, where he has a bit more of a run of the place, and access to his food and drink (I obviously leave fresh water and a few treats in the crate though). I have to say that from my own selfish point of view, I prefer the crate as I know he's safe, which obviously gives me peace of mind. He's not really a destructive wee chap, so damage isn't really an issue if left in the lounge, although there's always that element of doubt! Thing is, he thoroughly dislikes the crate, and the runny stools that I find in there on my return are testament to his distress. Puppy owning is new to me, and I tried the crate as it's what everyone recommends/raves about. I daresay I made mistakes at the beginning with settling him into it (to be honest, I've made loads of rookie mistakes along the way!) but I did try, and now I'm not sure if I should persevere or just stick with the living room. I should add that this is a pup who still follows me from room to room, so I daresay ANY form of solitary confinement isn't going to be his ideal ... though he has to get used to it sometimes obviously. Last thing is that I feel I'm having to 'trick' him into staying in the living room, just so that I can get the door closed behind me, which makes me feel awful. Any thoughts? Thanks.

We lasted a week with the crate. DPup hated it. DH had to sleep on the floor next to it at night or she'd howl. Any period of time in it during the day even just a few minutes and she would poo and then tread the poo into the blanket, into her paws and all up the mesh of the crate. Nightmare. Took ages to clean every time. We tried leaving her shut in the kitchen instead and she was fine. So we got rid of the crate. Some dogs DO poo in their beds...

We never used a crate

Could and cannot see the point/need

I know most people think they are great though

but Animals in cages always make me feel sad-

Thank you to you both. I thought about locking him in our kitchen, but it's tiny (his crate probably wouldn't feel much smaller!!) and leads off the living room anyway. We don't have puppy pads down any more, and take him outside for the loo (the toilet training is another issue, but we are getting there!), so I take it I shouldn't put anything on the floor and just deal with any pees on my return? God, I'm a loving and patient puppy owner, but the practical stuff doesn't always come naturally to me ...

And Pigeon, oh yes, the joys of scrubbing sticky, clay like poos off the crate floor ...

If he's stressed in there, you need to either go right back to the beginning of crate training him, or stop using it.

Which is up to you really...I'd be tempted to start training again, but that's because I have a confirmed chewer who keeps having to have hospital stays (the hospital is relevant because they cage them for that).

What you shouldn't do is just hope he'll get more used to the crate if he's unhappy in it - that's not how they should be used.

Am so confused and feel like we are just flailing. :(
Brought home our beautiful 8 week old Labrador on Sunday.
We have used puppy pads/taking her into the garden. Not very many accidents in the house. Couple of wees on the floor each day. One poo in the dining room today, but ALL other poos outside.
But on Saturday night and last night DH slept with her lying on his tummy, downstairs on the sofa.
We realise we need to break this. So now we are in bed and she is in her crate with the door open at one end of the hallway, and a puppy pad at the other end. She has her blanket and her cuddly toy in the crate. She is crying a bit, on and off. But not too bad. But it's loud and distressing when she does it, even if only for a second. Am I doing things right?
Read about having the fate in our room but don't think that's a good idea.
Please please help. It's like the blind leading the blind here :(

We crated our puppy, at first he cried everytime he was put in there but would be fine if he chose to go in there. We carried on and after a week or so he started to improve and after a couple of weeks we had no problem x

You do have to crate train them, not just stick thm in here and expect th to settle!

Never used a crate either. Although some say they work well, it isn't something that I wanted to use.

I have an l-shaped kitchen, so at night dpup and Lab sleep in the kitchen and I block of one part of it with a board. Lab wouldn't move a muscle in the night, but dpup would definitely be on the couch in the morning if not.

Very rarely had she wee'd on the floor in the night. They go out at night before bedtime and she knows the command "go have a wee" now.

she also knows the command, give me a kiss, but then she gives me her paw ha ha

You don't have to use the crate though. They like routine, so whatever you choose, try to stick with it

I have never used a crate, the only time I could see one being useful is as a "safe space" the dog could retreat to. However, ours either go under the dining room table or in the dogbed under my desk when they want a bit of peace and quiet.
Years ago with previous dogs we did try having the dogs shut in the kitchen at night, no crate just dog beds. Didn't last long, they soon had the freedom of the house.
Now they sleep upstairs in our room, they have dog beds as they are not allowed on the furniture. When they were pups I put lots of paper down at night, though tbh there were hardly any accidents as I wake easily and could rush a pup outside if needed. No problem with a stressed or crying pup as they were right there.
The only thing is you do have to make sure you have picked up anything "chewable", with Goldies you soon learn this as they do love to chew!

I have my first puppy and we have used a crate. I can't imagine how we would have coped without it. It helped massively with toilet training (no accidents after 10 weeks old) and as she used to chew everything the crate is a safe space for her to be if we go out.

I will say the crate is in our bedroom, so when she goes to bed at night in it, she is still with us. And whenever she goes in there, she gets something nice she doesn't get at any other time, like a kong or special chew. She always has a rawhide in there so she can still chew to her heart's desire. She did cry in it for the first three days she was home, but we ignored her completely when she did. These days she happily goes in on cue.

But from reading pet forums it's clear that lots of people don't use crates, so of course you don't have to. If your puppy isn't destructive, and is already toilet trained, then I would say at this point the crate might not be such a valuable tool for you anyway?

We didn't use a crate. Used a puppy playpen when we were out of the house when pup was small. At night time he was in beside us - for first couple of weeks he slept in a large cardboard box in our room and I got up through the night and took him out when he cried. After that he slept in a basket in our room with the door closed. Now (2 years later) he roams the house at night and settles where he feels like. It worked for us.

There are a few reasons for using a crate. Puppies are unlikely to urinate or defecate in it as they regard it as their bed, so it helps with toilet training. It keeps the house safe from the puppy and the puppy safe from the house. It's handy for travelling in.
It has become kind of a thing in recent times but if it's not fulfilling any of these obligations for you - and clearly your animal is terrified of/hates the crate, then you should stop using it for now at least. It's only a tool, not and end in itself.
I never used one and dislike the "cage" aspect of it, but I was lucky enough to have a puppy who didn't chew.

'The only thing is you do have to make sure you have picked up anything "chewable"'

picks up her entire house and moves it

I think puppy pads are confusing. We quickly learnt that we had to be taking her outside every 30-40 minutes and using her toilet command to get her to go. If she did have an accident inside then we cleaned it up with special spray, didn't make a fuss and carried on. If you teach them to pee on pads then you only have to teach them to pee outside at a later date. Assuming your kitchen floor isn't carpeted (!!!!) you can deal with any accidents.

Mine hated the crate too and we had the exact same issues pigeonpost mentioned. Fortunately, we could shut off the kitchen area with a stairgate, which worked well until he grew big enough to jump over it! So he now has the run of the house, and we shut the doors of the rooms we don't want him in when we're out.

Interestingly, having hated his own crate, when he went to home boarding for the first time when we went on holiday, he apparently dragged his bed into someone else's crate and curled up in it quite happily whilst the other dog sat outside it!

We've never had a crate and Eric's been just fine. We had a puppy pen that we used (when there was no one to watch him) for a fortnight until he was reliably house trained and he has a basket that he sleeps in when he doesn't sleep on the sofa. We had a stairgate to fasten off the kitchen when I did the school run but he's had the run of the downstairs whilst alone since he was about four months old. He's as good as gold tbh so long as he gets plenty of attention and exercise.

We never used a crate and had no problems at all. No chewing or accidents and just 2 nights where he cried a little bit.

I realise we were lucky.

If your puppy's eating the house every time you turn your back, he probably needs a crate. Otherwise no. Since crates became the thing I imagine legions of dogs shut in small cages for the whole working day after a ten minute walk.

If it helps reassure you any I can fit in my dog's crate with him .

I don't think people should be leaving dogs that long anyway, crated or not, but yes they are problematic if misused - that's not the crate's fault though.

Crates can be good for toilet training pups, and so that if they have to be overnight at vets or something it's less traumatic, but hey, about 20/30 odd years ago, no one knew what a crate was. If your dog is OK with the freedom of the house or a room in the house, I would say that is so much better.

20/30 years ago crates were called cages - at least where I am from.

I have never used a crate and I never will. I have had several dog (got them as puppies) and it has just never been necessary to crate them.

I looked after a crate trained dog, but the dog couldn't wait to get out of the crate and was difficult to get back in there. It spent all night and the majority of the day (when home alone) in the crate. It must be pretty miserable staying in a crate for 18 hours of the day, only broken up by a few hours before the owner goes to work, when the dog walker comes round and during the evening until the owner goes to bed.

Never used a crate. I don't think I could buy one large enough even if I were inclined to.
We have a run in the garden attached to an empty out house which is his shelter complete with a memory foam bed, food and water.
He's also allowed indoors and loves being in the kitchen where bed#2 is. Sleeps in the kitchen overnight as it's easier to clean up any mess that sometimes happens.

I have had crate trained dogs and dogs who have never been n a crate...of course your choice, your dog.

if you use a crate and actually train them to be happy in it you have an automatic people/child free place for dog to retreat to, an easier time at vets/holiday cottages/camping BUT...dogs shouldn't be crated for huge stretches of time.;..any more than they should be left alone unoccupied for huge swathes of time. Some people misuse crates, some people mistreat dogs. Used well they are a great tool and lovely dog space...but you should do what suits you and your dog.

We didn't use a crate with our pup, it seemed more commonly used in America than here and we felt it was cruel to lock him up in a confined space like that (call me a soft touch)

That said we put off buying a dog until my DP was working from home and therefore someone was able to be there 24/7 for toilet training in the early months. I know it's unlikely to go down well here but I think it's irresponsible to own a dog if they then have to be left for long periods on their own. We run a business so are able to bring our dog into our office day to day.