Crate training- so does everyone do this now?

[anxious84]

Hi,

Am due to pick up our puppy in a couple of weeks and have been doing lots of research watching YouTube recently and can't seem to find any alternative to crate training in the first few weeks.

Honestly, my first impression was they look like horrible little puppy prisons. However, since reading and watching about them, it seems to be the way to go.

Couple of questions though. What happens with toilet training at night? How much time do they spend in their in the day time? Do they go in when you're out? How long do you use a crate for?

I'd seen this Puppy Apartment on YouTube and originally thought it looked great, as it is a bed and puppy toilet\pad, with a divider, but then towards the end of the ad, I changed my mind, as, to me, it just seemed like they wouldn't understand that they should also go outside.

I'm still a bit sceptical of any crate tbh, as I had a puppy as a child and we didn't have a crate. She was toilet trained fairly quickly. I don't remember any prolonged dramas. However, I'm quite nervous about the first couple of weeks and want to do it right.

Opinions please.

Thanks

[TwitterQueen1]

I think it's entirely up to you OP. We got a crate when we were having a huge party when pup was only 10 weeks old. We put a blanket over the top and put it in the utility room. We thought up various tricks to get her to go inside it, but as soon as she saw it she went in and went to sleep. She absolutely loved it and used it as 'her quiet place'. We never shut the door - we didn't need to.

As for training. Newspaper on the floor for a few weeks, and plenty of trips into the garden.

[Deadnettle]

Anxious you shouldn't have to get up every hour at night with a pup. My collie could sleep straight though the night from 15 weeks and until then his crate was next to the bed (it was moved downstairs after that) and he would start moving around when he needed the loo. He only went once in the night.

My mini poodle was about 18 weeks old before she could sleep though the night without needing the loo. She is also a good example of why toilet training using a crate needs the right size crate.

Poodles crate was too big so she would wee in it and then want out so she could poo. She would go twice in a night. When we got her a smaller crate it took 2 nights for her to learn to hold it.

[NoCapes]

Starting to realise how lucky we were with Ddog, we brought her home at 9 weeks and she slept through straight away
I can count on one hand the number of times we've had to get up to let her out at night and she's 3 now

[whattheseithakasmean]

The people crate training in case the do has to be overnight at the vet - would you crate train a cat for a similar reason? It makes no sense to me.

[Deadnettle]

Yes whattheseithakasmean I would. I would train a cat to go in a cat basket so that taking them to the vets is as stress free as possible. It would also make catching the cat easier as the cat basket wouldn't be a thing to be feared.

Why wouldn't you want to make your life and your pets life as stress free as possible?

[nigelforgotthepassword]

I crate trained mine labouroaoulst and it worked until about a month ago when he suddenly regressed an started howling and barking and actually managed to get the top of the crate away from the side of it and wriggle out of the top.Ive no idea why.
He slept upstairs with me for a bit (as this coincided with a period of me being poorly and I didn't have the energy to do anything else.This week I have put him back in the kitchen and left the crate door open-which is where he is left when I am out/at work.
He's barked a bit before settling and done some protest poops (he has been house trained for a while, 99% of the time so I can only assume that's what that is) but generally ok.
I think if you've somewhere to contain the puppy so they can't chew stuff they shouldn't/mess in the house whilst they are still toilet training you should be fine without a crate.

[nigelforgotthepassword]

*laboriously that was meant to say. The crate training was hard work and now I don't know why I bothered!

[Floralnomad]

My dog has had several days at the vets and he's perfectly well behaved and not stressed in their crates , settles easily and doesn't bark etc so it's not a necessity - makes you wonder how people managed in the days before dog cages became a 'thing'.

[tabulahrasa]

"The people crate training in case the do has to be overnight at the vet - would you crate train a cat for a similar reason? It makes no sense to me."

Yep I spent time getting the cats used to their carrier...why wouldn't I?

A dog staying overnight at the vet is less frequent than a cat being in the carrier.

Though they tend not to use it as a bed in the same way the dog does with his crate, they'll sleep in it occasionally but the dog nearly always chooses to sleep in his crate.

[tabulahrasa]

"makes you wonder how people managed in the days before dog cages became a 'thing'."

No clue as the operations my dog has had weren't medically possible then, so he'd not have needed either the vets stays or crate rest afterwards, he'd have been pts.

[whattheseithakasmean]

Thinking of the very few times mine have been at the vets, they have been sedated/groggy/in pain so I don't think crate training would have made them feel much happier. Certainly not worth it to me - it is not the way I roll. But it is like parenting, you have to do it the way that works for you. No rights or wrongs, as long as it is combined with love, time and patience it will be fine.

[LilCamper]

I have a crate that would fit a setter.

[dotdotdot3]

I have never used cages and have had no problems toilet training - as others say, your own vigilance and focus are better tools. All my dogs have learnt to toilet outside without drama or stress - it just takes a week or two of work - actually, they get it before then.

However, I have trained my dog to be comfortable in a cage during travel - not difficult as it is simply where she goes in the car, she's never known any different, and the reward is an exciting walk. She was also calm in a cage at the vet's surgery the one time she had to stay for a few hours.

I've see too many people rely on cages as a substitute for training. And that's the training of both dog AND people/children who need to learn how to behave around the dog. Sticking a young dog in a cage might make it feel safe, but it is surely better to address whatever is in the environment which is making the dog feel uncomfortable.

You will have to properly 'dog proof' your house, much as you would for a toddler, and make sure there's nothing lethal lying around. There might also be some collateral damage (shoes, socks, toys etc left lying around) during the teething/chewing stage. This is just part of being a dog owner though, and it's amazing how quickly people learn to pick things things up when there's a chewy pup in the house.

[fessmess]

I think with all equipped it's how you use it that's important. A crate is good for us as due to layout of our house it's unsafe to leave pup anywhere else. Our 14 week old puppy has only had one nighttime accident and gets up at about 4-5 sometimes for a wee and sometimes poo.

[Florin]

I think it depends on your life style. For us crate training is very handy. We got our first dog when our son was 2 and second when he was 3.5. The crate meant the dog has a safe space away from a very active child (our child knows he is not allowed anywhere near them). It also meant our child was safe when I popped to the loo or something leaving them unattended. They are also very handy if you need to contain them. For example if your child is suddenly ill and throwing up all over the place or suddenly falls and badly cuts themselves my first instinct is to get the dogs to go in their crates so they are out of the way and I can deal with the emergency. When they are puppies they can get into mischief our youngest would eat anything and could get on the work surfaces from 8 weeks old so if we weren't watching him he needed to be crated for his own safety. In my opinion crating helps with toilet training as dogs don't like soiling their own bed, the crate should only be big enough for the bed. We use a smaller one first then make it bigger once toilet trained. The other think to consider is if you stay with friends/relatives, if they are not doggy people (and we have found a lot of people aren't even when we thought they were) they probably don't want dogs roaming free unsupervised at night in their house so much easier if dogs like their crates as then they can sleep in there, also handy if they are not doggy people and not used to being careful with stuff that is poisonous to them like not telling us and randomly putting a Christmas cake on a low table then leaving the dog with it. We also sold our house which meant lots of people coming to look at it. If my husband was home one of us would take the dog out while they were there but sometimes that wasn't possible and if I was doing the viewing or even occasionally the estate agent when I wasn't there but dog was the dog needed to be contained but people needed access to all rooms. Ours are only shut in when they are very small, we don't close the door unless it's an emergency or we are staying at friends. They both still love their crates especially one of them. We can often be chilling out in the evening infront of the fire with big dog bed in front of it and lots of chairs for the dogs to sleep and we will suddenly look around and ask where is the dog and she will be asleep in her room in her crate. Def don't use puppy pads or paper inside and then you have to train them twice. We just took them out every 15 mins and after every activity then increased time, both of ours were trained in less than a week. We also made the garden boring so it was just a place they did their business on a lead. They only played inside until toilet trained.

[TrionicLettuce]

I very much agree that being happy in a crate is an extremely useful life skill for a dog to have.

A while back DWhippet1 sustained an injury to his leg which required surgery followed by weeks of absolute rest. The fact he was already crate trained (even though he hadn't routinely been in one one for years) made the whole process far less stressful for both him and us.

I don't use crates at night or for toilet training but I do use them for teaching puppies to be happy being left. It means the puppy is safe from anything they could potentially chew and means the adult dogs are safe from needle sharp little puppy teeth.

I do think there are some misconceptions that crates are some magical tool for house training (your puppy can't hold their bladder longer just because they're shut in) and some people do use them far too much but I would always choose to crate train my dogs to maintain harmony when they're small and so it's not a completely alien concept "just in case".

[TrionicLettuce]

This is an excellent guide to crate training by the way, and the method I've always used. It works like a charm and never involves any kind of distress or upset on the part of the puppy/dog.

[EagleIsland]

Orangebird69 Completely agree they are a easy convenient option. As an alternative to training

[Orangebird69]

I'm just wondering how we managed with 5 dogs and no crates. Kids in the house, no incidents. Visitors, no incidents. Cooking dinner, no incidents. A bit of chewing as puppies do, but no incidents. Vet visits, no incidents. Toilet training, eagle-eyed and patient. We must just have been REALLY lucky

[Floralnomad]

What I don't understand is the bit about it being a safe place where you don't get disturbed and children stay away , that can all be achieved with an ordinary dog bed which doesn't involve shutting any doors on the dog .

[anxious84]

This really does divide people doesn't it.

I'm still sitting on the fence unfortunately. I think points made on all sides are completely valid.

[anxious84]

.....which is why I can't seem to make a decision!

[Thewolfsjustapuppy]

We didn't crate train but we had a crate from previous dog traveling so I set it up in the kitchen when pup came home. From day one she would take herself in there to sleep. I have never closed the door but the crate is still there like a little cave as it has become an extra counter in the kitchen and pup still sleeps there every day. House training has not been an issue and at night she sleeps in one of the kids rooms and has never had a nighttime accident. She whines at 6.30am, I hear her and take her out. No problems.
If we didn't have the crate I don't think it would have made a difference except that I wouldn't have that extra surface to dump my shit stuff in the kitchen.

[anxious84]

Thewolf, I think it's the shutting in that's my issue. I'm not saying it's wrong, but it just doesn't feel right to me.