Crating ....

[MaryIsA]

I think I got a bit caught up when had new puppy that I had to crate train her.

She was fine with a crate at night - and it suited us as she was next to us and would wake us up to take her out to toilet. She'd take herself off to her crate at night till she was about 11 months. Then we moved her to a bed in our room.

We could alse have left her downstairs with a puppy pad at night and I think that would have worked too. If we'd stopped down there with her the first few nights.

But I got very het up with trying to crate train her in the day - which she and I both hated. I know some people get on fine with it.

It really helped when I read on here someone saying that crate training is entirely optional.

Ours was put to sleep in her bed, or fell asleep on whichever lap she was on. We kept an eye on her in the house, and would keep her in the kitchen etc if needed. Now at 13 months if we go out she has the run of the house.

@MaryIsA We started off with ours having free roam of the kitchen but with the crate door open for him to nap in. However, he's a huge chewer so for his own safety, he has to be crated now on a night time and when we're out.

Not sure what your point is? You’ve done what suits you and that’s great. We’ve crate trained and think it’s the best thing we’ve done, no puppy pads, not in our bedroom. Which are both things we wanted to avoid.

I read a lot about crate training, and it seems some do talk about closing the door during the day for downtime with a filled Kong, or something. We're like you and only closed the door overnight while she's asleep - I can't imagine doing it during the day, she would go spare. She naps in her crate, or in her dog sofa thing in the front room now, at 5 months. We've never left her though, apart from going elsewhere in the house to do stuff while she naps.
Some might find it really useful, and for some breeds, but we've not found it necessary, although likely to have a box in the car for travel when she's older.

On our 5th ddog we decided leaving a dpuppy(14 weeks) at the mercy of 4 during the night wasn't a great idea! Used a crate until she was too big. Prob 6 months. The odd time during the day when we went shopping - prob less than 5 times as during Covid last year! Once caught our huge rottweiler wedged in it! Determined dpuppy wasn't having something she wasn't being offered!

I agree, for some its useful and really works.

For me it was an added stress and she's been fine without it.

It was helpful when I read around a bit and realised you could keep a dog safe without crating it. Well we could with the set up in the house etc - not all are the same.

it was kind of meant to be helpful!

It's interesting to hear different experiences.

We're just over a week into puppy ownership and are doing almost the exact opposite to you @MaryIsA!

At night time Dpuppy is in a bed on my bedside table right next to my head. He started sleeping through from 10pm to 7am on night 3, so this has worked perfectly for us.

During the day I pop him in his crate in the kitchen (or the puppy pen in the living room) for his naps. I sit down next to the crate, he whinges for 30 seconds and then flops down to sleep. I can then waste time on my phone potter around doing jobs without worrying about what he's up to.

We're still a few weeks away from thinking about leaving him on his own in the house so I'm sure I'll come back later to this thread and laugh at my naïveté

Crate training is a personal thing. However it is a great life skill to teach your dog. Most dogs at some point in their life will need to be crated eg just a basic vet treatment will require crating at the vets. Being restrained in the car is less stressful if the puppy is used to a crate.

As with most things it is easier to introduce when the dog is young. I also teach all my dogs to wear muzzles and get used to a buster collar when they are puppies. ALl general life skills that can make a future stressful situation easier for them.

I want to crate train not only for toilet training and giving puppy a safe space away from small children when sleeping (for both their sakes) but also so dog has its own den when we’re staying away from home. Is that not an advantage?

I used a crate for the first year. It kept him safe and was his space to calm down when he was over tired or stimulated. We ditched it around 1 year of age as he could be trusted but still have the baby gates which will stay forever more. I would probably do the same if we ever got another dog.

Yes I can see that it works for a lot of people and a lot of situations. No small kids in the house so her bed was fine for her safe space. And she very happily took herself off at night to bed.

Yeah, wish we'd got her used to a buster collar....that would have been so useful after she'd got spayed.

The crate was a godsend for us as it was a safe space you could put pesky puppy and know he'd never poo or wee in it, so you could go and do normal things like have a shower. I don't really understand how people manage with that puppy stage if they don't use a crate, it must be tricky to ever even leave the room!

Ours has never been crated (though we did buy one) and he's three years old now.

It was never necessary for us and he's never really been destructive. He was also a dream to toilet train.

We used a crate as somewhere to keep the puppy safe when we had to leave him to shower etc. He took to it happily and still sleeps with his bed inside quite a big puppy pen now. It’s useful as somewhere to pop him when he needs to dry off after a walk. It also stops him setting off the alarms when we leave the house. He chooses to go there for a bit of peace, so he must like it!

I've never crated any dog I've owned. They sleep downstairs where they find their spot. If you train your dog there's no need to lock them in a crate.

We had a large pen in our bedroom that we could leave our puppy in to sleep (with his bed and toys) or when we needed to shower etc. He’s now 15 weeks old, and is happy to hang out downstairs on his own when we shower etc.

He still sleep in his pen in our room, but is almost at the stage of being in his basket in our room (when he can be trusted not to chew things in our room).

We never crate trained in the house, as we didn’t like the idea of it. But he does have a crate in the car which he’s happy to be in, so I suppose we’ve got him used to a crate without really meaning to!

Whatever works for you and makes your life easy, and your dogs life happy is the best thing imo.

Our only problem is carrying a Labrador up and down the stairs, especially whilst he’s unable to hold his bladder all night... he’s 15kg at the moment, but it’s going to get harder and harder! Will get easier when he’s of an age that he can walk up or down the stairs himself.

DPup has time in her crate every day, I put her in whilst I take DC to nursery in the morning. I am 30 minutes in total. She gets on with her lickimat and other toys in her crate. Older DC are in a separate room doing school work. They said she never made a sound. I can understand if you have a small dog there's not that same urgency to crate train.