Where does your dog sleep?

[kissmelittleass]

Getting a rescue dog this week our first time to have a dog and wondering where you all let your dogs sleep? And if you enclose the dog in a playpen?
I only know one dog owner and she uses a type of playpen with the dogs bed in the middle and shuts the dog in at night time, the dog sleeps in a spare room downstairs .
Do any of you use playpens at night to stop the dogs wondering about?

I've got a greyhound and when we first adopted her she slept downstairs on her bed in the living room. She didn't know how to use stairs anyway. After about 4 months we took her on holiday with us to a seaside town where there were a lot of outdoor stone stairways, so she learnt how to use stairs there. Once we came back home, she refused to stay downstairs at night time and now has a second bed on our bedroom floor. She has also commandeered the spare bed as her own in the daytime!

Wow loads of responses thanks everyone, interesting to hear where all the doggies sleep, helping me to decide where to put our little fella when he comes 🐶

@Medievalist

I’m now convinced that crate training, when done responsible, is brilliant.

And there you have it. What percentage of people who use cages do you think actually do use them responsibly? The fact that it's seen as okay to put your dog in a cage makes people think that it's okay to shut your dog away when it's an inconvenience. You absolutely must be aware of how much they are misused and the sheer misery and suffering they cause, by people who leave their dogs in cages overnight and through the day, and in cages that are often too small for them.

And they make people lazy owners - why bother with training if you can stick a dog in a cage if it's misbehaving?

Cages are misused and enable thoughtless owners to abuse their dogs. For that reason I wish they didn't exist. If they didn't it might make people who work all day and who are worried about their furniture think twice about getting a dog.

There will always be people who should never have animals. Cruelty and neglect towards animals is utterly disgusting.

Using crate training responsibly is absolutely fine and is actively encouraged by many respected dog organisations.

Please post a link to some evidence for your claims.

@DramaAlpaca

I'm with *@Medievalist*. I've raised several beautifully behaved dogs from puppies without ever using a crate.

As for where my two sleep - anywhere they like.

Well done! Just because we used to manage, that doesn’t make crate training a bad thing.

Please post a link to some evidence for your claims.

What??!!! I don't think I need to 'prove' that people misuse cages do I? Really?!!!

Try scrolling through Mumsnet and reading the posts from people who ask questions about how long it's okay to leave their dogs caged during the day while they're out at work. Dogs that have already been caged overnight.

Honestly it's blatantly obvious isn't it?

@Lightswitchesoffatnight

Try reading this -

themuttyprofessor.co.uk/2017/07/20/crate-debate-crate-not-crate/

@Lightswitchesoffatnight

Or how about this -

www.peta.org/about-peta/why-peta/crating-dogs/

Or this -

wetnoseescapades.com/reasons-not-crate-dog/

In the bed, usually under the duvet.

He does at least have the good grace to leave the bed when it's time for (ahem) couple things. He goes under the bed and pretty much puts his paws over his eyes and ears until it's all over

He came into my life as an adult rescue, and as I was working longer hours than was desirable I reasoned that I wasn't going to deprive him of human contact overnight as well as in the day. I now mostly WFH. The sleeping arrangements are far too ingrained now!

Just catching up on the last few posts re crates.

IMHO all dogs need a safe space they can retreat to, where they know the humans won't bother them. For my dog, that happens to be his bed under my own bedframe where not even the hoover goes. For other dogs, that might be a crate, where all the humans know and agree not to bother the dog.

However, when there's a door on the crate that shuts, it's a cage. It's no longer the dog's choice to be in there when there's a shut door. It's not a safe space at that point, it's a prison cell.

Now, there will be some situations where shutting the door might be appropriate for a short period of time (e.g. overtired bitey puppy who needs an enforced nap, or a dog that can't cope with visitors being shut away while a tradesman comes around) but there's far too many people that cage their dog during the day while they're out at work (often because of separation-related destructiveness) and then again overnight.

Some of the dog crates / cages on the market are so small that I have quite literally owned bigger hamster cages.

DDog does very well with a safe space but no crate / cage; he can roam almost anywhere he likes in the house 24/7. My grandparents raised generations of mild mannered dogs with not a crate/cage in sight. Indeed, they would have been horrified if they knew what people do with them nowadays.

Either in our bed or with my son on his bed. Occasionally she will sleep downstairs on the sofa 🦊

I have 2 Lhasa Apso and they sleep in crates in the dining room where they have slept from puppies. Crate door is open and they have comfortable baskets in lounge they can go into as open plan. They can also go through kitchen and out into garden through large cat flap if they need a wee. They often go into their crates during the day to lie down especially after their morning walk. They have toys in crate and like it there.

Giving a dog a crate to go into is not cruel. If they did not like it why would they choose to go into it to lie down when they have comfortable baskets? Our dogs choose to sleep in their crates with padded bases and door left open rather than their comfortable baskets in lounge. All open plan so they can go where they wish but not upstairs. Cats sleep in their baskets in kitchen or in lounge on sofas or in their cat trees.

[quote Medievalist]@Lightswitchesoffatnight

Try reading this -

themuttyprofessor.co.uk/2017/07/20/crate-debate-crate-not-crate/[/quote]
I’m really not convinced by this person’s view. They say:

Think about it, how absurd is it that it’s considered normal to confine an animal to such a small cage for prolonged periods of time, with this space often being just a little larger than their body size?

This is such an emotive statement. No wonder some people don’t like the idea of crate training, if they think that’s what happens.

[quote Medievalist]@Lightswitchesoffatnight

Or how about this -

www.peta.org/about-peta/why-peta/crating-dogs/

Or this -

wetnoseescapades.com/reasons-not-crate-dog/[/quote]
No actual evidence, just some extreme views from organisations that don’t have a well known profile. The RSPCA, PDSA and Battersea all have sound advice about the positive use of crates.

Idiots don’t need crates to be cruel or neglectful, they will always find a way.

www.labradortraininghq.com/labrador-training/why-use-a-dog-crate-is-it-cruel/

Crate in kitchen to start off with and now on my daughters bed.

My ddog had a bed in my bedroom. He would go to sleep when I did but I'd wake up in the morning with his hairy face next to mine on the pillow! I do miss him.

It’s some people who are cruel, not crates. A crate in itself, isn’t a cruel training aid. Used correctly they are excellent.

On their beds in the utility room

It’s some people who are cruel, not crates. A crate in itself, isn’t a cruel training aid. Used correctly they are excellent.

You keep trotting this out. But missing my whole point. Why give people access to something that, used INCORRECTLY can cause so much suffering?

@Lightswitchesoffatnight

It’s some people who are cruel, not crates. A crate in itself, isn’t a cruel training aid. Used correctly they are excellent.

This is very true. Sadly I think they are probably - and hopefully - a minority of people that use the m so much and for the wrong reasons a dog becomes subdued and incarcerated then possible aggressive or hyperactive .

There was a thread in here recently for example about a woman who is a friend with a lockdown puppy. Upon her return to work she indicated she was planning f to crate the puppy the entire time she was out. Some eight hours I suspect. The puppy also had to sleep in it at night. Essentially she was imprisoning it

Sorry for the litany of typos

@Medievalist

It’s some people who are cruel, not crates. A crate in itself, isn’t a cruel training aid. Used correctly they are excellent.

You keep trotting this out. But missing my whole point. Why give people access to something that, used INCORRECTLY can cause so much suffering?

I'm repeating it because you're missing my whole point. Crates aren't cruel, people are. Banning crates, good luck with that won't stop cruelty to animals.

There was a thread in here recently for example about a woman who is a friend with a lockdown puppy. Upon her return to work she indicated she was planning f to crate the puppy the entire time she was out. Some eight hours I suspect. The puppy also had to sleep in it at night. Essentially she was imprisoning it.

That's terrible. People who work full-time and expect to leave a dog for eight hours should be banned from keeping dogs.

The problem is, of course, anyone can get a dog and recently there's been some very unscrupulous people selling dogs, who just don't care.

Dogs give us so much and ask for so little in return. It saddens me considerably that dogs are so let down by certain individuals.

Wherever she fancies. She has free roam over the house and will change through the night. Sometimes on the floor by the bed, sometimes on the bed, sometimes in my DD's room, or on the sofa.