Is a crate a must?

[FuckingHateRats]

We're getting our first puppy this summer.

I know the advice now is to create train. My family have always had dogs and none of them have ever had a crate, and they've always been happy, well-adjusted, well-behaved dogs. Crate-training feels a little unnatural, coming from our experience, but I know it's rated for a reason.

Would anyone be happy to share their experiences of either using or not using a crate, and how they found it?

Not at all.

We never crated ours and he's absolutely fine as an adult. He's been in crates at the vet with no issues and travels on the backseat of the car just fine.

He was never destructive either and if I left him to shower or something - he just lay on the sofa with his kong and ate. He was like that from 12-14 weeks old with no training from us so I suspect it's very puppy dependent in some ways.

We started with a crate. He cried and cried and hated it. He would wake up super early just to get out of it. He wouldn’t come in from his bedtime wee because he didn’t want to go in the crate. So we ditched it and he sleeps happily until later and comes in easily at night.

We have never used crates, i don't like the idea of shutting a family pet in a cage. We put thrir bed usually in the kitchen with a stairgate so we havd somewhere to pop puppy for naps and sleep etc and when we go out they have a little bit of space but not too much it overwhelms them

I didn’t crate train , but I do have one for the car because we go on holiday to places that are a few hours drive away . We put the crate with a bed in it in the back and she settles for the journey .

You will find a crate very useful use it at night and when visitors come, any time when puppy becomes a nuisance, it’s all part of the discipline you are going to train your dog to fit in with.
Dont let him do exactly as he wants, he will be a nightmare

We crate trained ours and she did brilliantly, it was a really useful tool and she liked it as “her” space, particularly when she wanted some peace and quiet away from the rest of the family. She never cried in it though and always seemed happy to go in. Very useful for overnight potty training too

we started opening the door for her a few months in and she’d still go in the crate, then she outgrew it and we got rid of it entirely about 6 months in

it seems unnatural to us but is natural to dogs to seek out small spaces like that. Ours likes to sleep under the stairs and under tables

We didn't crate train and never had any problems. He toilet trained inless than a fortnight and was never a chewer. He goes in a crate at the groomers and at the vets with no issues.

We used one for the first year.

It was massive so we could fit a large bed in it and he still had room to play but we didn't buy it for toilet training which recommends a smaller size. It was a safe area in a large room so we could pop him in it when he needed to calm down, at night, or when we couldn't watch him and needed him to be safe.

At age 1 he stopped wanting to go inside it and as he could be trusted we removed it and just used baby gates to contain him if needed.

They’re very useful, as a safe place a puppy can be when you can’t supervise them, as somewhere dogs can go to chill that’s very clearly their space, and it means when they’re at the vet for anything they don’t have the added stress if suddenly being in one when they’re not used to it.

But you do have to crate train properly - not just put them in it.

and no, they’re not essential, people manage fine without them, but they are good if used properly.

No. IMO you can train a dog not to object to being caged, but it's not necessary and not kind.

It's 'safe space' is his bed. When he goes to bed he needs to be left in peace, so young children need to respect this.

I didn't crate train, but wish I had as I ended up getting a crate for the car, so it would have been easier if the dog had been happy with a crate from the very beginning, and can think of other situations where it would have been very useful (work on the house with people constantly in and out, enforcing rest after spaying, etc). I'd say give it a go, as even if you don't end up using it you might be glad in the future that the dog has experience of the crate and isn't stressed by it.

Never have used a crate for all of my dogs.My present Dalmatian sleeps all night from day one in his bed next to ours.We just watch him like a hawk while he runs around the house and generally gets up to mischief.

I crate train lots of reasons but the big one for me is if a dog needs to do an overnight at the vets for any reason they will be crated. I’d hate that to be their first experience of the crate and to make it more stressful than needs be. It’s also handy for travelling. Generally the door is open, dog just takes himself off to it if he fancies a break from us/the kids.

We only used one with our last ddog (5th) until she was big enough to not be squashed overnight!! Won't ever use one again. Felt very unnatural..

My dogs (and most of the puppies I foster) are crate trained. Its just a portable version of your dog going in the utility room or kitchen. As adult dogs, mine will sleep happily in a crate to go camping or on holiday so they can be left for a while in a non secure place, and one of them always sleeps in one at night as apparently then the world is our problem to deal with and he can sleep soundly. He comes and finds us to tell us to lock the door, it really is his own choice.
Theres no rights and wrongs about using one, but ime it is a lot easier with puppies to have somewhere they can't hurt themselves or chew your kitchen cupboards etc while you leave them, and it can be the equivalent of putting an overtired baby down in their cot for a nap as otherwise the world is too exciting to sleep. Except babies don't get bitey

I’ve had dogs who’ve loved the crate and those who hated it. For those who didn’t tolerate the crate, I use a playpen for safety. My current dog loves the crate but only with the door open. If you close the door, he freaks out. He’s my most chilled and well behaved and least destructive dog.

Our parents and grandparents raised generations of perfectly nice dogs without a crate in sight.

Mine came as an adolescent rescue but I've never used a crate. He has a safe space - which is his bed that he moves around the living room every few days at will and he doesn't get disturbed if he's in that. He also has a second bed under my bed but usually sleeps on the double bed.

We didn’t go down this route.
But then, we have a kitchen that can be closed off and that’s what we did with our dog when he was a pup. It was a very safe space. Also, he was a docile boy from day one… timid and quiet. Crate training just didn’t seem like the right fit for our boy (who’s now going on 7).

I think you should see how your pup is, see what your space is like, and take it from there. It’s very likely you’ll be fine without crate training. You’ll know pretty quickly whether or not you want to go down that path. It can be a really good fit/option and some of my friends really swear by it. But again, you may find you don’t really need to crate train.

Our dog’s bed in the kitchen is, incidentally, a crate.
Like all dogs he’s instinctively afraid of attack from above and the crate is cosily covered with a blanket on three sides, like a wolf’s lair.

We’ve never closed him inside the crate but he goes there quite happily when he’s closed in the kitchen (at night and if we go out) or as a safe place to gnaw on chews. If we had visitors that didn’t like dogs he’d also be put in the kitchen.

As a PP says, it’s good to know that in an emergency he wouldn’t be freaked out by a crate. And he likes it.

I bought mine through a second hand website from someone who didn’t find it useful. I figured I had nothing to lose and could always sell it on. I’m about to do that and get another one now he’s a year old and only just fits inside.

Our last dog was 20+ years ago when nobody would dream of caging their dog. Now, with all the dog behaviorists (!) it’s become quite an acceptable way to calm them down and give them a choice to escape from noisy family life. Locking them inside for hours at a time is obviously cruel.

<< Ralph on his first day with us.

We did it for a few reasons, but mainly so ddog always had a safe space they could go to and relax.
We have a spaniel who needed enforced nap time when younger to help deactivate land shark mode!
We used it at night as our house was not puppy proof, but we slept on the sofa next to pup for a few weeks so we could take them out the second the asked, crate then went upstairs next to our bed once they slept through the night more reliably, ddog now sleeps on her bed next to our bed and sometimes jumps up early hours which we don’t mind. But it helped her routine of settling for the night.
We also travel her in a crate and thinking ahead to being spayed wanted her to be ok with being in a crate.
When we visited friends and family we could take the crate and put her in there whilst we ate, now she just lays by our feet so we don’t need it. Also handy if she couldn’t settle as we’d pop her in the crate and she’d go straight to sleep.

We had a massive crate so she had space to get up and move around.

Ultimately it’s your pup and they are all so different so do what’s right for you! We were very lucky our pup was used to being crated (well more a humungous crate/ pen) so from day 1 settled in the crate don’t know how I’d of felt it she’d hated it to start.

Plenty of good books like easy peasy puppy squeezy that have ideas and games

We have two rescue dogs. One is absolutely fine, with or without us in the house, and only goes in a crate to go to the vet. The other has separation anxiety and chews up the house when we leave him at home. We were advised to get a crate for him, and he loves it. Happily runs in when we are leaving the house, and sometimes just goes in it when we are all at home too. It is his safe place and he loves it. He doesn’t sleep in it though - he sleeps on a dog bed next to my bed. I think it really depends on the dog. I realise this isn’t that helpful in helping you to decide!

We have a rescue terrier and she was crate trained when we collected her, the shelter advised us to get one as she viewed it as her safe place. She loves her crate.She sleeps in it all night, with a blanket over it, and during the day goes in with door closed if we are out, otherwise door is always open and she frequently retreats there to nap/chill. its very cosy with bedding and some chew toys. If you are getting one, a clip on water bowl is great for avoiding spills.

We use one and luckily our puppy likes it. It's massive and has her bed in it and is under a side table in our kitchen with a blanket to cover it when she's sleeping so very den like. It's her safe space and she enjoys going in there to chill/nap. We've never bothered with a divider to make it small.

We intend to use the crate until we can trust her not to chew or endanger herself then she'll have free run of the kitchen. We also need the crate so the cat can freely go about at night through the kitchen - when dog is asleep - without being bothered by the dog. Our puppy sleeps better in the covered crate. If she naps out of it, we find that she doesn't sleep as well as she gets distracted by stuff going on around her. The kitchen is our main hub at home so we can't always avoid it.

If we had a separate utility room, we probably wouldn't use a crate. As it is, we don't so the crate has been a useful safe space for our puppy. It's also been invaluable for enforced naps. Being crate trained is useful as we also intend for her to sleep in a crate when we camp this summer.

Our puppy also hated travelling by car until someone suggested a crate. So we bought another one and put the same dog bed in and she's been fine ever since. The crate does take up half the boot space though but it does mean the howling has stopped and she now doesn't mind being in the car!

I've never crated any of my dogs big or small. I've trained them rather than lock them in a cage. You can limit your pup to one area whilst it's younger and move any dangers out the way. To me having a puppy is like having a toddler so move anything like wires ornaments etc out the way and start training the day you get your puppy.

Olddog came to us as a tiny puppy used to his crate already - first night he was with us, the crate was outside our bedroom and he woke up for a wee - I let him out and he peed on the puppy pad next to the crate, went straight back, curled up and went back to sleep. So that was easy! Have attached photo of him where his crate was in the front room for some reason, and he squeezed round the back to the open door and got inside it in preference to the sofas or his other bed in that room!

Newtrick is needy as fuck and cried in any kind of pen. We didn't persevere. He's never needed a time out really, and he sleeps in his own bed in our room. His safe place if there are scary visitors is as close to me as possible, rather than taking himself away. I do worry about the vets, but tbh he'd be upset there whatever was going on 😢