What's your opinion on using a crate with dogs?

[MM27]

I crate trained my doberman, Max when he was a puppy. He loved his crate so much that after he was fully trained, we kept the crate for him and just took the door off so that he could go hide out in there to rest when he wanted some alone time

Then we got my girl Molly, that I have now. Made the mistake of taking the crate to use for her and poor Maxie would never go near it again. I felt so bad that I took his little space, but I wasn't thinking. Well, Molly HATED the crate. She cried and wimpered all night for the first few nights so we stopped using it with her. She still got trained, but we had to watch over her a little more.

 

[yoopermom]

Another "pro-crate" person here. We have nine dogs (mostly kenneled), but all are started in the house which includes potty training and crate training. They're a high energy breed, and the crate training is essential for two times:
1. When they travel (I will NOT have a loose dog in the car, for their safety and mine)
2. When they need to recover from injury/illness (if a vet tells you to keep the dog confined and quiet, and they've never been taught "crate up", what are you going to do?)

We keep a very large crate in the living room, and whichever dogs are having their "house time" will squish in it together! It truly is their "safe" place, soft cushy and snuggly.

Used as a tool, for appropriate amounts of time only, a crate is essential for any dog owner, IMHO.

Terri

 

[C.Ann]

DD has a very large crate for their dog - in their bedroom - but I'm not sure why.. It's never closed..

He loves it though, but only uses it when everyone goes to bed - or if he isn't feeling well.. (And again, it's not closed..)

Interesting thought about a fire though - and a dog locked in a crate.. Never even thought of that..

When I still lived in my former home and we had dogs (1 at a time over the course of many, many years), we never crated them - and had no problems.. They were easy to train (in all aspects - including behavior) from when they were just pups..

 

[debf]

We have two small dogs. They are crate trained. We put two crates together so they can be with each other. Usually they curl up together in one of the sides. We have tried to let them stay out when we leave the house.They have chewed my carpet,kitchen island,a couch, and many shoes. So now we always crate them when we leave. They don't mind. We say go to your bed and they go right in. When we are home they have full run of the house. They also sleep with us at night. Sometimes when I don't know where they are I will find them sleeping together in their crate. They really aren't a bad thing. I do have to be honest though, the fire thing has always bothered me. There is no way for them to get out if we ever had a fire when we were not at home.

 

[Molliday]

Crates are best invention, since dogs, IMO. I can tell my two to "kennel" and they run to theirs.

 

[Magpie]

Thank you, everyone, for your replies! It's really interesting to read how people make their crates work for them and their dogs. It's nice to hear good stories!

I think my first experience with "crate training" was a bad one. My college room mate (she was studying to be a vet) got a big labrador puppy and kept him crated for most of the day while she was at school or work. He wasn't house trained, so he would have accidents in his crate. She also kept him crated overnight and I would wake up in the morning to hear her yelling at him because he'd had another accident. Eventually, he started eating the evidence, and then she yelled at him more, because she thought he was disgusting. She was too busy to walk him.

I felt really bad for that dog. I ended up moving out as soon as I could - because he'd chewed three inches off the bottom of our front door and the last person in that apartment was going to end up financially responsible for the damage.

I'd never owned a dog myself, but I knew that when I got one of my own I couldn't go wrong by doing everything exactly the opposite from the way she did it.

As far as "what if you have to get your dog to be quiet and you don't have a crate" - that hasn't been an issue with my dog. When she was recovering from her spaying, I just told her to lie down, and she did. I can certainly work her up into a frenzy when we're playing, but left to her own devices she's very mellow.

 

[disykat]

The fire thing scares me too, but, like someone else said, it'll be a lot easier in an emergency to find them safe and sound in their crate than hiding somewhere. We don't have a doggy door so she wouldn't be able to get out of the house if she wanted to. I used to let the dryer etc. run when we were gone, but not since we got our dog. I can't prevent everything, but I try to take steps.

We crate trained and our dog generally sleeps in her crate. When she was a puppy, initially she was always crated when we were gone. Gradually she was trusted in the laundry room with a baby gate, then the family room with a baby gate, then the whole house. During the early months, if I worked the whole day I came home from work at lunchtime to let her out.

I love the crate. She rarely goes in there in the daytime unless she is scared, but we have kept her sleeping in her crate because I think it will be easier on her when she is elderly. She doesn't mind getting closed in her crate, but she really gets upset if someone closes her crate door and she doesn't have access.

 

[Momvic5]

We have two small dogs and used the crate-training method on both of them. One took to her crate from day one, and the other one hated it. Our dogs were never in their crates for more than a hour or two at a time. The only times that we really used the crates were for bedtime, when we ran errands, and in moments when we needed them to have a space to settle down in. Like I stated, our older dog liked her crate...she would settle down the moment you put her in it, but the younger one would yelp and cry for a few minutes before settling down. Now that our dogs are no longer puppies, we really do not need the crates, but since the older dog is attached to hers, we have kept them both. They sit in my bedroom and the doors are always open...they have free access in and out. Older older dog sleeps in hers all of the time even though we have 4 different pet beds throughout the house. Our younger dog actually prefers to sleep with me or one of the kids, but if she is pushed off of the bed, she will go to her crate in the night. The crate method worked well for us, but I think that in some cases, they are over-used.

 

[goofy!]

I show my dogs so crate training is essential.

I also have a breed that sometimes has to be crated when company is over.

They take 24 hours to dry after a bath, in their crate with multiple fans on them. If I didn't crate them, I would have a mildew mess in their cords.

My dogs love their crates. They are in our bedroom and they go in them on their own. They have a fan directed on the crates 24x 360 days a year. They go in their crates, lay on their backs (hooking their nails through the sides to hold their legs up) and let the fans blow on their tummies.

Crates make for easy training.

As for fire safety, if I leave the house and they need to be crated, I only lightly close the top latch of the crate. My dogs know how to rattle the door open and get out if they need to.

 

[pigletgirl]

Crates are definitely nice during the puppy phase when they can't always be trusted, so the crate should be the safe place to go if need be. We always put them in their crate at night too. We never used it as a punishment either. It's use now is mostly for comfort. It is 'their space'

 

[JVL1018]

My dog is snoozing in her crate right now with the door wide open, as usual.

We used to lock it every so often when she was a puppy, but she was housetrained very quickly, so that was short duration.
She is never crated when we aren't home, she's a good dog and doesn't get into anything.
The crate is next to my side of the bed, so when she's in there,she's not off by herself.

The only time she is in the crate with the door shut and locked is if we have small kids over, and I am not sure I can trust them not to open my bedroom door. Normally if we have people over, she's just in my bedroom with the door closed.
She's a great dog, just gets excited and will jump, so I don't leave her out with lots of people over.

 

[JerseyJanice]

We crate trained Max when we got him 8 years ago. He was put in his crate whenever we went out or couldn't supervise him. When home with him in puppyhood, our old toddler gate blocked the doorway to the kitchen, and we kept him confined there. I don't think you ever give an untrained dog run of the house.

Max spent every night in his crate until he was about 4, then somehow, I broke down and let him stay at the foot of our bed overnight.

His crate is still down in the laundry room, and he goes in it by himself now, usually when I'm there doing laundry. (He's like my shadow, this dog. When I'm home, he trails me all around the house. I have to watch every step I take so I don't accidentally stumble on him.)

 

[Molliday]

Thank you, everyone, for your replies! It's really interesting to read how people make their crates work for them and their dogs. It's nice to hear good stories!

I think my first experience with "crate training" was a bad one. My college room mate (she was studying to be a vet) got a big labrador puppy and kept him crated for most of the day while she was at school or work. He wasn't house trained, so he would have accidents in his crate. She also kept him crated overnight and I would wake up in the morning to hear her yelling at him because he'd had another accident. Eventually, he started eating the evidence, and then she yelled at him more, because she thought he was disgusting. She was too busy to walk him.

I felt really bad for that dog. I ended up moving out as soon as I could - because he'd chewed three inches off the bottom of our front door and the last person in that apartment was going to end up financially responsible for the damage.

I'd never owned a dog myself, but I knew that when I got one of my own I couldn't go wrong by doing everything exactly the opposite from the way she did it.

As far as "what if you have to get your dog to be quiet and you don't have a crate" - that hasn't been an issue with my dog. When she was recovering from her spaying, I just told her to lie down, and she did. I can certainly work her up into a frenzy when we're playing, but left to her own devices she's very mellow.

That's more of a bad dog owner story. That poor Lab.

 

[famofsix]

we used the crate as a training tool but our dog is neurotic about the crate.I was trying to wean her to a dog bed but she insisted on going back to the crate. Then I tried leaving the crate door open and she would whine until I closed it Finally I tried just leaving the dog bed out and then she would wake us up in the middle of the night because she wanted to go in the crate...weird dog It is nice that she feels secure there so when we have company that is leery of the dog she has a place to go

 

[N&B'smom]

We crate trained our 13 year old cocker spaniel and are currently crate training our 7 month old cocker puppy. Our puppy is in there when I'm at work (4 hours a day) and then again during the night. He is still at the stage where he will chew on things and end up potentially hurting himself. Once he outgrows that, just like our older dog...he will no longer be crated. We'll keep it available for awhile though in case he chooses to go in there. He really does seem quite comfortable in there.

At night I will tuck him in, give him a treat and head to bed. A couple of times I've forgotten something so I've come back into the room just a minute or two later, flipped on the light and he was already sprawled out flat on his back snoozing!

 

[worm761]

Oz is crate trained. He loves his box. He is a hoarder and takes all sorts of things. He has to be locked in at night because he keeps claiming the baby's toys and blankets. He thinks anything stuffed is his. Our older dog is a pekingese. She often kicks the big dog out of his box during the day and she hides in there from the baby. Olivia thinks it is fun to chase the little dog. I have found Olivia in there a few times too. She won't go in with the big dog though. I took pics to embarrass her with when she is older. We crate Oz, the big dog, while we are gone since he likes to get into things. There is rarely no one home though since I don't work.

 

[almburr]

Our boxer was crate trained. She woulld be crated if we were away from home. She would sleep in it but not latch the door at night. We did it because she was a big girl and missed us a lot when we were away. One time we tried letting her be out of crate while we were gone, didnt go well. She pulled down the blinds in the front room, broke a window trying to look out, then bit the dining room table and pulled across the room. But she never got into the dog food or dumped the trash (she saved that for when we were home) She was a sweet dog and miss her she was very loveable but had to give her away.

 

[punkin]

I think it depends on the dog. We crate trained our old dog and she loved her crate and stayed there with the door open It was her "safe" place. We got her as a puppy and she never had bad crate associations.

However, we have our current dog from the pound and he will not stay in a crate. He shakes and cries and tries to dig his way out. I do not know what caused this, but once I saw his reaction, There was no way I was going to crate him.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I'm not a big fan of restraints of any kind. I know lots of people love them so I won't say anything negative, to each their own, but it wasn't for me. In our home our fuzzy friends are as much a part of the family as the people so I'm all "Run! Be Free!"

Anyway, I guess my opinion wasn't helped by my own experience with the crate. When we brought home our Border Collie the breeder was all about the crate, so we went along with it and got 2, one for our bedroom so he wouldn't get lonely at night, and one in the kitchen. Well, the bottom looked cold at night so I gave the dog blankets. Of course he would move them out of the way so I tried everything I could to make sure they stayed in place but nothing worked. Finally I had the bright idea to pull out the bottom tray of the one in the bedroom because if the crate sat directly on the carpet it would keep woofy warm. Can you see where this is going yet? Anyway one day I was at the front door chatting with a neighbor. The dog couldn't get to me to protect me but he knew someone was in the house so he got frustrated. Still with me? Frustrated locked up dog in crate + carpeted bottom = shredded carpet down to the wood floorboards Never used the crate again. I know it's not the crate's fault, the mess was all me, still it was obvious I'm just not comfortable being all comfy in my bed if I think my dog is anything less so now we just spend our nights with me kicking the dog off the bed and him sneaking back on the moment I konk out. I know the situation is ridiculous but that's the way it is. Like I said, I'm all "Run! Be free!" so I just can't do the crate thing, it just doesn't work with my personality... too much guilt.

 

[Magpie]

I'm not a big fan of restraints of any kind. I know lots of people love them so I won't say anything negative, to each their own, but it wasn't for me. In our home our fuzzy friends are as much a part of the family as the people so I'm all "Run! Be Free!"

Anyway, I guess my opinion wasn't helped by my own experience with the crate. When we brought home our Border Collie the breeder was all about the crate, so we went along with it and got 2, one for our bedroom so he wouldn't get lonely at night, and one in the kitchen. Well, the bottom looked cold at night so I gave the dog blankets. Of course he would move them out of the way so I tried everything I could to make sure they stayed in place but nothing worked. Finally I had the bright idea to pull out the bottom tray of the one in the bedroom because if the crate sat directly on the carpet it would keep woofy warm. Can you see where this is going yet? Anyway one day I was at the front door chatting with a neighbor. The dog couldn't get to me to protect me but he knew someone was in the house so he got frustrated. Still with me? Frustrated locked up dog in crate + carpeted bottom = shredded carpet down to the wood floorboards Never used the crate again. I know it's not the crate's fault, the mess was all me, still it was obvious I'm just not comfortable being all comfy in my bed if I think my dog is anything less so now we just spend our nights with me kicking the dog off the bed and him sneaking back on the moment I konk out. I know the situation is ridiculous but that's the way it is. Like I said, I'm all "Run! Be free!" so I just can't do the crate thing, it just doesn't work with my personality... too much guilt.

I totally get where you're coming from! My dog, my kids, my husband... all they have to do is give me that "look" and oh... the guilt!

The only difference is that in our house, I decided that my dog must sleep beside the bed, not inside it. She sometimes barfs in the middle of the night and I just don't want to deal with that in my bed!

But she's allowed all over the furniture, and all over us. Actually "house training" consisted of me keeping my puppy either on my lap, or on the couch beside me, or in her basket or in my arms 24 hours a day, and only putting her down on her own four paws outside. It was, um... pretty labor intensive. But the end result was great - no accidents inside! And boy... my dog is completely convinced I'm her mom.

I was the same with my kids when they were babies - never put them down!