Crating dogs?

igora_soma

I know this can be a controversial topic, but I'd like to hear from people with experience. Does anyone crate their dog while at work? If so, for how long? If you don't crate your dog and work full-time, how does that work for you?

Experiences appreciated! Thank you

brittanyscherich

I don't crate mine. He loooves to be outside, so I usually just put him outside. We have a huge backyard, with a dog house, food and water. If weather isn't good that day, he stays in the house. Once he outgrew the puppy stage, I could leave him inside unattended and he doesnt get into trouble.

I got mine when he was 3 months and I only crated him at night for the first couple of months , and when we left the house for short amounts of time, until he became 100% house trained.

khk2010

I crate my small dog at night and if I'm gone for up to 4 hours. I don't leave her in all day.

NiciS72

We crate one and not the other. The one who is crated is a puppy and he gets into everything when not supervised. I also don't think he'd control himself from using the house as his bathroom! He's been crated for upwards of 10 hours no problem. The other one is trustworthy and good to be left loose in the house. The worst he does is suckle a sheet or sock!

chrymyrs

I crate mine. To them, it's their bed. We put a sheet in there for them as well. They are either outside or crated when I'm gone, and crated when I go to bed. In my opinion it keeps them safe.

SeaShell33

i currently keep my dogs outside when we are gone. but I used to keep my dog that passed away in the house for up to 10 hours sometimes and she was so good! I guess it depends on how well behaved your dog is...but I imagine they would rather have room to roam than be locked in a crate all day...wouldn't you?

McKayMachina

How would you like to be stuck in a crate for 9 hours a day only able to lie down and wait?

I'm not being aggressive. That's really the question I ask myself.

If you have a yard, that would be better.

brittanyscherich

for the people that crate for an extended amount of time (more than 2-3 hours) do you leave them food and water? And are these big, hyper breeds who need exercise or smaller breeds?

brittanyscherich

How would you like to be stuck in a crate for 9 hours a day only able to lie down and wait?

I'm not being aggressive. That's really the question I ask myself.

If you have a yard, that would be better.

YES!

khskr1

We crate ours, always have. Most of the time they are out during he day. They LOVE their crates. The get made if we move then an inch! We Never leave our dogs outside unattended. Partly because it can be dangerous if get into something or another dog is loose and comes around. Our neighbors leave theirs outand they bark all day long. Its extremely disruptive to the neighborhood. Many of us have made cpmplaints to the city and animal control. So just keep your area in mind as you aremaking your decision. Also your dog breed. We have an english mastiff and they are people dogs. So keeping them seperated is torture. Good luck making your choice.

efcdcdb

With both my former dog Sam ( had him for 15 years, passed away in June 2010) and my current dog Tucker (a 1-2 yr old stray we've had for about a year now), we crated them when we were away at work, for several months. Eventually, they were able to develop good potty habits (doing their business quickly in the morning, for example) , and we also dog proofed somewhat, so we could leave them out of the crate. Sam slept in the cage with the door open his whole life (in our bedroom) and Tucker still gets locked in at night. But he loves it....goes up and curls up inside of it every night after he comes inside from his final potty break. I think the important thing to know if that they grow to feel secure there - they don't hate it. And it really helps with house-breaking, and keeping YOUR things from being destroyed. I strongly recommend it.

ellekay22

2 dogs - Dandie Dinmont Terriers. One needs to be crated - he has anxiety issues and will poop all over the house. The other just goes to her crate when we leave. 8 hours max. If we're out longer we get my folks to let them out. If I'm home they tend to sleep all day in one spot anyway.

I'd rather not, but they don't seem to mind.

kimtpa1417

i have 3 dogs and I didnt crate them and they broke the front window when they got excited when someone or something walked by. (probably a kitty) Mine are crated when nobody is home during the day for 7 hours. I hated doing it to them but couldnt risk them getting through the window for fear of them cutting themselves or getting out and bitting something or someone (although I doubt they would)

The older one will sleep in his crate even when the door is open. I tell them night night and they all 3 will run in their crates. I still dont care much for it but I have 3 pitbulls and cant risk them getting out.

brk_1982

I crate my Boston and he doesn't mind at all. When we put on our coats to leave he runs right in there! We are gone for 9 hours, BUT we have a dog walker who comes in the middle of the day. I don't like to leave him in there for more than 5 hours.

lindalee0315

We never crated our lab, even as a puppy he hated it. However, we recently acquired a jack russell terrier that someone literally dropped in our yard and drove off. She's a great dog, but she isn't housebroken. If we don't crate her at night she poops and pees all over the house. So, we are crating her when we cannot supervise her. If weather is fine, both dogs stay outside during the day. Thankfully, someone is usually at our house during the day, either us or our nanny, so she's not going to be in her crate for long. We anticipate once she's housebroken, we won't use it unless she wants to go in it.

lindalou4850

I have aways crated my dogs.We have always had big German shephards.It was their safe place. They were usually only in there for the night. Most times I could leave the door open during the day and they would go in there to sleep.It sure beats coming home to a mess.

kimtpa1417

How would you like to be stuck in a crate for 9 hours a day only able to lie down and wait?

I'm not being aggressive. That's really the question I ask myself.

If you have a yard, that would be better.

Its against the law to leave your dogs out all day in my state. Even if you provide shade and water.

Queen_Christine

I have crated my two dogs. The first dog was a cockapoo. She lived to be 15 years old and I crated her while I was at work (8 hour day) - I did this her whole life. I did not crate her at night. She was a very smart dog, and she thought of the crate as her bed / home. But, as I said, she was very smart, and on a few occassions when I was home and she had to be sick (diareeha) and couldn't get my attention to let her out she went to her crate and got sick, as opposed to somewhere in the house. I still think this is amazingly perceptive and sacrificial of her. Perhaps it had something to do with her breed's inherant need to please. (Cockers and like that.) Anyway, she was the best dog in the world.

My current dog is a mix of a maltese and a brussels griffon. I crate her also while I am at work full time. Brussels are "full of self improtance" per the AKC breed description. She is most definately about pleasing me. It's ALL about her. She is stubborn and hard to train. BUT, she also thinks of her crate as her home. I know this because when my mother lived with me I didn't close the cage door when I went to work - but she still stayed in it ALL DAY! Her "Bed", however, is MY PILLOW!

Oh, I forgot to mention our very first dog - a German Shepard - this was before I knew about cage training - we kept her outside in a 8x20 foot dog pen while we were at work. She dug holes to get out all the time. We had a sidewalk around the outside perimeter of the pen and she would still get out! She was never well behaved until I stayed home for three months on maternity leave and she was indoors that whole time. When I went back to work, she went back outside. not long after that she dug her way out again and got hit by a car. She was only 6 yrs old. If I had known then about crating she would have lived longer and been a better behaved dog.

Frappuzzino

How would you like to be stuck in a crate for 9 hours a day only able to lie down and wait?

I'm not being aggressive. That's really the question I ask myself.

If you have a yard, that would be better.

Absolutely agree. I honestly can't think of a good reason for anyone to crate their dog, except for MAYBE on a long car ride for their safety.

kaetra

We used a crate during housebreaking. After she was completely housebroken we didn't use the crate anymore. She stays in the house now while we are gone. She isn't destructive so it's not an issue.

During housebreaking we kept her in the crate overnight, and put the crate in our bedroom near the bed. If we left during the day we would put her in the crate with a Kong toy stuffed with something and then frozen, like yogurt, applesauce, peanut butter etc. It would take her an hour or two working on the Kong to get everything out. This helped with boredom. She also had a big water bottle, kinda like a gerbil water bottle, that came with the crate.

We never left her in the crate during the day for longer than 4 hours.

Even now our work schedules are arranged so that she's never home alone for more than 3-4 hours at a time. I work from home Tuesday and Thursday, and husband is always off on Mondays which helps a whole lot. So really there's only 2 days a week that she's home alone and on those days our schedules stagger. She also has a dog door she can use that goes out to our small fenced in yard.

Every dog is different. Some don't mind the crate, others don't like it at all. Some dogs are destructive when left in the house and some aren't. But I think leaving any dog in a crate for 8-10 hours a day, 5 days a week while you're at work isn't cool. Especially if they have to sleep in the crate at night too. If that's necessary I don't understand why people even have a dog if they don't have enough time to spend with them.

kathyhull

I crate my 2 "pound puppies" together any time I'm not home. One is a large lab/Rottweiler mix, the other a beagle/smooth fox terrier mix. They get bones and a kong in their cage and to them it's their sanctuary. When left on their own, dogs sleep almost 20 hours a day naturally so I don't feel bad crating them - I'm protecting them from hurting themselves when I'm away. I do try to make sure they get walks, excercise and loving time when I am home to make up for it. Just found with my first dog a long, long time ago, it helped with potty training, kept him from tearing up things they shouldn't and kept them from getting into things that could hurt them when I'm not there to supervise. I've had 4 dogs, all crated and none of them have ever seemed to mind.

ladybg81

I have 2 boxers, Jake, 4 and Maggie 3. They were both crated (kenneled as we call it) until about 6 months ago. They were both NOTORIOUS for chewing. We had to buy a new couch because of a 30 minute run to the grocery store and left Jake out. Anyway, they both were fine with it and actually used to sleep in their kennels at night when they were puppies (they did this on their own, we left the doors open and they went in.) One thing we learned with our beagle was not to use it as punishment because then, anytime you put then in, they think they are in trouble. Jake and Mag knew the routine in the morning. I would take a treat with me and they went in without a problem; they did this even without treats. I think them having their own space gave them a sense of security. With Jake when he was little, I would even put a sheet over his kennel leaving the front open so he could see and he really like it. Maggie chewed the sheet so I could not do that anymore. Anyway, my point to all of this rambling is that I think it is a great option for puppies but it is something I suggest you start from the beginning and do not use it as a punishment.

MIMITIME

I don't crate my babies. Never have.

macpatti

Crating can be a useful tool for housebreaking a puppy. We used the crate only when ours was a puppy, and not for more than a few hours at a time. We then transitioned her into a pen which is in the corner of the kitchen. In her pen, she has a water bottle stand, a potty pad, toys and sometimes her food. At first, we kept the pen locked so she was confined to just that little area. Now, we still have the pen in the kitchen, but keep the door open and put a baby gate up so she has to stay in the kitchen when we're gone.

macpatti

How would you like to be stuck in a crate for 9 hours a day only able to lie down and wait?

I'm not being aggressive. That's really the question I ask myself.

If you have a yard, that would be better.

9 hours is too long to crate any dog. Leaving some dogs in a back yard can be dangerous, though.

nuttyfamily

We have two yorkies and they are crated but we have an extra large crate that is meant for large dogs. They can get up and move around. About 8 hours a day.

I just have one of those water bottle things that hang on the side.

I tried to leave them out while running errands only to find things chewed up or accidents.

When we are home on the weekends, they will just in there and lay down and sleep for hours so I am guessing they sleep the majority of the time we are gone.

We also crate them in there during the night.

cownancy

Depending on where you live, it is not really safe to leave dogs outside when you are not supervising them. I suppose if you live on a 100 acre estate nowhere near roads or any other potential hazard, OR if you have a kennel with shelter, food and water, it's probably OK, but you really have to be careful.

As for crating, it depends on many factors. I crate train most of my rescue and foster dogs because they often need to be housetrained, it teaches them their order in the pack, and it keeps the other dogs and the house safe until we find out more about them. It is also good for them to know and love their crate in case their new owner wants to use it.

If you raise a puppy so that he/she is crate trained, the dog will usually consider the crate to be their "safe place". My now 2 year old Saint Bernard, Lollipop decided that her crate is her castle and she loves to spend time in it with the door open. We don't have to crate her, but we hate to take it away from her. Our other Saint, Hans, was crated for months during his time at a shelter and he has anxiety if put in a crate.

I would not keep a dog in a crate longer than 8 hours at a time and really don't like to keep them in the crate during the day longer than 4-6 hours if it can be avoided. But, there really is no harm in crating while you are at work if the dog has water and a nice bed and something to entertain them, like a toy or something. They usually will sleep most of the time. If you crate the dog, make sure you pay extra attention and give the dog LOTS and LOTS of extra exercise!

Good luck

jennyrider

I don't know how old you dogs are but nine are 2 and maybe 3. My 2 year old has been in-frayed for 1 1/2 years. My maybe 3 year old had never been crated. You need to demonstrate dominanace if you are still relying on a crate!

DannyMussels

How would you like to be stuck in a crate for 9 hours a day only able to lie down and wait?

If it includes foreplay and spanking, I'm all in.

ummlovelovesyou

My parents have a golden retriever, she's not too big (Was the runt of them all). Anywho, she's crated on rainy days and on really hot days.

May parents both work full time. My dad use to work near our house and he would sometimes let her out at noon. Other than that, she would be in from 8-3ish, and after she's free to roam around the backyard. She's a little over 4 years now and is totally use to it.

It use to bum me out to put her in there...but when it's 100 degrees outside and she has such a thick coat, I'd rather her be inside and somewhat more comfortable in the a/c.

When I go over and my parents ask to let her in sometimes, I give her a treat. She has a giant pillow and a stuffed animal (to tear to shreds!) and a chew toy. She will play for awhile and then fall asleep.



I think it's fine as long as you're not keeping your dog in ALL day and all night long, you know, like abusively, but I doubt you're the kind of person to do that.

starwhisperer

My lab mix crates. It is where he goes when he is tired, or scared... and when my two dogs are left out together they get into trouble. I stay home, so for the most part this isn't an issue... but if you read up on it, all the experts in dog training say it is the way to go. We try to give dogs human emotions and they just are not humans. So while being locked in a kennel for a bit as a human would be demeaning and uncomfortable, to a den animal it is totally natural and makes sense.