Pet Lovers

[Lipstickdiva]

Absolutely I have crated dogs in the past, including adult dogs.  It is for their own safety.  

There is no way I would leave a puppy or certain adult dogs to have the run of the house when we aren't home.  I see so many people who have the attitude that they don't want to crate their dog because it's mean and then they let the dog have the run of the house and the dog gets into something and chews it up or swallows something horrible.  The same could happen if you confine them to one room by themself.   People think it's cute when their dog gets into something or they get mad at the dog when they were the one who was irresponsible.  Dogs have died because they were left and got into chemicals or chewed something that caused an obstruction or perforated organs in their body. 

We've had puppies that needed to be in a crate when we left, until they were older and house broken and out of their chewing phase.  We rescued a dog with severe separation anxiety and there was no way he could be left to roam the house on his own when we first got him.  We had to work with him and eventually he was able to have free reign.

We have worked with trainers who guided us with crate training and the how to's of crate training a dog.  One of our dogs looked at his crate as a safe haven and often went inside just to sleep or lie down.   We were told never to put the dog in a crate because he was being punished. 

A few years back we discovered that our current dog has a bulging disc in her back.  The treatment was doggy bed rest.  She was put on a low dose of medication to come her calm.  She wasn't allowed to go up and down any steps nor was she allowed to jump on furniture.  Even though she had always had free reign of the house, during that period we had to put her in her crate for her own safety.  Had she been left to do what she wanted because I felt a crate was cruel, she could have been paralyzed and quite possibly wouldn't be here today.      

[geezerette]

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@ValuSkr wrote:

I wish my one-time neighbors had crated their dog when they were at work.  This dog was a barker and liked to look out the window and would go crazy when I worked in my gardens, or someone walked past on the street or made a delivery to their front door.  They lived in a condo over mine, so the noise was real. 

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Unfortunately crating without training wouldn't have solved this problem.

Neglected and/or untrained dogs will bark incessantly just as much and as loudly in their crates.  You would probably have heard that too.

I'll bet you're very glad those are now former neighbors!

[SeaMaiden]

@BlueFinch 😢 was his illness from just regular scheduled vaccinations?  How awful. Do you vaccinate your dogs now after going through this experience? So sorry that happened to your pup.

[drizzellla]

Let me just say - I am not an expert on dogs. BUT we were fortunate to get a 6 year old collie.

He had a noticeable scar on his nose. The Vet said she thought that scar was from him trying to get out of his crate. And the scar is from where his nose hit against one of the wires in the crate.

We never put him in a create. We did make the mistake of putting him in a kennel while we were on vacation. He messed up his nose again. We even paid for him to be put him in the pamper section.

So in my mind, crates aren't for every dog.

[Kelsey1995]

I wouldn't know where to begin to train a dog without a crate. I've always have Irish Setters 2 at a time. The only time I crated them was when they were young and we went out. I have a 13 year old currently and we took his crate down some time ago, but he still goes and lays were it was. My dogs loved their crates, the doors were always open as they got older they loved to go in them and sleep, I think they felt safe in them.

[Carmie]

I never used a crate for my dogs in the past, but I do now.

Imagine waking up to two dogs in your bed, fighting and tearing into each other.  Well, that happened to us.  It was terrifying.  We could feel them and hear tham but couldn't see anything.  It took a while to get the light on and seperate them.

Both dogs are now crated at night at opposite ends of the bedroom where they can't see one another. It is the only way we have peace of mind at night.

Doggy jail?  No, more like protective custody.

[Sooner]

Being stuck home for the virus issues with nowhere to go makes me feel even more sorry for all the poor dogs stuck in houses with no big yard to run and play in and see other dogs and watch the world go by, see the sunshine and breathe fresh air.

Lots of dogs now only have human fun.  How sad. 

[CrazyDaisy]

Absolutely yes to crating.  In addition to a great training tool and an absolute must for the car there are many advantages to having a dog comfortable staying in a crate.  When you have guests or workmen going in and out, sick or injured dog requiring confinement,  unexpected illness or injury of owner and someone having to watch them, natural disasters the listvgoes on and on.  You may not use it everyday but it is much better to have them comfortable staying in them than freeking them out by shoving them in one during an emergency.

[Jackyl]

I always crate trained my dogs as puppies for housebreaking purposes.  Now, their crate is left open and that is where they sleep.  My rescue loves the crate, it's her safe place because she's still skiddish.  My other old girl will occasionally sleep there, she prefers her bed.

[MoonieBaby]

@SeaMaiden 

Didn't crate my Scottish Terrier.  He was a brilliant lil fella that caught on immediately as to behaving like a gentleman.

My Keeshond mix - we attempted to crate on night 1 - but he cried the entire night, so we nixxed the crate and simply put up a babu gate in the kitchen, he did terrific after that with all the house rules.

I'm okay with whatever works best for the dog...not the human.