How do you guys feel about crate training?

[broccolichick]

Trying to gain some consensus on crate training (puppies, that is).

I really don't know very much about dogs, so I'm hoping to solicit opinions from those who do.

[Jessss2008]

If you aren't going to be there with the dog/have a backyard, its cruel. Don't get one if you aren't going to properly care for it.

[SlobberChops]

I crate trained my doggie, he loved it, he went in every time things got a bit loud for him or it was nap time.

As long as you aren't going to keep him in there for long hours whilst your away or there it can be a nice safe place for them.

Since it's a pup, it's good for house training and just shows them they have to play by them selves now and again. (not that I used it for the last reason, I just read that part in the book.)
Start off not leaving them in there not to long and just praising them when they go in.
Just remember to put water in with him if you leave him in there at night and take him out every few hours so he doesn't have an accident in there. I found with my doggie that he hated making a mess in the crate even if you sectioned it of with toilet training pads, so he may might just hold it in.

Oh I would suggest a puppy book just to read up on doggies that's how I learnt. There's bound to be something in them on crate training to.

All the best with you puppy .

[SlobberChops]

If you aren't going to be there with the dog/have a backyard, its cruel. Don't get one if you aren't going to properly care for it.

She asked you opion on crate training not her lack of care for a pup. I doubt she'd be asking if she didn't wanna care for the pup.

[mlp]

I've only used crates with two dogs, both of whom were adults who had never been housetrained. In each case, they went into the crate, in the bedroom, when the rest of us went to bed. The purpose of the crate was to keep them fro sneaking over to a corner to pee until they got the idea that they should only pee outdoors. (The rest of the time, we kept them on a 20 foot lead attached to one of us, so they wouldn't sneak into the hall to pee when our attention was diverted for a moment.)

All of my dogs have been rescues, and the only one who was a puppy when we got her was our current Pyr, Tascha. She was three months old, had never been in a house, but is so intelligent that she only once peed in the house.

[Jessss2008]

She asked you opion on crate training not her lack of care for a pup. I doubt she'd be asking if she didn't wanna care for the pup.

She asked my opinion, thats what I gave her. If she doesn't agree with it thats fine if you don't, fine. I don't need to hear it.

[mlp]

If you aren't going to be there with the dog/have a backyard, its cruel. Don't get one if you aren't going to properly care for it.


^^^ Goes a long way to explaining why your sister is resistant to your advice.

[Kiz]

I dislike crate training. I grew up around dogs. My parents bred and trained dogs for many, many years, so did my uncle. I've never seen any of our dogs, or dogs I know, that need it. It may be a cultural debate, like the whole inside/outside cat debate. Inside cats are damned rare around here, too, and looked on as being as weird as crated dogs.

[Wolfie]

Crates are great for house training a dog and they're also great for keeping a puppy/young dog from eating your house while you're gone. As long as a dog isn't crated too long, I have no problems with crates.

One of mine is still crated at night and when I'm gone, because she's a brat. And she's 5 years old. :p

[Kiz]

We used proper dog runs instead of crates. Same idea but more space and comfort for the dog. I would never crate any dog over night, but then, I'd never force a cat to be indoor only. Crating seems very popular in some parts of the world but it's unheard of in these parts. I'm sure crates do work, and I'm sure some indoor only cats are happy, but I've never know either and would not do either to my animals. We've always managed our dogs fine without crates.

[Wolfie]

If I don't crate my dog overnight, she will pee on the furniture and anywhere else she pleases, plus fight with two of the other dogs. :p

[mlp]

We used proper dog runs instead of crates. Same idea but more space and comfort for the dog. I would never crate any dog over night, but then, I'd never force a cat to be indoor only. Crating seems very popular in some parts of the world but it's unheard of in these parts. I'm sure crates do work, and I'm sure some indoor only cats are happy, but I've never know either and would not do either to my animals. We've always managed our dogs fine without crates.

In the case of Sandie, she had to be crated at night for about six weeks before she got the idea that she was not to pee in the corner while we slept. Daisie took longer - a number of months. However, the crate allowed them to be in the bedroom with us, rather than outside, which they much preferred, and after they were completely housebroken, they slept in the bed with us. If they had been left outside all night (a) they would have been miserable, and (b) we would have had nightly visits from the police because they would have barked (in Sandie's case) and howled (in Daisie's case) all night, demanding to be let in.

[dormouse]

My dog ultimately loved her crate. My parents were reluctant to use one at first, but then little Jenna tore up our linoleum floor in the laundry room. After a while, even after the behavioral problems ended, Jenna seemed to consider the crate her safe place. My sister and I were young at the time, and my parents told us not to bug Jenna when she was in there. The crate has been gone for years, but any time there's a thunderstorm or Jenna wants some peace and quiet, she finds herself a nice cozy corner or goes under a table.

You just need to make sure that the crate is properly sized for your dog.

[Veg*nMomToBe]

Crate training is awesome. Every dog my family has ever owned has been crate trained. It's the quickest and easiest way to potty train for one thing. It also provides the dog with some structure and a safe place to call his own. Properly crate trained dogs see their crates as a refuge and often use them for downtime of their own accord. It's also a much safer environment for them when no one is around to watch them, or when there are lots of people around and they are likely to get into shenanigans.

[Envy]

Steven Lindsay, in his Handbook of Applied Dog Behavior and Training compares a dog’s attachment to a crate with the Stockholm Syndrome. :p

[Earthling]

My opinion is that ideally they wouldn't be used, but they can be useful in certain situations. Potty training isn't one of them, it's silly to train a dog that sometimes it's okay to pee inside but the rest of the time they have to pee outside. The punishment I prefer is withdrawing attention rather than being physically abusive or yelling at and scaring the animal, so if I used crates I would keep them as a place to send the puppy for time out. Put him in the crate every time he shows bad behaviour due to over-excitement, and he'll quickly learn that when he does those things he gets shut away and ignored for a while.

I don't believe dogs should be left alone for long periods whether they're in a crate or have the run of a house. Dogs are simply not meant to be alone.

[Marie]

It depends on the dog.

[Poppy]

I've used crate training very effectively for many dogs - mine and my fosters. Since I only have small dogs, perhaps my experiences are different than other people here. I have found that my dogs have come to love their crates and continue to use them as private dens even though they are now completely housebroken and now sleep in our bed.

When I get in a new foster dog, I use a crate to help reinforce where the "in the house" and the "outside" boundaries are. For the first few days, until I know the dog and it's habits, everytime I have to have the dog out of my sight, he goes into the crate. That way I limit the number of possible "accidents", give them time to come to the conclusion "oh this is where she wants me to potty", and get to know the dog's particular needs.

And Jessss2008, using a crate has nothing to do with whether or not you have a backyard. Nor is having a backyard a requirement for having a dog in the first place. There are lots of wonderful pet owners who have dogs in apartments.

[Idhreneth]

We crated our Labrador when she was a puppy. Only at night though. It meant our other dogs could get some rest from her as well. Also meant she wasn't going around chewing things. She loved chewing on the door frames. We could stop her when we were around but if we left her alone she would chew them. So it was too dangerous to let her have free access to the door frames at night because she would have got splinters in her mouth :sick:
We didn't leave her in there all night... we did take her up the garden to go toilet during the night.
During the day we had a puppy play pen set up in the conservatory for her. Again, so when she was going to be left un-supervised we knew she wasn't go to get up to anything dangerous. Same thing during the nice days when we spent most of the day in the garden. We'd set up the play pen in the shade so we could pop her in there if we needed to go inside for anything.

We did the same thing when we got our Basset Hound puppy. Except as the summer was a lot warmer that year compared to the year before (when the Lab was a puppy), she only spent a few weeks being crated at night, then we moved her to being in the play pen in the conservatory during the night because it was warm enough to do that.

There is no way what we did to either puppy was cruel. In fact, even though she was far too big for it, the Labrador would always try to get into the crate or the basket in the play pen while we had the basset puppy. Very cute. Also, when the Labrador was a puppy and sleeping in the crate in my mother's room (originally the crate was outside mine and my sister's room (bungalow) but when I went back to school (we got the Lab puppy at the beginning of my summer holidays) we moved her into Mum's room.) our other two dogs would climb into the crate together (two dogs whom we've never crated BTW) and refuse to get out :lol:

[mlp]

My opinion is that ideally they wouldn't be used, but they can be useful in certain situations. Potty training isn't one of them, it's silly to train a dog that sometimes it's okay to pee inside but the rest of the time they have to pee outside.

The point of the crate isn't to get the dog to pee in the crate, if that's what you mean by saying "it's silly to train a dog that sometimes it's okay to pee inside but the rest of the time they have to pee outside." The point of the crate is that dogs don't like to urinate or defecate where they're sleeping/lying down, so they learn to hold it while they're in the crate, and then you let them outside as soon as they're released from the crate.

Also, the whole point of crate training is to make the crate akin to a den, a place of safety; therefore, dogs should not be told to go in the crate as a punishment, as you suggested. Again, I've only used a crate in the very limited circumstances I described above, but I did read a lot about the methodology before doing it.

[Veg*nMomToBe]

Steven Lindsay, in his Handbook of Applied Dog Behavior and Training compares a dog’s attachment to a crate with the Stockholm Syndrome. :p

I wonder what he'd say about my cat who loves to curl up in any open crate he can find? :book:

[dormouse]

I wonder what he'd say about my cat who loves to curl up in any open crate he can find? :book:

I think that's just the weird thing that cats have for boxes and baskets. I will never understand just why they have to jump in and sit there. They look so satisfied.

[cowgirrlup]

I had never even considered crate training any of my dogs, until I adopted my female long haired Dachshund. We couldn't understand why she was so frantic and destructive if we left for even a very short time. There are 3 other Doxies and a cat here for her to play with. Turns out she has seperation anxiety. When we walked in the house with a big crate, she was so happy! She walked right in and now its HERS. She goes there to hide things and she goes there on her own for naps and she loves it. When she sees we are getting ready to leave, she goes there with a toy and settles in on her blanket. Its her own personal place and its special to her. I'm sure my older Doxies would hate it, but she needs it for her own security.

The wire haired Doxie I adopted recently came with a crate. He sometimes goes in there for naps and he goes there at night to sleep...we leave it open and he is safe and happy.

I now have a whole different feeling about crates. Sometimes they are good things.

Just for the record, we do have a huge yard, but I don't ever put the Doxies outside and leave. The crates seem to give 2 of the dogs some feeling of security. So 2 of my dogs have crates and the rest do not. Its now very peaceful if we have to leave, they don't worry and either do we.

[cowgirrlup]

I think that's just the weird thing that cats have for boxes and baskets. I will never understand just why they have to jump in and sit there. They look so satisfied.

:yes:

Actually my Doxies do that, too....if its a box its theirs! :lol:

[Kibbleforlola]

When lola was a pup, we crate trained her when we weren't home, it helped potty train her and kept her little puppy teef out of the furniture. We would only leave her alone for a few hours, and now that she's older, we don't use it anymore.