Crating and feeling guilty.

[Chewbecca]

OK, so, if I need a BREAK from the two 4 month old pit bull puppies in my house, it's ok to crate them for a bit, right?

I just want two minutes.
TWO.

Ok, so maybe an hour would be nice, but I know that's pushing it.
Of ME time.

I have my coffee in the morning, and then it's like instant take care of puppies time.
I do individual time in the mornings by feeding each separately, doing training, and exercising.
Then in the afternoon I allow them some time to play with each other.

Then if I can get done everything I need to get done, I will lay down with them and separate them (to keep them from wrestling with each other) and take a nap.

But it's totally NOT mean to crate them for a bit, right?

 

[AllieMackie]

Finn is crated while I'm in my office. I work from home.

I would love to have him roam my office while I work, but he DOES NOT leave me alone. I've tried. He's used to being in his crate during the day. I let him out during my mealtime, he can play, hang out, have a little lunch, and ten back to crate. He naps in there all day, and is quite content.

Since I know you work from home too, try to set up a crating routine and stick with it. They're crated around X time every day, and let out around X time. Every. Day. I generally don't stick to it on weekends, but if I have to Finn has no problem with it.

Just get used to it. I know you're not used to having to crate dogs, but it's no big deal. Get them into a routine and they'll love their crates. Oh, and frozen Kongs REALLY help.

 

[Jules]

Uhm, I think it is. Totally.

I think you should send Luke here (because T-Bone would eat sweet little Ophie) instead of crating him



Honestly, no, I don't think so.. you are far from mean.

 

[Pam111]

It's good for them to be crated sometimes! They can learn to really like their crate and feel safe in there. My dogs will just go lay down in their crate sometimes

 

[Renee750il]

See, now a Fila would lay there by your feet and dare any puppies to bother you while you were trying to rest or concentrate

 

[Chewbecca]

Thanks, guys!

The thing is, I have to crate and rotate them in the mornings while I work one or the other.
Is it really OK to crate them a lot of the day? As long as they get exercised sometime in there?
I ask because if they were adult dogs, I probably wouldn't feel so bad, but they're puppies.

 

[Renee750il]

I think the rule of thumb is something like 10 minutes for every month old at one "sitting?" Someone who crates can correct me if that's wrong -- please

If you'd feel better about it, set up a puppy proof area or room and rotate with that part of the time.

One thing, as they get older you'll have to do it less.

 

[Baxter'smybaby]

puppies need some down time too--remember, think toddler! You did let your toddlers have a nap, right?

 

[PlottMom]

My vet said an hour for each month? Up to a point, obvi...

or maybe that's how long they can hold their bladders... yes, that's it. I just use it as a rule of thumb when crating, as my dogs have decided they are never becoming housetrained... :madgo:

 

[MericoX]

At this point they should be able to hold bladders for about 4 hours. I would honestly (even if you're home) crate them randomly for long periods of time, just for the sake of getting them used to it. It'll help if something ever unexpected comes up and they need to be left for X amount of time. Also will help if you ever have to go away and someone watches them.

 

[stardogs]

Kes spent more time than I would've liked crated as a pup because he was so difficult to contain (jumped baby gates at 14 weeks) and busy at times, but he's turned out fine. Regular naptimes in a crate are very important - pups need a ton of sleep and often misbehavior is actually due to overtiredness. Plus all dogs need to learn to be happy chilling as needed.

An alternative to crating when you're home/in the same room is tethering. Kes had several stations throughout the house so he could be out of the crate but still out from under foot.

 

[Southpaw]

I wish I would have crated Juno more as a pup. But I was on summer vacation and so 99% of my day was devoted to her, because it could be. She has no issues being crated, but I think she might be calmer in general if she wasn't so go, go, go the first 4 months we had her.... might have done her some good to be "forced" to take a nap!

It is hard because the guilt factor is definitely there (I still feel bad if I have to crate Juno for a couple hours) , but as long as it's not ALL day and they are getting exercised, then I think they'll be fine.

 

[AllieMackie]

Personally I didn't follow the one hour per month thing. I had to work, and I couldn't leave him loose. He was crated 6-8 hours every weekday from 2.5 months onward, and didn't have an issue.

 

[Kat09Tails]

A crate isn't something to loathe. A crate is one of the best training tools on earth next to the humble leash. All my dogs have crates, at 4 months (honestly I would have started younger) they should be able to go into crates at regular intervals getting out every 3-4 hrs.

 

[Romy]

We randomly crated Strider when he was a puppy, just for the sake of crate training. It felt odd because I was home 24 hours a day with my daughter, he wasn't a nuisance, and we didn't keep him in one at night, but after fostering a dog with severe separation anxiety I wanted to make sure I taught him it was okay to be by himself. Lots of crate specific treats and toys. He thought it was an awesome playground/nap place. lol. He's very rarely crated but to this day will enter any crate you tell him to without hesitating.

It's absolutely not mean. Too bad I can't crate my daughter. lol

 

[Mdawn]

No, I don't think your wrong to crate them when you need time to yourself.

Neither of my dogs are crated very often anymore but I do think that its necessary that they are familiar with a crate in case they need to be crated at the vet, etc. Never know what could happen that would require them to be in one. I want them to be comfortable with it. My Lab seems to enjoy his crate and goes into it on his own all the time. My Mastiff is less fond of it but will go into it on command without fuss. It's a valuable "skill" for them.

Think of it as part of their "training" because, in a way, it really is.

 

[mrose_s]

I plan on Quinn spending a fair bit of time in her crate, I wish I had started Buster earlier than age 7 but he does okay. I only crate him when I'm out of the house because some of the doors don't lock and I can't risk him getting into the backyard with Harry.

I only work casual atm and I rarely work through the day so hopefully she won't have to be crated more more than 3-4 hours a day maybe once or twice a week. My family are home at nights when I have school/work so thats helpful for the first few months atleast. She's also going to have to be crated at night atleast for the first while, I have too many electrical chords in my room to risk leaving her out I think.

 

[Chewbecca]

Do you all put beds and blankets in your dog's crate?

Right now both of mine have beds and blankets in their crates.


Luke has recently started this whiny/barking thing while in his crate because he will hear us around the house.

I am going to be feeding them ALL THE TIME in their crate (unless we are training).

Also, I am usually pretty good about kong recipes because I rarely needed to make them for Ella because she wouldn't eat in her crate.
And she wasn't picky.

But Luke doesn't care for plain yogurt.
I don't want to make my puppies FAT by stuffing kongs with food and shoving one in the crate with them everytime they are finished with one.

 

[Pam111]

When they were housetraining, I didn't because I was afraid they would just pee on the blankets, but once they were pretty good about not peeing in the crate, I put blankets and a water bottle in

 

[Chewbecca]

See, mine will NOT pee or potty in their crates.
At least they haven't so far, no matter how long I've kept them in the crates.

What kind of water bottles do you use in your crates?
Do you have a link, please?