how would you like to be put in a crate??? please educate me

[Georgygirl]

I guess I'm not so worried about my place getting ripped up. I am VERY worried about my dogs swallowing something while I'm gone. Like I said before, nothing makes you a nervous nellie like having almost lost your dog due to a toy being swallowed and blocking his intestine. I'm not willing to take the chance and maybe I am being selfish. But I think it's for a pretty good reason. I almost lost him once and I don't want to have him go through it again, so I take precautions. He doesn't seem to mind one bit.

 

[goldiefur]

I guess I'm not so worried about my place getting ripped up. I am VERY worried about my dogs swallowing something while I'm gone. Like I said before, nothing makes you a nervous nellie like having almost lost your dog due to a toy being swallowed and blocking his intestine. I'm not willing to take the chance and maybe I am being selfish. But I think it's for a pretty good reason. I almost lost him once and I don't want to have him go through it again, so I take precautions. He doesn't seem to mind one bit.

Oh I can sure understand that! When I am at work or anywhere for that matter I lock my dog Brody in my room because my sisters children go in and out of the house and I don't want to take a chance of him getting out. So I guess I do crate in a way.:lol-sign:

 

[Psyfalcon]

I'm glad Buster can't catch Aqueous Coonhound Disease, being a ACD/BC/?. He would not like a rain coat very much! (So I only did adopt him after inspecting his coat )

There was a Ridgeback on craigslist a few days ago, it was less than a year old and being put up for adoption because it chewed the house up. Ridgebacks CAN catch Aqueous Sighthound Disease and can not be left outside in Portland. The only way to keep this dog is probably in a crate when it can not be supervised.

 

[SizzleDog]

EEK they're being robbed!

Quick, someone, call the cops!

*Gasp* Even the baby is being robbed!

I hope my renter's insurance covers this kind of theft...

 

[mrose_s]

Harry is locked out the back or in the garage when we're gone, I've caught him a couple of times chewing electrical chords! Not something I'd be willign t risk.. thankfully now he's moved on to toielt paper

 

[Laurelin]

We tried the puppy proof room when the shelties were young. Trey just resorted to chewing the corners of the walls. lol

 

[HarleyD]

I know what you mean about the corners of walls. *argh* What is it with dogs, no matter what breed, feeling the need to rip walls apart? You take everything you can think of out of one room...except for toys, blanket and food/water bowl...and they STILL manage to tear something up.

So, the OP only wants to keep his dog inside until it's older, then boot it outside. Man, talk about cruel. Give the dog all the comforts of the world...t.v, bed, controlled ac/heat, companionship....then rip it right out from under him. Yep, that's so much better than housetraining your dog from the get-go and letting him stay inside. What's wrong with taking your dog for walks a couple times a day, with letting him potty outside, feeding him inside at designated times, loving him 24/7, having a snuggle buddy and guardian, crating him when you leave for his safety (or letting him have his own room)...I just don't know. I've had inside and outside dogs and the happiest and most well behaved were the inside dogs. Outside they get lonely, bored and very over excited when they finally do see you. Inside they know where you are, can coerce you into playing with them, have constant companionship and more entertainment than ever.

so, what's wrong with being an inside dog?

 

[Bahamutt99]

...someone who loves their pup would never crate them, the whole point of crating is an excuse to not want to play with the pup, and more of a convience to people!

For someone who started a thread with "please educate me," your mind is astoundingly closed to different ideals. It is incredibly presumptuous of you to suggest that people who crate don't love their dogs. What about all those people out at dog shows? Their dogs are crated. And if they weren't loved, they wouldn't perform well, so undoubtedly it behooves the owner/handler to at least make the dog believe they love them. Or is that just an act?

Or wait, are crates just for Pit Bulls? Didn't you say that crating "my breed" is okay? I guess its okay because Pit Bull owners don't love their dogs anyway, huh?

^^For the record, this is Loki's crate. The human isn't usually in it, so its actually quite spacious.

 

[mrose_s]

I did want to add in here, eventhough this topic couldve easily gone way out of hand and easily turn into more bashing and attacking due to the nature of the topic... it hasn't. CONGRATULTIONS! This is an interesting thread to read through regardless of your opinion on the subject because it isn't all mean words or name calling.

Good thread guys

 

[saffie]

I never used a crate when Saffie was a puppie, but we had halve of the living room seperated from the rest and that halve was completely puppyproof. It's the same idea but much more space. I was sure she couldn't get in any trouble.
Because of the whole 'den' idea I had a cardboard box with a nice pillow inside, but Saffie never used it, she prefered sleeping in a dog bed.

I never wanted to use a crate for the housebreaking, I didn't like the idea that my pup had to go but didn't do it because she didn't want to soil her crate. If puppies have to go, they have to go. And if she did it in the house, it was my fault because I failed to notice the had to go. She was housebroken somewhat later then average I guess, but she is now and we had a floor that is easy to clean.

 

[shadowfacedanes]

not to play the devil's advocate but, i would love to have your dog bark in my neighborhood, to me the sounds of a dog barking brings music to my ears

as for the laws here in utah, they would only "confiscate" the dog AFTER several complaints and NOTHING has been done about it!! to me making a dog stop barking is like telling a bird not to fly, and those who hate to listen to dogs bark, well, stop preaching!

Come live in my house for a week, see how musical you find it.

My neighbors have 8 weiner dogs and a large mixed breed who are outside 24/7. I am in the process of housetraining my puppy (who by the way, will be accompanying my tortured dane in their hellish prison of indoor living GASP).
That means several trips outside, during the day and during the wee hours of the night if his bladder is so inclined. Ever had to tiptoe through your yard and take your dogs off your dogs collar praying that the 9 dogs next door wouldn't hear you walk in your OWN yard? I have to. And usually one of us will step on a leaf which gets all 9 dogs barking next door. And let me tell you, once they get started, they don't stop for at least an hour. They do this all night, every night...

I've managed a boarding kennel that frequently housed more than 100 dogs...I'm accostumed to barking.

You might think it's musical, but I'll hazard a guess that your neighbors won't think it's so charming when your puppy goes on a barking spree at 3 in the morning.

As to your other ignorant comments about dogs living in a bubble, being deprived, crates being cruel, people only using them for their convenience....

I don't have enough time in this day to respond to all that. And quite frankly, I'm tired of wasting my time replying to people like you who will only believe or listen to what they want to believe or listen to...despite evidence to the contrary.

 

[MayasMom]

Maya is perfectly happy staying in her crate. As a matter of fact if I leave her out of her crate when I walk out the door, she gets upset and barks. The only time I do that is if I'm just running outside to get something out of the car. She will even get in her crate on her own and pull the door shut with her paw when she sees my husband or I getting ready to leave. We currently live in an apartment and therefore there are times the landlord will come in. We usually know in advance, but one time they came into our apartment instead of our neighbors by mistake. Maya does not like strangers coming in the house, she gets scared. I hate to think what would have happened if she had not been crated and bit the maintenance guy out of fear. We have considered leaving her out of the crate when we eventually buy a house, but I think she is so used to it now that we will probably keep her in it. DH did leave her out of the crate one time by mistake, she was sleeping on the couch when he came home. All she does when we are gone is sleep, so whether she is in the crate or loose in the house, I'm sure she is equally happy.

 

[sheepjoke]

ignorance abounds for the crate-haters.

Melissa Cato...you fly your dogs about as much as you title for "ring sport". Ever get that MACH on your crested? You are a menace to society with your "training" and your ignorance and your "advice". You, MS Cato, have been banned from nearly every forum you have trolled on and spewed your lies. The law enforcement group didnt appreciate nor buy your b.s., now did they? nor does anyone else with half a brain.

Crate hater/OP: You have made it clear you choose to be an irresponsible owner. Just like irresponsible breeders, it is nearly impossible to change such a way of life. However, this thread has been educational, and I think people who read this who are against crating, and truly want to learn, can see why it is not only NOT cruel, it is responsible and better for the dogs.




sheepjoke

 

[girlbuffalo1]

I grew up on a farm and we ALWAYS had outdoor dogs. Now as an adult and having two indoor dogs and learning all of the information I have learned by becoming an educated dog owner I would NEVER EVER in a million years consider leaving a dog outside even in a farm environment.

Growing up dogs were just that dogs--we got them basic vet care and heartworm care--they had a barn with hay to sleep in and in the very coldest weather we would bring them in and leave them in our indoor porch.

Looking back though we had 1 dog get run over, 1 dog stolen, 1 dog shot with buckshot for roaming onto a neighbors property ect. None of the other dogs we had lived for nearly as long as dog indoors live for. I remember having to give them ear medicine for mites, and pulling ticks off in the summer. To tell you the truth I never thought any of this was cruel and that was how dogs were raised out in the country.

That compared to now where my dogs are bathed every two weeks, conditioned, blow dried, ears cleaned, eat raw homemade meals, go for many walks, participate in agility, cuddle with me on the couch----and also behaviorally--they never jump, never bark ect--It's a completely different world from the one I grew up in--and something I'd never want to go back to.

I can't stand to leave Wrigley outside for more than 5 minutes unless I am out there with him (we have a fence for our small backyard) because he can chew sticks, eat plants ect--that isn't good for him.

Their crates have been a godsend as well. We crate trained Wrigley from puphood based on potty training ect and he did wonderfully. I would say we had 5 accidents total in his entire time training up until now (1.5 yrs). Also it protects him from not getting into things that he inevitably would when he is out (for instance the other day while I was in the other room he ate the big plastic spike off one of his chew toys and then subsequently threw it up 2 days later)--that was my fault for not watching him--if I were not home it could have been worse and he could have eaten all of the spikes off ect and needed emergency surgery or worse. With Honey the crate is a neccessity and is the only place she feels safe. We adopted her from a foster mom who had saved her from a puppy mill wanting to put her down. She has all sorts of insecurity issues and she loves being snug in her crate. Lately we have to be careful as when we get close to it while carrying her--she will try to jump to get in it--that's how much she loves it.

I don't know about most of you but my dogs when out play for a bit together (maybe a half hour or so) and then lay on different parts of the floor----and thats it--maybe getting up every hour and moving to another place to lay. To me being in the crate is the same as what they would do out of the crate (lay around for the most part) and consequently leaves them much safer.

 

[smkie]

It is possible to make your point without insulting a person directly. This a request from a mod to make the forum a better place. ANd lastly, if you have a dog that is chewing on electrical cords, please get BITTER APPLE GEL, not the spray and apply weekly, to every inch that is accessable.

 

[Doberluv]

Chewing electric cords? :yikes: Your dog shouldn't even get anywhere close to chewing electric cords....shouldn't have an opportunity to even taste the bitter apple. Training puppies involves constant supervision and prevention. If a puppy is approaching an electric cord, looks like he's about to get hold of it, you need to interrput his INTENTION and distract him, give him an alternative and reinforce for that.

This is the kind of stuff I see so much and don't get. Just like the spanking children thread. Most people wait for the child or the puppy to be engaged in the unwanted or dangerous behavior and then dish out their physical punishment or whatever. If the puppy is already touching the electric cord, you're light years too late. Prevention makes all the difference in the world to speeding up learning because the dog or child never gets a chance to be reinforced for the unwanted behavior but is given an incompatible alternative. Whichever behavior produces a big payoff is the behavior the dog will repeat in the future and the behavior which never gets a chance to be reinforced with a payoff won't develop in the first place.

Round and round we go. Where we stop, nobody knows. This is probably another one of those......you know.....LOL. opcorn:

 

[bubbatd]

I really think it depends on different dogs, owners and situations . I never owned a crate in my 60 years of owning dogs ....until Ollie . He was returned to his foster home after trashing the house . He doesn't mind his HUGE cage and is only in it when he can't go with me . When he knows I'm going out and he can't go , he's in his cage before I take him to it .

 

[smkie]

Supervision is a must, but there is that second when the door rings, when a pot boils over, that is why i am a firm believer in the backup of bitter apple gel. I have used this with every puppy i have ever had in the house, even when the cords are tucked up and covered over by furniture and anything else i can think of. I STILL go over each and every one with that sticky nasty stuff as a double safetly measure. I am big on double safety measures.

 

[sheepjoke]

a good point

supervision is the best


i have never had a puppy chew a cord, or a shoe that I remember. they simply do not run the house with out constant supervision and interaction

soon when they grow up they have never chewed a cord and never will, they like their crates and are secure, happy dogs who know what "no" means but do not require physical punishment to be good dogs

supervision and crates are puppy training and raising necesities, in my opinoin.



sheepjoke

 

[taratippy]

ignorance abounds for the crate-haters.


Crate hater/OP: You have made it clear you choose to be an irresponsible owner. Just like irresponsible breeders, it is nearly impossible to change such a way of life. However, this thread has been educational, and I think people who read this who are against crating, and truly want to learn, can see why it is not only NOT cruel, it is responsible and better for the dogs.

sheepjoke

In your opinion of course! I do not use a crate for any of mine, yes I own crates but only use one if I have a new foster coming in. My dogs are indoors but have full use of the downstairs of the house. Yes they can if rip stuff up etc but only if I leave it for them. I dont think Im an irresponsible dog owner for not crating my dogs.

I really think it depends on different dogs, owners and situations . I never owned a crate in my 60 years of owning dogs ....until Ollie . He was returned to his foster home after trashing the house . He doesn't mind his HUGE cage and is only in it when he can't go with me . When he knows I'm going out and he can't go , he's in his cage before I take him to it .

Well said!