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Dogs and crates

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Joe

Joe

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With our first ever dog, we would leave her in a breezeway room when we went to work. She destroyed a lot in that room. Just a funny...the dog was not allowed on the furniture, but when we came home after work, we would see her hop off the chair in the breezeway as soon as she saw our headlights hit the driveway.

When we had to put her down and got our second and current dog 12 years ago, we decided a crate would be the best option while we were gone.

Well that didn't work much better. She must have destroyed two dozen beds while we were gone. I did some Googling and found advice that said just leave the crate open. Now that means she has the run of the house while we are gone. We were both very skeptical and worried about what she could do.

It has turned out terrific and going on 4 years now. We leave, give her a treat in her crate and leave the door open. Sometimes we come home and she is still in her crate, other times she has moved to a sunbeam, but no house damage, no bed damage etc.

All dogs are different, but I just thought I would pass along our experience. She is now 12 and according to charts, that equates to about 74 in human years. I love the dog and hope she lasts a few more years. She is a shepherd mix and weights 50#. But, once she is gone, I want longer vacations, so I don't think another is in our future.

She is a lot grayer now, this is from about 5 years ago.

 
my old boy(the pup in my avatar) just turned 13. he was crated trained from the beginning and actually prefers it.
We took training from a woman that uses the dog whisperer method.
If the owner is not trained, the dog won't be.

just my experience
 
Our dog is in love with her crate ritual. When we first rescued her, I think it made her feel safe. We have a nightly ritual where she gets a cookie and goes to bed. When Dan's traveling, I don't like to crate her. But even if I take her out and put her in there with a cookie, she'll keep reminding me that the door isn't closed. Of course, she wants another cookie too. :)

When we were in Idaho for my dad's funeral, we boarded her in someone's house. I went over the whole crate ritual, but she doesn't always like to go into the crate for our regular pet sitter. I said it was fine if she didn't. She showed no interest in the crate the whole week and just wanted to sleep with their son and the other little dogs in his bed.

We didn't ever crate her for doing damage. We had a really mean, old cat who would hunt her down and beat her up when we were sleeping. Now the cat is gone, but those habits and rituals are the routine. I think it's funny that she only does it with us though. Dogs are weird. I love them!
 
We used a crate when our dog was a puppy and gradually gave her more room to roam until now she has run of the house. Although when I leave she always is in an upstairs room with a view of the street she remains ther until Mom gets back. Sees her car and comes running down the steps. If I have the wife's car she is not very happy to see me come through the door.
 
BlacklabberMike said:
my old boy(the pup in my avatar) just turned 13. he was crated trained from the beginning and actually prefers it.
We took training from a woman that uses the dog whisperer method.
If the owner is not trained, the dog won't be.

just my experience
Click to expand...
That sounds like a little face slap there, Mike.
 
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Such a beautiful dog. Never did the crate thing with any of our past dogs but a friend says the crate lessens any anxiety their dog has because it doesn't have to go running around the house wondering where you are or if it hears any noises...just a comfortable "home" for them to be in while you're away.
 
Our dog Fremont was crate trained as a pup. He is 4 now, has run of the house when are gone. he has made a den under my desk in the office and that's were he hangs out and sleeps at night. Thank God he weights just at 100 lb.
 
That's a fine, good-looking dog you have Joe!

I've never heard about crating before. Seems like it will lessen the anxieties of the dog so it's a win-win situation all around. I don't have a dog right now but plan to get one when I retire. I miss my old doggie...

Thanks for sharing, Joe.
 
Nice-looking pup. Some dogs crate well; some hate to be confined. We used an open crate at first. Then we decided to have two pups so they could keep each other company. This works with many dogs but not all. One dog we had got bored easily but was distracted by a biscuit in his "Kong". It took him 15 minutes to get it out, and by then he was ready for an all-day nap. Although individuals and strains vary, some breeds tend to be calmer and more trainable than others. Our Goldens always taught each other and had the run of the house. Our last one never made a mistake of any kind in 17 years.
 
Your dog has a face to die for. We've had six-seven dogs, sometimes two at once. Some have liked a crate, some tolerated a crate, some never used one. But they ALL have had their safe place. The wild child Beagle we have now goes under the bed. Another chose under a chair that was only open on one side. My favorite was a puppy who hid under the bottom shelf of a glass baker's rack, totally visible from above but he didn't know it. The dog we have now is 3 years old and may outlive us. Our previous dog lived till he was 19!
 
Current picture taken today: A lot grayer, but still acts like a puppy some days.

 
Huge, giant, monumental mistake with our first dog (Beagle). We did not crate train her. Eventually, she owned the house and allowed us to use the furniture on occasion.

Our death row dogs, already house-broken, one was crate trained (beagle), the other (mutt) learned from that dog! They know that when I go to bed, they come into the bedroom and get in their crates. Both dogs used to go in on command. The beagle, stubborn streak, wants to hop on the bed for about fifteen minutes then get in her crate. I assume this is some sort of statement in dogland.

Free advice: do not use the crate for punishment. I did this - door locked until I say otherwise - upon returning from date night and finding that the dogs had gotten into the food container and consumed such volume as it was regurgitated in about twenty different locations in the living room, kitchen, hallway, dining and TV rooms. The dogs are never put in their crates - always have run of the house - or for confinement are in the master bedroom. I think that by putting them in the crate as 'time out', the Beagle adopted the behavior outlined above...now she will seldom go into her crate on command. Actual photo of the perpetrators shown below.
enhance
 
BlacklabberMike said:
that' was not my intention....

that's what the trainer told me....
Click to expand...

Agree. Our trainer told us that she can get our dog to do anything very easily. She was teaching us to train the dog. She also believed that a happy dog is a tired dog and that when dogs start being destructive it is because they need more stimulation and exercise.
 
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