I went into a petstore/warehouse type thing {it's in Melbourne}, and my partner and I had a look at the dog crates.
We saw that they only had XXL, Medium and Small in stock, but they were quite good prices, so I went to the front counter to ask if they also sold dividers.
The older man looks at me and goes "A divider?" and I said "It's a wire barrier you put in the crate to make it smaller for a pup, then take it out as it grows so the crate is never too big for it. It's so they have enough room to sleep, but not enough room to void and sleep".
He said "Oh, I'm a dog expert and I've never heard of a divider. Why don't you just use the whole crate?"
I said "Well, I'm going to crate train my bulldog, and the crate will be too big if I don't divide it"
Him "You DO know puppies will go anywhere whether you like it or not, so you shouldn't bother with dividing a crate. I just put food and water in there and leave, and clean it up later"
Me "The point of crate training is to discourage that"
Him "Well, I'm a dog expert and I wouldn't do that if I were you. Who recommended you do THAT?!'
Me "Well, Jos and Darren both said crate training is okay if I want to do it. And..."
Him "Oh, them. I know them. They're lovely people. They run the New Zealand club"
Me "No, they're in the British Bulldog club of Victoria. And they said it's fine"
Him "Well, I wouldn't bother. It's a pretty outdated idea, and it never works. Just get the large crate and deal with messes when they appear until you move the dog outside"
Well, now I'm all confuddled. :rolleyes:
According to Dog Expert, it won't work, and is basically a myth.
According to books, websites and reading other people's experiences, it works and is fantastic.
I crate-trained a bulldog before, and he was fine with it and kept his crate into adulthood as his special relaxing place.
Thing is, I'm not planning to 'move the dog outside'. Sure, he will spend time outside, but I don't want to crate train him for inside then shove him in a kennel outside one day and go about my business. I want an indoor dog who is happy to go outside for a few hours a day and play with his toys, snuffle in the dirt, bark at crows, that sort of thing.
Should I follow Dog Expert's advice, or follow the schedule I've already drawn up, which includes a divider?
