Still Do Not Understand Crates :(

[jebee]

I had dog throughout my early childhood and school days, but at that time nobody used crates at all. I heard about crates first time in my life about 6 months ago when we started thinking about getting a dog. Initially an idea of putting a dog into a cage seemed absolutely horrible, but now after much reading we inclined to get one for our puppy which we getting in 2 weeks time. But still I do not quite understand how/when to use it. Bunch of threads here about how to crate train, but not much about WHY crate train.

- Do puppy supposed to sleep/rest in the crate only or he should have his own bed(s) AND crate(s)?

- Is crate always in the room or you fold it when it is not needed?

- Do you have multiple crates - one in each room? Or one crate? If one, is it always on the same place or you move it to different rooms as needed?

- If family sleeps upstairs and spends all day downstairs where the crate should be?

- Should we close puppy in a crate during the night from the day 1 or we should gradually train him to sleep in a crate over several days (weeks)?

- Is it OK to crate puppy for short period of time if we are at home?

- Housebreaking. Do we have to put puppy in a crate just to house train him (even if we do not NEED him in a crate for any other reason)?

- Is it OK to have crate partly covered with thin breathable cover? Just for aesthetic reasons.

- Do you use crate during the whole life of your dog or only for puppies?

- Is water bowl should always be present in a crate even if we know that puppy just drank some water and he is not going to be closed for a long time?

Sorry if it seems too stupid. Haven't had dogs for over 20 years and that crate concept is totally new for me.

[sheena]

Basically, the crate becomes the dog's den....a space all of his own where he can feel safe & relaxed. My older BC who is now 4YO was only introduced to a crate about 2 yrs ago, when I started doing agility trials with her & now it's just left open at night & she goes in there to sleep. Our 9 mo BC puppy, has had a crate all his life & it was the most valuable tool for house training him. He mainly used it at night as he preferred to be outside during the day. Now he likes to sleep on the verandah curled up in his kennel, but we still use the crate if we are staying somewhere or camping etc. The older girl has a good quality cloth crate & the puppy has a wire crate with a custom made canvas cover with flyscreen windows. We also put puppy in the crate in the back of the 4WD, cause if we didn't he would have the interior chewed to bits. We would be lost without our crates & so would the dogs

[Kavik]

Here are the reasons I crate train:

* Gives them a safe den that is theirs where they can feel safe

* useful if the dog ever needs to be confined for illness/injury/grooming/at vet - they are already used to it and won't stress

* This safe den can be their home away from home for travelling/holidays/training/competitions/seminars - somewhere they can relax in a strange environment, and you may be accepted in more places if your dog can be confined for periods.

* helps with housetraining

* somewhere safe if you think they may get into trouble in the house, or when tradespeople come or guests who don't like/are scared of dogs

For your questions:

* you can have beds and crates if you want

* I have the crates always set up, but they can be folded for travel

* I have one crate per dog (plus a few extra, one can't be folded anymore so I got a new one, kept the old one for house) and they are in same location but you can move them if you want

* I would have the crates where there would be most activity, you could always move it upstairs at night so you can hear if puppy needs to toilet

* I would put pup in crate from day 1

* fine to crate for short periods while you are home

* you don't have to crate train if you don't want to, but they are a useful tool

* I cover the crates in cool weather or when at training/competitions to reduce stimulation

* I use crates for the life of the dog, but you don't have to

* I don't leave water in the crates because mine would just spill it

[fuzzy82]

- Do puppy supposed to sleep/rest in the crate only or he should have his own bed(s) AND crate(s)?

This is up to you. My dog has beds and a crate, beds are for daytime use and the crate is used at night.

- Is crate always in the room or you fold it when it is not needed?

I don't have a foldable crate. If you do, and you want to fold it, go for it.

- Do you have multiple crates - one in each room? Or one crate? If one, is it always on the same place or you move it to different rooms as needed?

I have one crate in the bedroom. Again, if you find it more convenient to have more than one, go for it.

- If family sleeps upstairs and spends all day downstairs where the crate should be?

I keep my crate in the bedroom. Personally I think puppies should sleep with their families in the bedroom, and if you want him to not sleep in the bedroom as an adult, just move the crate later on. But puppies feel safer closer to their families, plus it will be able to let you know if it needs to go out at night.

- Should we close puppy in a crate during the night from the day 1 or we should gradually train him to sleep in a crate over several days (weeks)?

I put my puppy in the crate at night from day 1. From the first moment I had him home everything fun happened in the crate, toys, attention, treats, etc. By the time it was bedtime, he was exhausted and went almost straight to sleep in the crate and slept through the night.

- Is it OK to crate puppy for short period of time if we are at home?

Yep, perfectly good for naps and when you can't supervise 100%. I also found it useful just to get a break from thinking and breathing puppy 24/7, to get housework done or to walk the other dog etc.

- Housebreaking. Do we have to put puppy in a crate just to house train him (even if we do not NEED him in a crate for any other reason)?

Nope, housetraining can be done without crates. Housetraining is basically just putting the puppy outside when you think he needs to go, and rewarding him for it. The reason the crate is useful is for when you can't supervise, the idea being that puppies won't soil their sleeping area, and will hold it until you can let it out.

- Is it OK to have crate partly covered with thin breathable cover? Just for aesthetic reasons.

I always cover my crate with a blanket on two sides. As a little puppy he settled much quicker and slept longer in the morning that way, and these days he just prefers being covered while in his crate.

- Do you use crate during the whole life of your dog or only for puppies?

I intended to stop using the crate as my dog got older, but as it turns out, he loves the crate. Some dogs only tolerate the crate, so for those I would get rid of it once they're housetrained and finished teething.

- Is water bowl should always be present in a crate even if we know that puppy just drank some water and he is not going to be closed for a long time?

I never put a water bowl in the crate. That's like asking for an accident. It should never be hot for the dog in the crate, which means it should be fine overnight without water. My dogs have never had access to water during the night.

[Cavstar]

Can I add another question as well - I'm new to crates too

Just wondering what's preferable to do when leaving the puppy/dog for long periods of time. Next year when I'm at work & the kids are back at school I'll have to leave the pup for around 7 hours. I'm thinking that its too long to crate her for... I was intending on putting her in the laundry with the crate foor open & from there have a doggy door where she will have access to a sectioned off area outside.

Does this sound ok?

[jebee]

OK. Thank you very much for answers, much clearer now.

[minxy]

Exactly the same reasons why I do it as others have mentioned. With previous dogs, I had never heard of crate training either, but I absolutely swear by it now.

I find it very handy on a daily basis, but particularly atm as my dog has just had surgery on one of his knees, and will have surgery on the other one in a couple of months time. Conveniently I am at home full time atm, but if I need to go anywhere or have anyone come to the house, I can crate him so that he doesn't injure himself while I'm not around.

My answers to your questions:

- Do puppy supposed to sleep/rest in the crate only or he should have his own bed(s) AND crate(s)? Crate + bed is fine, or you could just have a crate. The dog bed I bought Kyojin is too small, so my cats use it. He just uses his crate, but during the day he prefers to follow us from room to room to sleep.

- Is crate always in the room or you fold it when it is not needed? Mine is set up at all times

- Do you have multiple crates - one in each room? Or one crate? If one, is it always on the same place or you move it to different rooms as needed? I only have one as normally it is something I only use for Kyojin to sleep in at night, but plenty of people have multiple crates so that they can have them in different locations around the house, or have ones that are suitable for traveling etc

- If family sleeps upstairs and spends all day downstairs where the crate should be? While your pup is young, you might want to use a crate during the day at times. I would either have two crates, or move it upstairs at night so that you can hear your pup crying if it wants to go to the toilet during the night.

- Should we close puppy in a crate during the night from the day 1 or we should gradually train him to sleep in a crate over several days (weeks)? Start from day one. First night home with your pup there will probably be crying anyway, as they have come to a new environment and it is the first night away from their old family. So this is normal. It is easy to teach a dog that crates can be wonderful places.

- Is it OK to crate puppy for short period of time if we are at home? Absolutely, this will also help him/her get used to the crate and to learn that they are a good thing.

- Housebreaking. Do we have to put puppy in a crate just to house train him (even if we do not NEED him in a crate for any other reason)? I didn't use our crate for the purpose of toilet training, but you can do.

- Is it OK to have crate partly covered with thin breathable cover? Just for aesthetic reasons. Yes, I have blankets over the top of mine to make it darker so that Kyojin wouldn't wake up too early. In summer I give him his own fan so that he's cool.

- Do you use crate during the whole life of your dog or only for puppies? You can use them forever

- Is water bowl should always be present in a crate even if we know that puppy just drank some water and he is not going to be closed for a long time? I don't give Kyojin water in his crate, but some people do. In the instance you described, I wouldn't.

[minxy]

Can I add another question as well - I'm new to crates too

Just wondering what's preferable to do when leaving the puppy/dog for long periods of time. Next year when I'm at work & the kids are back at school I'll have to leave the pup for around 7 hours. I'm thinking that its too long to crate her for... I was intending on putting her in the laundry with the crate foor open & from there have a doggy door where she will have access to a sectioned off area outside.

Does this sound ok?

Yup, that sounds good to me.

[Agility Dogs]

Can I add another question as well - I'm new to crates too

Just wondering what's preferable to do when leaving the puppy/dog for long periods of time. Next year when I'm at work & the kids are back at school I'll have to leave the pup for around 7 hours. I'm thinking that its too long to crate her for... I was intending on putting her in the laundry with the crate foor open & from there have a doggy door where she will have access to a sectioned off area outside.

Does this sound ok?

That sounds fine, but at the same time I wouldn't be afraid of crating for 7 hours. All of mine can/do spend that amount of time in their crates at various times for various reasons. As long as you have crate trained effectviely and make sure that they are toileted before going in there it shouldn't be a problem.

[fuzzy82]

I don't have a problem crating for 7-8 hours once in a while either, but I don't think I would crate a puppy that long. It might not be able to hold it and have to lie in urine all day, which is not only uncomfortable and yuck, but it could also ruin the idea of not peeing in the crate and create and ongoing problem. For puppies I would use a playpen or the laundry/bathroom. I would have the crate in there, open, some newspaper, and some chew toys, kongs and water.

I don't usually crate if I know I'm going to be gone a long time anymore. These days I just give them kongs and leave them loose in the house. That way they can stretch their legs, move to another room if they're hot/cold, have some stimulation from the kongs, and if they do need to pee (which hasn't happened yet) they don't have to lie in it.

Yesterday they were home alone for about 10-11 hours, and we had no accidents and no damage to anything. I would have felt bad if I had left one of them in a crate all that time. (Obviously some dogs can't be trusted loose in the house, so for those crating is very useful even as adults).

[Simply Grand]

Hi jebee, the good news is the answer to most of your questions is it's up to you!

The idea is that the crate is a safe, secure place for the dog to be in, where it feels comfortable and calm. When, why and where you use the crate is up to you, depending on your situation.

Crating for toilet training - the idea behind this is that dogs naturally dont like to toilet where they sleep so provided the crate is small enough (or is partly blocked off) when the puppy wakes up needing the toilet it will whinge because it doesn't want to toilet in it's sleeping area. The noise wakes you up, you take puppy straight outside to the toilet spot, they go and you reward them, then back to sleep in the crate. It's setting up the puppy not to go to the toilet in the wrong spot while you are asleep, and giving you the chance to reward puppy for going in the right spot.

During the day you wouldnt want to have the puppy in the crate the whole time so you'd either watch the puppy very closely all the time or attach a leash to you so puppy follows you around. Then take puppy to the toilet spot regularly and reward when it goes (see toilet training threads). Using the crate at night stops your good work during the day being undone by puppy toileting somewhere other than the toilet spot during the night without realizing that's not what you want it to do.

Answers to your specific questions included below:

I had dog throughout my early childhood and school days, but at that time nobody used crates at all. I heard about crates first time in my life about 6 months ago when we started thinking about getting a dog. Initially an idea of putting a dog into a cage seemed absolutely horrible, but now after much reading we inclined to get one for our puppy which we getting in 2 weeks time. But still I do not quite understand how/when to use it. Bunch of threads here about how to crate train, but not much about WHY crate train.

- Do puppy supposed to sleep/rest in the crate only or he should have his own bed(s) AND crate(s)?

While toilet training best to have puppy sleep only in the crate at night, and I'd suggest for naps too. Once fully toilet trained you can continue to use the crate for sleeping, with door either open or closed, or have a separate bed or beds, depending on what you prefer. The dog won't mind as long as it has a comfy spot, though may decide it prefers being enclosed in the crate.

- Is crate always in the room or you fold it when it is not needed?

Up to you! If you're only going to use it at night you can pack it away during the day, if you want to leave it out for puppy to nap in that's fine too.

- Do you have multiple crates - one in each room? Or one crate? If one, is it always on the same place or you move it to different rooms as needed?

Up to you! If you prefer to have a few around you can, or you can move the one to where you want it. It shouldn't bother the puppy as the bedding etc inside the crate/s will be what is familiar.

- If family sleeps upstairs and spends all day downstairs where the crate should be?

The crate should be close enough for you to hear the puppy as soon as it wakes up and make noise so you can quickly get to it and take it to the toilet spot. Although they don't like to toilet in their sleeping spot if a puppy has to go they cant hold it in so yo nhave to get there quickly!

- Should we close puppy in a crate during the night from the day 1 or we should gradually train him to sleep in a crate over several days (weeks)?

Close him in near you from day 1. Might be a good idea to give the breeder a blanket to put in with puppy's mum to get her smell on it before he comes home to you (or ask them to get one for you), then you can put that in the crate for the first few nights to help settle him. There may be a bit of a learning curve for you to figure out the difference between normal first night whinging and needed toilet noises but you'll learn to tell, the existing crate training threads should talk about this.

- Is it OK to crate puppy for short period of time if we are at home?

Yep, naps or quiet time in the crate are good.

- Housebreaking. Do we have to put puppy in a crate just to house train him (even if we do not NEED him in a crate for any other reason)?

You dont HAVE to use a crate at all, it's a convenience and a training aid but not essential. Used properly (ie you get up straight away and take puppy out every time) it will make toilet training quicker than say having puppy sleep in another room where he will toilet ion the floor somewhere but plenty of people do it that way, just means you have more messes to clean up. It really depends on which you'd prefer, as long as you don't expect too much or get angry with puppy for mistakes, he won't mind which method you use.

- Is it OK to have crate partly covered with thin breathable cover? Just for aesthetic reasons.

Yep, so long as the crate doesn't get too hot or stuffy. Puppy may prefer a cover to make it more cozy.

- Do you use crate during the whole life of your dog or only for puppies?

Once puppy is toilet trained you can choose not to crate any more, you can leave the crate with the door open as bed wherever you want grown up dog to sleep, you can still have quiet time/feeding/bones etc in the crate to keep the dog confined in a safe place, you can use the crate as bed if you stay with someone, or as somewhere for the dog to hang out safely you are taking him out places. Up to you!

- Is water bowl should always be present in a crate even if we know that puppy just drank some water and he is not going to be closed for a long time?

Overnight i wouldn't put water in the crate, puppy will be sleeping so won't need to drink and more water = more weeing! Just make sure he can have a drink as soon as he gets up in the morning. For short times during the day I wouldn't have water in there either, as long as there is access to water the rest of the time.

Sorry if it seems too stupid. Haven't had dogs for over 20 years and that crate concept is totally new for me.

Good luck!

Edited for iPad typos!

Edited December 19, 2011 by Saxonpup

[megan_]

Can I add another question as well - I'm new to crates too

Just wondering what's preferable to do when leaving the puppy/dog for long periods of time. Next year when I'm at work & the kids are back at school I'll have to leave the pup for around 7 hours. I'm thinking that its too long to crate her for... I was intending on putting her in the laundry with the crate foor open & from there have a doggy door where she will have access to a sectioned off area outside.

Does this sound ok?

That should be fine as the pup will be able to come and go from the crate at their chosing.

Crates are great but should never be used for long periods of confinement for a normal, healthy dog.

[Maddy]

Some really good information posted here already, only thing I'd add is that crate are also really good for feeding, especially when it's a higher value food (like raw meat or bones) or when there's any chance of food stealing or fighting.

I crate one of my fosters at dinner time because he's a terrible food thief and he'll also eat more than his stomach can handle (and then has to be watched for hours because he'll vomit and there's always that risk of choking). When crated, the dogs never seem to rush their food as much and because they associate the crate with food, the crates can be used to separate dogs in an emergency (they'll jump in as soon as the crate door is opened).

Good crate training makes a big difference. Also seems to make them more willing to sleep in confined spaces which would be useful if the dog was expected to sleep in a kennel outside at night.

[ellazpupz]

Great questions and answers. I have learnt alot from this thread... getting our new pup in feb. And haven't had a dog in the house for years... thankyou everyone for your answers

[jr_inoz]

Can I add another question as well - I'm new to crates too

Just wondering what's preferable to do when leaving the puppy/dog for long periods of time. Next year when I'm at work & the kids are back at school I'll have to leave the pup for around 7 hours. I'm thinking that its too long to crate her for... I was intending on putting her in the laundry with the crate foor open & from there have a doggy door where she will have access to a sectioned off area outside.

Does this sound ok?

This is what I did.

My girl only had the crate to sleep in, but I had another dog come to stay for awhile, so I bought a bed that could fit both of them on it as they wanted to sleep together most of the time.

With the toilet training - strongly advise you to take the puppy outside to wee with a lead on. I didn't and wish I had. My girl will not wee whilst on lead, which is really inconvenient when away or at dog shows etc. At a dog show, she will hold it all day until we get home.

[dancinbcs]

I notice a lot of people have mentioned covering the crate. That may be fine with short coated breeds but please don't cover the crate of a long coated breed. They get far too hot with any sort of cover over them. This is why I avoid soft crates. If you have ever sat inside a tent with mesh windows or even a shadehouse with insect mesh all around, you will realise just how hot it gets inside anything with so-called breathable mesh.

The only time I have ever covered crates is if the dogs are sleeping in them in the car in mid winter and the overnight temp is going to get under about 5 deg C.

Personally I find a puppy pen is easier in the house for a puppy and my dogs get used to the crates in the car or at shows. If I put a crate or trolley up in the house though, someone will always get in it. They love them.

[jebee]

Oh! And another question. What crate size would be suitable for dalmatian? Someone suggested 42"... Really? Saw 42" crate in a pet shop and it looks HUGE.

[Gayle.]

My last puppy had the crate to sleep in during the day, we propped the door open so he could go in and out as he wanted. No way I would crate a puppy for 7 hours. I wouldn't crate any dog for that long unless it was overnight.

[mumof4girls]

Can I add another question as well - I'm new to crates too

Just wondering what's preferable to do when leaving the puppy/dog for long periods of time. Next year when I'm at work & the kids are back at school I'll have to leave the pup for around 7 hours. I'm thinking that its too long to crate her for... I was intending on putting her in the laundry with the crate foor open & from there have a doggy door where she will have access to a sectioned off area outside.

Does this sound ok?

Great question I just had a lightbulb moment :-) I now know what I will do when I go back to work, just need to get a large baby play pen then my guy can be inside safe, much bigger area than what I was thinking I think..

[Dame Aussie]

My last puppy had the crate to sleep in during the day, we propped the door open so he could go in and out as he wanted. No way I would crate a puppy for 7 hours. I wouldn't crate any dog for that long unless it was overnight.

I have to agree here, I couldn't imagine crating a puppy/dog for that long!

Can the puppy go outside when you're gone for that long? Or be in a laundry or similar area?