Dog Crates In The News: Guardian Article

[Sheridan]

How nice that all the clever clogs are so utterly amazing at toilet training that they can snap their fingers and voila, their dogs are trained.

[Steph M]

Not at all, Sheridan! Just stating that we did it a different way and that was what worked best for us. What works for you guys may be different! Not to mention my bigger dogs means bigger bladders so slightly advantageous there. ;)

[Dame Aussie]

How nice that all the clever clogs are so utterly amazing at toilet training that they can snap their fingers and voila, their dogs are trained.

Not at all. I think I was lucky but it's true so I'm not saying it to be smart.

[Jemmy]

I crate trained Luna early - I would pop her in there in the mornings when I was going for a shower for example, because shower time seemed to be her destructo time. She is also in crate in the car. The house crate was put away at about 12 months old because she had earned a level of trust, but she still has the car crate - she jumps straight in and curls up and goes to sleep on drives.

Advantages:

She didn't fuss when she had to be crated at the vets for desexing (and when she went for xrays after consuming sewing pins ).

When went to her breeders for an overnight babysit she went straight into the crate they had in their lounge and had a nap.

When we had a visiting overly playful puppy I brought the crate out and she went straight in for some peace and quiet.

Could we have managed without it? Yes. But I'm glad we did it because it wasn't a whole lot of hassle to train her with the crate, and it's got it's benefits.

[Sheridan]

How nice that all the clever clogs are so utterly amazing at toilet training that they can snap their fingers and voila, their dogs are trained.

Not at all. I think I was lucky but it's true so I'm not saying it to be smart.

Not at all, Sheridan! Just stating that we did it a different way and that was what worked best for us. What works for you guys may be different! Not to mention my bigger dogs means bigger bladders so slightly advantageous there. ;)

Frankly, I'm sick of those who can apparently magic their dogs into being good canine citizens. I think it's entirely likely both of you have had as many sleepless nights as those of us who are struggling. Everything I've read about house training says a dog won't be house trained in such a short space as three weeks.

[Steph M]

It wasn't magic, it was careful management.

We got up every few hours to wee for a few weeks and had a total of 4 accidents all up, yes it was bloody tiring and it was a struggle in its own right, I never said it was a breeze but I'm glad we did it the way we did and yes, I could rely on Gus to ask to go out after 2-3 weeks. I'm not bragging, its just how it went for us? Be it luck/magic or the fact that we too worked our asses off is none of my concern but he was an easy dog to toilet train.

I'm sorry you're struggling but there is no reason at all need to get snappy.

No one has suggested they're doing it better or that their way is better, just that its different. Every dog and every person is doing.it differently. If you want to crate your dog and its working power to you! If not, that rules too.

I was just sharing my story, I hope things get easier for you.

[YippeeGirl]

Just wondering, what do people who don't use crates do when they have multiple indoor dogs and bring a new puppy home? Do you just section off different rooms for different dogs? I have a puppy hellion here, and the crate is the only way to keep her from constantly pestering the other dogs.

[Steph M]

We just have the two, but if we were to get a new pup we could baby gate off the two ends of the house, or throw the adults out with a big 'busy bone' for an hour or so, but I can only speculate as there is nooooo new puppy on the agenda for a while, there will be a new human in a few months and that's the game plan so far!

Adults are quite happy to go out for an hour or so at a time and don't need any separation so we are lucky there.

[Dame Aussie]

How nice that all the clever clogs are so utterly amazing at toilet training that they can snap their fingers and voila, their dogs are trained.

Not at all. I think I was lucky but it's true so I'm not saying it to be smart.

Not at all, Sheridan! Just stating that we did it a different way and that was what worked best for us. What works for you guys may be different! Not to mention my bigger dogs means bigger bladders so slightly advantageous there. ;)

Frankly, I'm sick of those who can apparently magic their dogs into being good canine citizens. I think it's entirely likely both of you have had as many sleepless nights as those of us who are struggling. Everything I've read about house training says a dog won't be house trained in such a short space as three weeks.

Frankly I don't care what you think :laugh: I can honestly say neither of my dogs as pups toileted in the house more than 2 or 3 times. And yes they did get taken out at night for a while, I didn't say I did nothing, just that it happened quickly without needing a crate. I wasn't judging anyone else with what I said, simply stating my experience with my current dogs so no need to get shirty for goodness sake.

Believe what you like I don't need to convince anyone on a dog forum. I know how long it took.

Edited June 26, 2015 by Dame Aussie

[Dame Aussie]

We only have two dogs and no plans for getting another at this stage but if we did we'd sort it out then. Probably by separating pup in opposite ends of the house or rooms as needed.

[Christina]

For the pet owners I don't think crates are needed at all & its awful if dogs are left crated for hours on end but for breeders they can be useful at certain times for short periods under some circumstances. Most of my crates here have stuff stored in them :laugh:

[LisaCC]

I've done both, raised a dog with and without a crate.

The only reason I decided to crate train this time was because I knew I'd need to use them when I started competing with him at trials.

I'm glad I decided to, and probably would have gone out and gotten one pretty soon after anyway, as he was a pretty crazy baby pup and would have gotten into to anything in the house and if not confined if I didn't have my eye on him at all times. So if I needed to go to the bathroom or jump in the shower, puppy got popped in his crate for his own safety. I could have managed with a laundry, but I didn't want my puppy sleeping in a cold laundry away from me.

Like TSD I play lots of games with the crate and it helps with training.

Yes it helped with toilet training too and yes I had one of those easy dogs that with hard work (in the middle of winter) only had 2 accidents in the house..

Crate training was a godsend when he hurt his leg and needed to be on strict rest. For a working dog, if he hadn't been trained to relax in one, I think he would of been struggling to cope with that amount of time no matter the amount of mental stimulation and breaks, etc I was giving him.

It's also come in handy when looking after other dogs to give them some short time out from each other, to feed them separately, and to sleep them (I'm not trusting someone else's dog loose in my house when I'm asleep).

The dog raised without a crate was a much easier dog in every way, and he was fine without it.

[Guest donatella]

How nice that all the clever clogs are so utterly amazing at toilet training that they can snap their fingers and voila, their dogs are trained.

Not at all. I think I was lucky but it's true so I'm not saying it to be smart.

Not at all, Sheridan! Just stating that we did it a different way and that was what worked best for us. What works for you guys may be different! Not to mention my bigger dogs means bigger bladders so slightly advantageous there. ;)

Frankly, I'm sick of those who can apparently magic their dogs into being good canine citizens. I think it's entirely likely both of you have had as many sleepless nights as those of us who are struggling. Everything I've read about house training says a dog won't be house trained in such a short space as three weeks.

Perhaps your struggling is a result of 2 puppies at once, double the work. Don't take that out the girls you knew what you were in for.

Mine aren't crated or crate trained but I have one set up in the lounge that never gets used. They are fine in one though as they are in a crate at the groomers every 6 weeks while 1 is being groomed and the other is waiting. I also would never crate mine all day everyday this actually disturbs me.

Edited June 26, 2015 by donatella

[Rascalmyshadow]

We use crates overnight mainly if there's a new puppy so toilet training is easier, if any of the adults start having accidents in the house over night then they will go into crates until problem is solved.

The only other time they get used is for time out, Claudia if she's jumping all over us trying to take our dinner and Chloe if she has a moment of constant yapping, both generally settle in minutes and are let straight out.

I think it's disgraceful that anyone would lock a dog in a crate for any length of time unless travelling, why on earth would two dogs be kept in the same house that hate each other to that extent? quite selfish IMO.

We have lived with a pack (min 4 dogs) for the past 20 years including rescues coming in and out, only once did we have a dog that caused serious problems amongst everyone, she was rehomed ASAP and both her and everybody else were much happier, it amazes me how people can have such serious issues with only two dogs.

Edited June 26, 2015 by Rascalmyshadow

[tdierikx]

I agree. If I had dogs that had to be kept in crates due to fighting or the like, I'd rehome one.

It's not exactly as simple as that sometimes... rehoming wasn't an option for me... my choices were euthanaise or use separation methods. Separation methods include the use of a crate at times, and it works just fine for me and my dogs - everyone gets their share of one-on-one time with me, and those that can run together do so on a rotating basis. It might seem like a lot of hard work, but once the routine is in place, everyone benefits.

T.

[Teebs]

I got kaos' crate out for the first time in ages and she was over the moon, I can't get her out of it now!

As for toilet training, there is no point getting annoyed others have better luck. 2 puppies was always going to be hard....

I've had both, so yes, sometimes it is just the dog gets it easily

Atlas was trained in 2 weeks and never had one accident inside.

Kaos. Well she took months and was in her crate or the yard if I couldn't watch her as she would just pee anywhere. She was about 18 months before I let her have unsupervised access to the house.

Each dog is different

[YippeeGirl]

The dog likely to be re-homed in my case is a fear-aggressive German Shepherd with hip dysplasia, who is too unpredictable to be safe with children, and requires someone who doesn't let their attention lapse and knows what they are doing. Here with me, she gets joint supplements, visits to the chiropractor, once weekly swim sessions, daily walks/free-runs, and most of her time is spent wandering through the house or lazing about on someone's bed.

But I guess it's so cruel that she has to spend 8 hours at night in the crate it would be better if she was rehomed.

As an aside, the two bitches don't spend their time trying to exterminate or intimidate each other. It's simply that the reactive one doesn't know how to be with other dogs and the other bitch has no patience for her.

I'm sure some breeds also make it easier to go without crating than others. Big breeds can do a lot of damage when they are young and going through their destructive phase. I couldn't imagine leaving the current hellion puppy out in the kitchen unsupervised. She's like a beaver.

[dotdashdot]

I never really used crate training as a toilet training method...Cleo was 6 months old before I introduced it and slept outside at the time and Nala started in the crate + puppy pen (with pee pad as a backup) for a week and then moved into a puppy pen area with unlimited outside access while we were awake and then by 6 months was sleeping in the crate like her sister but spending all day outside.

Having had the girls fight a few times, the crate has been a godsend when I need to use it. Now though, they have a whole room for themselves :laugh: I could never, would never use a crate for more than the roughly 8 hours overnight unless there was an injury or some other real need for it.

Nala was toilet trained in less than 3 weeks, had one wee inside and I don't see that as bragging. It was careful, careful management and maybe just a wonderfully responsive puppy. We had plenty of late nights and early starts. She only every cried when she needed to go out - maybe this was a breed thing as well.

The outside access area we had was separated from the main backyard, her own private 3x2m run and she knew going out there with us was toilet time.

[Steve]

Im not trying to be smart either but Ive house trained a hell of a lot of puppies and never used crates. It's not something I want to do to my dogs and personally think the whole toilet training a puppy with crate training makes it harder not easier. Its just a different method of choosing to do things which suits me and my dogs.

[Lhok]

I used crates on three separate dogs for all different reasons.

Treble had one because he couldn't be allowed to stress out as he would crash hard, it was awesome that he liked being in the crate because he had an epic nosebleed that meant he couldn't move much at all otherwise it would free bleed.

Raiden had his crate and it was lucky that I did crate him as it allowed me to notice that he couldn't hold his bladder at all and he vomited often and as a result we worked out that something wasn't right with him.

Missy was crated often once she was older because she was suffering dementia and she felt safer in there.

--Lhok