megan_ Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Unfortunately we also have a 14week old puppy who I need to accommodate and I don think she will hold her bladder for 5.5/6hrs other wise we have the perfect room we could turn into a dog room with toys, crates etc. We do have a safe fence we can enclose the pergola in and have 1 or 2 crates under with toys etc but I think she will still bark. If she can't hold her bladder for that length of time then she should definitely not be locked in the crate for that time. If she is, she will be confined in a small space with her wee and poo - not good for her mentally (dogs are clean creatures) and it will set her toilet training back by a mile (she will get used to toileting where she sleeps etc). I'm away at work for about 12 hours a day. When my boy was a pup he had house and outdoor access when I was at work. He still weed inside when I wasn't home though. I just sucked it up and did a lot of cleaning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 (edited) Crating for long periods during the day is not acceptable practice. Americans seem to turn a blind eye to it which I find incredibly sad. It is not good for your dogs body to be couped up in a crate and then go back in the crate to sleep at night > what's the point of having a dog? Maybe a caged animal such as a bird would be more appropriate? I'm not against crating, I have crates but there is an appropriate way to crate. Just because a dog can hold its bladder for 8 hours doesn't mean you should expect that > you try that. It's unacceptable. Edited July 9, 2015 by sas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rascalmyshadow Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Crating a dog for long periods is a great way of messing up their muscle tone even in grown adults, leaves them prone to hip, knee and elbow problems, even more so in growing dogs. Over night is fine since most dogs sleep anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaCharlie Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 (edited) The OP is not talking about a long term commitment to crating a dog all day every day. She is after a workable solution to an identified problem. One such solution is that the dog is crated for 5.5 hrs a day. In that position, it is exactly what I would be doing and I can tell you right now our dogs would cope with it just fine. At no point has she mentioned that the dog sleeps in a crate or is confined for long periods at any other time of the day. Presumably the dog will be active when someone is home and is not going to spend its life locked up. ETA: At no point has it been mentioned that the crate is so small the dog cannot even stand up in it. Forgive me for seeing the best in people, but I am assuming the crate will be big enough for the dog to stand up, stretch out and turn around if need be. Edited July 9, 2015 by DeltaCharlie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willowlane Posted July 9, 2015 Author Share Posted July 9, 2015 Unfortunately I feel very much attacked in this post rather than helped and would much rather run away from my accusers than return and ask for help again but for the sake of my dog here I am. She has a crate 3 times too big for her to start with (shes only a cocker spaniel and she loves her crate, she spends no other time in it except those 5.5hrs, even at night she sleeps on our bed the rest of the time is outside or cuddles and sleeping next to mum. I DONT want to do this and it would be a complete short term measure until we could stabilise the problem. So for now im going to leave this discussion and just ring Steve and seek his professional advice on the matter. Please try not to be so judgemental people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Is she still barking now you have the puppy? All of my first dog's issues stopped when I got a second dog. Although my neighbours have 2 dogs that bark constantly, but they don't do anything with them and one is a very wrong breed choice for a small yard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest donatella Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 (edited) Mine would bark all day if I gave them access to the stimulus but they are kept inside with curtains closed and TV on. I don't need to lock them in a crate to control the barking and believe me they would bark all day if I left the door open mine are talkers Edited July 9, 2015 by donatella Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Mine would bark all day if I gave them access to the stimulus but they are kept inside with curtains closed and TV on. I don't need to lock them in a crate to control the barking and believe me they would bark all day if I left the door open mine are talkers Same here. Blinds must be closed :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rascalmyshadow Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 What about a large puppy pen in the lounge/kitchen and put the open crate in that? room to move, limited visuals and stimulus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest donatella Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Mine would bark all day if I gave them access to the stimulus but they are kept inside with curtains closed and TV on. I don't need to lock them in a crate to control the barking and believe me they would bark all day if I left the door open mine are talkers Same here. Blinds must be closed :laugh: Never a true chart created Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trisven13 Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Unfortunately I feel very much attacked in this post rather than helped and would much rather run away from my accusers than return and ask for help again but for the sake of my dog here I am. She has a crate 3 times too big for her to start with (shes only a cocker spaniel and she loves her crate, she spends no other time in it except those 5.5hrs, even at night she sleeps on our bed the rest of the time is outside or cuddles and sleeping next to mum. I DONT want to do this and it would be a complete short term measure until we could stabilise the problem. So for now im going to leave this discussion and just ring Steve and seek his professional advice on the matter. Please try not to be so judgemental people. Great job folks..... My dogs are crated every night for around 8 hours, they cope perfectly fine so this sounds very acceptable to me. Don't let the negative nellies get you down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*kirty* Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Play with them before work so they are tired, then pop them both in their crates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 I don't think anyone has said you're a bad dog owner, I certainly don't think that. But people will have differing opinions on things like crates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Talking it over with Steve is indeed the wisest choice, as he knows you, your dogs and your situation :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Agree with DC .... subject to what Steve might have to say, I don't see a problem with what the OP is proposing. Because she was an escaper, as a puppy my BC girl spent 8 hours on school days in a 4 Ft x 4 Ft C Crate pen with a lid. She had newspapers to toilet on in one corner, and a bed in another, as well as water and stuffed Long. She has just retired from competitive agility last year just shy of her 13th birthday, and her vet last week commented that she was beautifully lean and muscled. So I guess the confinement in her early months didn't hurt her too much. It does depend so much on what you do with them for the rest of the time. As has been said, opinions on using crates tend to be as divided as opinions on feeding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmolo Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 I know it's not for the same purpose but i had to confine my 6 month old ACD for 4-5 months for far longer in time frame than what has been described here both prior to and after elbow surgery. This dog has a behavioural problem not a physical one but what is being proposed is the same in that it is a temporary management solution. I have no issue with it. Why is it acceptable to use confinement for short term medical management but not short term behavioural management? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottsmum Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Unfortunately I feel very much attacked in this post rather than helped and would much rather run away from my accusers than return and ask for help again but for the sake of my dog here I am. She has a crate 3 times too big for her to start with (shes only a cocker spaniel and she loves her crate, she spends no other time in it except those 5.5hrs, even at night she sleeps on our bed the rest of the time is outside or cuddles and sleeping next to mum. I DONT want to do this and it would be a complete short term measure until we could stabilise the problem. So for now im going to leave this discussion and just ring Steve and seek his professional advice on the matter. Please try not to be so judgemental people. Mine (11ish year old) is crated overnight at the moment, we have no other real choice. He's in there from 9pm-ish til 6am-ish. He takes his teddy or a ball with him & i pull the covers. I dudnt always feel this way, but its such a good resource / solution to have on hand. :) hope Steve helped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 I don't think anyone has said you're a bad dog owner, I certainly don't think that. But people will have differing opinions on things like crates yeah. And when you ask whether 5 hours is too long, some people are going to say yes and some are going to say no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 Could you have the crate, leave it open and have a puppy pen for her to move around and do a wee if needed? I'm not sure how old your dog is but mine are 16 and 12 weeks respectively. They are currently at 5-6 hours overnight to hold on so your dog could do it but a pen with lots of toys as well as a crate might work better. I got a fantastic pen off crazy sales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stressmagnet Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 (edited) Ernie is still crated overnight. He's got some toys and a bone to keep him occupied if he wakes before I do. It's right beside my bed so we often have long talks about life and I show him animal docos on Netflix if I'm watching. While he's happy as hell to be released in the morning and prefers to do zoomies for 15 minutes and ignore his bursting bladder in order to say hello to every person in the family - he still goes in eagerly every night at 10pm. In the lounge room, he has a crate he goes into while we are eating that has an open door. He goes in of his on accord when he hears me call the girls for dinner and then sighs and huffs and puffs loudly if we don't eat fast enough. I've always been home with him when he was younger so he had free range outdoors. However with my other dogs, as pups, I took 2 weeks off to bond, then set up a secure room in the house for them. The laundry was my choice. I'd come home at lunch to play and let them out and then pop them back in. When they got a bit older, they were crated for 3 hours in the morning, then 4 hours in the arvo in a big crate that was semi partitioned into sleeping and weeing areas. I walked them for an hour in the morning and again an hour at lunch. Once they hit 5-6 months, they were given the full run of the large garden. All my dogs so far were well adjusted and seemed to suffer no ill effects from early crating. The only dog that had an issue was my amstaff who turned dog aggressive as she got older but that was not from lack of socialisation, it was because I hadn't a clue how to really manage a bully breed. Edited July 10, 2015 by Stressmagnet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now