I keep hearing about crates.....

Is it really ok to leave a dog in a crate while we are out? And if it is - how long is recommended? I am seiously considering getting a crate for my Labrador pup as he is so destructive while we are out, but feel strange about shutting him away.
Can someone give me their opinion on this?
I think i will look into that dog listener book as I have noticed it has been recommended by a number of people.
Advise will be greatly appreciated.

I bought a 4 x 3 cage for my retriever pup which gave her plenty of space.The first time I have had a cage in twenty years of breeding. She was fine in it for the morning, longer than I would have ever done it before but my home circumstances had suddenly changed and needs must. She only had her special toys and treat in there and she used to get really excited to go in when I went out or if I needed to do something without her getting in the way. It also helped with house training as she would not wet in there.

Never had a problem and saved a lot of worry and stress. If done properly no problems.

Hiya...

Personally, during the day I don't leave my dogs in crates/cages longer than an hour..but that really is just my opinion.
During that time, the dogs have toys, bones to occupy them.

However at bed time my dogs have always gone to their crates/cages, and they're in there for the 7/8 hours i'm asleep.

I've never had any problems, it seems to me that pups..or even older dogs...like somewhere they can call their own....a safe place if you like.

As a result of this all my dogs sleep the hours I sleep!!!
Which is a good thing :D

Take care

Lisa

if your dogs sleep in their crates at night what happens if somebody breaks in,my dog has the run of my house so if anybody is about i know my dog is there to protect my family.

Sorry, I didn't explain myself properly....

It's the pups that are crated...the older dogs are out.

Take care

Lisa

I am not sure that having dogs in a crate makes a lot of difference. My dogs bark at the slightest thing and as many burglars 'case the joint', they would be well aware that we have dogs in the house and, hopefully, would be put off. They don't know whether they are in a crate or not at night (they're not). Also, some of the burglars that would risk breaking in would simply knife the dog and I would rather that they take everything than do that :(

I have seen this on television and most burglars will avoid properties with dogs. :)

Daisy

We have an intruder alarm which we could not use if the dogs had the roam of the house at night. The dogs are in crates (which they go into from choice) in the kitchen. I am sure they would bark like mad if anyone were snooping around but at the end of the day I would prefer to rely on the alarm to protect both us and AND the dogs!

Karen :)

i understand what you are saying but a alarm can be disarmed were a dog can't, if you ask the police what the best deterent for burglers are they will tell you that a dog is the best form of protection ,they told me this when last summer when i was in france for the day and my alarm from a well known company was turned off , if i'd had my dog then, maybe they would not have got in.as for my dog getting stabbed i think a 90lb dobe charging the door would put any one off:)

I can imagine that a 90lb Dobe would be a bit offputting to a potential burglar. :) But then I have JRT's who would bark like mad and then show the theives where the valuables were whilst licking them to death! Soft as tripe the pair of them!

I can imagine that, as you and the police both say, that a barking dog would be the best deterrant for anyone trying to break in. But I think the barking would maybe put off an opportunist thief but fear that the more determined burglars are more likely to be armed -and then sadly a dog could indeed be disarmed :(

My alarm has an anti tamper device fitted where it goes off immediately if anyone tries to cut wires etc (as my dear hubby found out whilst drilling a hole in the wall and hitting a wire and all hell letting loose!), but I guess nothing is infalable. However I do beleive it would be difficult to get into the house without waking although I do understand that given time, as when the house is left empty, the alarm could be disarmed. But then really the only time the house is left empty is when we are on holiday and then the dogs would not be there anyway.

Lets hope that we never have to put our various theories to the test and both our 'alarms' continue to work well for us!:D

Karen:)

totally agree thanks for chat :)

Thank you too Sammie :) :)

Karen

karen i am coming to you again hope you dont mind:)
my husbands friend has had a rotti for about 4months now he is 14 months, he has started to eat their home ie furniture ,carpets any thing he can get to ,they are now talking about finding him a new home do u think a cage would help him any help would be helpful as they are so upset :(and have tried every thing,( they leave him with food ,toys tv on but is no use)
thanks:)

Hi Sammie

How long is the dog left alone as, although we do use crates for our 2 JRT's when we are out they are rarely left for very long (2-3 hours max) other than at night.

I wonder if this sort of age is one at which a tendancy to chew re-emerges as our female JRT went through it at around 13 months, after having grown out of chewing (or so we thought!) We had considered getting rid of the crate just before that but then one day, while we were in the room with her, she chewed through the computer mains cable :( The computer was on as my son had just got up to go to the toilet and hubby and I were invloved in some mundane task. There was a flash and a bang and we were all in darkness. Luckily we had a very sensitive trip switch on our fuse box and she was OK (other than a slightly burned gum) but it scared us, and her, rigid! Was it our fault? YES, we didn't supervise her properly. Could something similar happen again? Sadly yes, althugh we watched her like hawks afterwards, but life happens and we are only human, but I think the crate for when we could not be with her was a godsend. I woould trust her again now (I think!) but now we have her younger adopted brother at a similar age and we are not taking any chances. They are both very happy to go in the crates (go in from choice at night and as soon as they hear me lock the back door as it means we are going out, as well as any time they want a bit of peace from each other - and may be us!). But if the time ever comes when they need to be left for longer or if they show any displeasure at going in we will have to reaccess the situation. But hopeflully by then they will both be grown out of chewing.

With regard to your friend I really do feel for them :( Maybe a crate might help when they are not able to be there if only for a while to get him out of the habit of chewing the house and to get through this stage. But then it really depends on how long he would have to be left in it. The other thing that I can think of is exercise - is he getting enough? I know that with JRT's they tend to chew when they ahven't had enough exercise (maybe bored or lots of pent up energy!) - don't know much about rotti's though. Maybe someone else will be along who can help :)

I hope they can sort it out - especially if this is just a stage he's going through.

Karen :)

hi karen
have you experenced any thing like this, while i was walking sam over the playing fields a group of children were playing, waiting for the youth club to open. A small girl of about six came over and started to play with sam she then followed me alround the field talking and playing ball after a while i said i had to go back home and put sam on his lead she then asked if she could walk him so i let her walk him back to her sister and brother.as i walked away she still followed and held my hand and said could she come with me still no one took any notice so i called them and asked them to take her , it left me feeling sad that i could have been anybody and taken her away:(

Hi Sammie

That is quite frightening! Sadly I think children can be lulled into a false sense of security when someone has a dog or children with them. I was attacked as a child (got away unharmed) by a man who had 2 little boys with him. When he asked me to play hide and seek with them I thought he must be OK as he had his own children with him, but whilst they were hiding..........well as I say got away and I was OK but I always stress to my children to be careful no matter how innocent the 'stranger' may seem.

Karen :)

What happens if you have no dogs.. :-) Most people I believe don;t keep a dog to protect them.. If I was broken into I would rather them be upstairs safe with me.. :-) JMHO

Anyway I think as long as they are not left all day , ie more than 4 hours then they are fine and not everyday neither.. My 2 are left for about 4 hours max 3 days a week and one is still caged as he will piddle still , my bitch has the run of the house and sits looking out the window when we are away.. as long as you do not abuse them they are perfect for training and also for keeping them safe when you are nto around especially when they chew..
Pam

PS forgot to add that my crate is the XL one I could get 15 westies in it LOL..

We have a lab, and I don't think he'd be any more good out of a crate than in a crate (not that he's crated). If an intruder broke in, the only thing he would try to is get a belly rub!

I don't agree with crating a dog during the day unless it is absolutely necessary. How long do you leave your lab for? They are very active minded dog and it could be that he is very bored which is why he is so excitable and destructive. If you do decide to crate him when you are out - I would say no more than two hours max during the day.

No trainer should ever give up on a boisterous puppy either. I would look for another class and possibly see about getting some one to one help with your pup. The main thing you do need though is spend time training your pup and total consistency in what he can and can't do. Lab's quickly grow into large heavy powerful dogs and training becomes so much harder. The best thing I have found to prevent jumping up is to stand with arms folded and turn away from the dog. When you have the weight and power of a lab though - that can be hard. A technique others have tried is to put your knee up just as he is about to make contact with you - this way he doesn't and falls down. Doesn't hurt them - but can help get the message that jumping up gets nothing.

hth

Pam n the boys

Another method is to hold onto the front legs when the pup jumps up. Do not scold, but do not let go when it becomes uncomfortable for the dog, and he starts struggling. When he looks throughly uncomfortable drop him to the ground with the command Off! and praise of Good dog!

He will be less keen to jump up when it is no longer his idea to be up thre. It becomes a negative expereince rather than a positive one in his mind.

Also you need to teach him to be calm. Often we fail to respond or praise calm behaviour. Try putting the dog on a lead, while you are doing something like reading. Make him lie down at your feet, keeping your foot on the lead or wahtever to ensure his compliance. If he resists, very calmly ensure compliance, and as soon as he is lying down give him a low key, Good boy. This will teach him that he can be with you, have your attention if he is lying down quietly.

Also get into the habit of speaking quietly and rather slowly, in a flat monotone voice when he is acting mad and bouncy. Also when trying to calm him keep all hand movements and body movements slow and deliberate. Stroke him very slowly, this will soothe and calm him!

As he is so stron I would try a Gentle Leader Head collar. It will ensure that you are able to get his attention on you, and also make it easier to control him.

Hi, I have a Bull Terrier pup and she has slept in her crate since the age of 8 weeks.I think it is a brilliant idea for sleeping in.She stays in at night and if I need to go out for an hour,and when she sleeps in the day but apart from that she doesn't go in there and is never put in there as a punishment.If you want any house left I strongly suggest you think about one.
Kim

I have kennels in my garden for my dogs during the day.

but at night i do put the puppies and none house trained dogs in a dog cage(crate). I have never had any problems at all in doing this. My dogs sleep all night and they do not siol inside the crates.

My dogs know the routine and once morning comes they get plenty of exercise and stimulation. I have found it solves lots of chewing, soiling problems.

I have a 5 month old puppy who from being small has been crated with feeding and water bowl attached, now she has been moved to the kitchen where the bigger dogs are, the crate door is left open, and she still go's into the crate to sleep and if she sees her food bowl being filled. It is her own space, the other dogs never go in there, although when we go out in the van they are crated, She is comfortable with the crate or she would not go in by herself,It has helped with her toilet training as she would never mess in her own space,at night she barks or rattles the door to go out, If you say" goodnight go to bed"she puts herself to bed.If I go out for a couple of hours she is crated,only because my other dog's are so large if they were playing while I was out she may be hurt.On longer journey's in the van she is not stressed because her bed-crate go's with her.

Hi All ,

Have read this thread with great interest , we will be getting a GSD pup in 8 weeks , the last dog we had quite a while back , spend the whole evening while we were asleep chewing the kitchen cupboard , door frames to pieces and even stripped paint of the walls (was nuts!)

I am really interested to know if it is really Ok to leave a GSD pup all night in a crate , what about needing to go tot the toilet and would this hinder their development / temperament being in a cage all night or would this be there own personal space like our bedrooms are .

All advice greatly received .
P.S Where would one get a crate from?

I find this thread interesting, I have never done it but when my male was a pup I did think about it, however I also have a bitch and I think being with her he was calmer at nigh than if I did not have her. Reading this post it seems different breeds or maybe individual dogs take to them diferently. I am sure it's the early introductions that count most. For my own part I would be against dogs actualy locked in them at all, but yes with the door open they would sort of be a place of their own and no different to an outdoor kennel.

Hi Serena , a crate can be a Godsend ...giving the puppy a place to call home , where the children cannot get at it , giving you a place to put him/her whilst you clean up or cook etc. You can do a Search here on CD and pull up lots of old threads on the subject ..with lots of useful advice.

Crates can be purchased from most large pet shop outlets or even Argos . Pups will (usually) cry to be let out for a toilet break in the middle of the night rather than do their business IN their bedding ...

Melody :)

hi serena .... if your in the uk Argos do a great create for just under £40 and it has a plastic tray in the bottom too ....it is quite big and my GSD fits quite comfortably in it now and she is fully grown (sorry dont know the exact measurments) it also collapses for travelling (if not using during journey)

i found it an excellent cage to have and i infact have 2 now ...one for puppy and one for GSD ...and they sleep perfectly during the night in it

hope that helps jo x x

I have the Argos crate, but only use it for car journeys now as it is too small to leave my Aussie in for any length of time. Can't see that it is suitable for a full grown GSD :(

Daisy

Well I would have thought the same ...but I have tried a bigger one and she wouldnt use it :) she just tried to use the original all the time and she dont settle in a bigger one at all ...not sure what it is about the argos one but she seems to be having a love affair with it ..lol

jox x x x

Hi Jo,
I was always told that the right sized bed/crate for a dog was one where they could lie flat on their sides and not touch the edge. Anything less is too small.

and i agree to a sertain extent ..... any normal dog ...lol but mine GSD is a nutter lol and she likes to be different ....trust me i have tried a larger crate and she just doesnt like it.
she is happy so my thoughts are whilst she is happy there isnt a problem :)

jox x x x x

Hi Thanks all and thankyou jo ,

Will be getting myself down to argos :)

7 weeks and 3 days to go ;)
serena