'Crate' training puppies?

JohnnyG · 2 Nov 2012 at 20:41

We've got a lab pup arriving in a few weeks & I've read lots of blurb about how good crates are for puppies & their training but we're a bit reluctant to try one as they just look a bit cagey & cruel, for want of a better word.
We've had dogs before and not used them as they weren't popular then & I've seen a few pics in here of people using them so are they good, do they make training easier for you & the pup?

mistercrabb · 2 Nov 2012 at 22:03

Our Cocker Spaniel wouldn't stay in the crate without crying (constantly, throughout the night). We gave up because he wasn't getting used to it.
So it might not be for every dog? I can't see it doing any harm though.

The_blue · 2 Nov 2012 at 22:10

just look a bit cagey

Maybe because it is and crate is a marketing term??

KaHn · 2 Nov 2012 at 22:10

It helps with the toilet training, basically dogs won't crap where they sleep.

They aren't cruel but i wouldn't use one. Cornering off a section of your kitchen does the same.

KaHn

Pandion · 2 Nov 2012 at 22:25

I can't comment on the training side but when we brought home our german shephard we placed a bed in a cage, one of the first things she did was to jump in and snuggled up straight away, in a way they are a good thing for a young dog if they think of it as a little area they won't be disturbed by anybody depending on your self control.

it also helped contain those little accidents that could happen during the night our GS had quite a few (we only found out just before her first birthday that her kydneys hadn't developed properly and only had a short time to live she passed away 2 months after she turned one

)

btw we only closed the cage door at night the rest of the time it stayed open so she could go in or out as she pleased and we never forced her into the cage, the times we needed her in it and she had other ideas a freindly bribe was all that was needed.

FoxEye · 2 Nov 2012 at 22:30

Pandion said:
we only found out just before her first birthday that her kydneys hadn't developed properly and only had a short time to live she passed away 2 months after she turned one

Sad now.

FerretBoy · 2 Nov 2012 at 22:35

A must have. Honestly dogs are not human, they are comforted by being in a small space, like a den. Do not use for punishment, do not leave it locked in it for extended periods, except during the night.

kae2 · 2 Nov 2012 at 22:38

My westie was never crated and was absolutely fine.

My partners dogs (lab and lurcher) are both crated and it isn't cruel at all. It's their area, and they will often ask to go to bed at the end of the day (tired now, wanna sleep lol). It's somewhere safe for them to go when cooking and when the front door is open (open plan modern house so not as easy to close them in a room).
They're only crated at night, but it doesn't bother them and if anything is too stressful for them, they know they have somewhere to retreat to (friends family with screaming kids as an example).

Pandion · 2 Nov 2012 at 22:43

FoxEye said:
Sad now.

made me want to post a picture now

hope it's not to big

JohnnyG · 3 Nov 2012 at 09:39

Cheers, we were planning on putting a bed in the kitchen and sectioning it off anyway so we'll probably just stick with that

Pandion said:
made me want to post a picture now

http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag7/pandion5/094March2011.jpg[IMG]
[/QUOTE]

Beautiful dog :(

J-FRO · 3 Nov 2012 at 10:10

My two dogs both sleep in those dog travel crates/boxes things. They have one each, because one of them is huge the other just a tiny Jack Russell. But they're not locked in them at night but they are confined to the kitchen and utility room so they don't go sleeping on the sofa etc. But they love their boxes because they are, as somebody else has said, like little dens with blankets in there.

Shane5578 · 3 Nov 2012 at 10:20

Crating is useful .to keep dogs safe. And your house not be destroyed.

eggyoke · 3 Nov 2012 at 11:35

Key with crating is not to let them associate crying with you giving them attention and getting them out. It is hard when you first get the pup, but once toilet trained it will come to enjoy its crate. Kinda like its own little den that it can come and go from freely.

Craterloads · 3 Nov 2012 at 11:42

So many dog threads

Caseh · 3 Nov 2012 at 11:58

We got a border collie pup last week, and he's already learned that he sleeps in his crate. I don't like locking it, but we've got cats as well that he chases, so he needs to be for his own safety until he learns to stop chasing them! He doesn't mind being in at night though, as he knows that's just time for him to go to sleep.

Adnams Drinker · 3 Nov 2012 at 12:24

Both our boys were crated when they were puppies, but they were only shut in it overnight and then that was more to prevent destruction and 'toilet accidents'. The door was left open the rest of the day and it was their choice if they went in there for a snooze or not.

Our vet told us that a puppy's bladder doesn't really reach full size until it's the best part of a year old, so you have to expect a fair share of accidents in the house - all you can really do when they're very young is to do everything you can to encourage them to have a pee outside last thing before they go to bed. Eventually they learn to hold a wee overnight, at which point we stopped using the crate.

Even now, at four years old, if ours are particularly desperate they'll whine and because the proverbial mouse's fart wakes me up, I'll let them out in the back garden.

The odd thing is that at home they sleep downstairs in the hall and in the course of an average week they'll get me up maybe 2-3 days out of 7, but when we go to our static caravan on the Norfolk coast, they sleep on our bedroom floor and not once this year have they got me up overnight. I guess it must be a security thing, in that they know they're close to the pack leaders (me and the missus) ...

Ironic Namesake · 3 Nov 2012 at 12:58

Slightly off topic but not really worth starting a new thread for - any of you have issues with your dog going to the toilet in the house when left alone, as a way of revenger for leaving him/her alone?

Crowort · 3 Nov 2012 at 14:04

I think it is more fear than revenge normally.

semi-pro waster · 3 Nov 2012 at 15:46

Assuming you can shut off the kitchen and you've got a solid/easy clean floor in there then I'd probably just cover it with newspaper initially and then over time you'll probably find that the puppy tends to stick to one area so you can reduce the amount of newspaper down to being just that area. If the puppy generally manages to stick to that then keep moving it closer towards the door until it gets the hang of going outside - as a puppy it's unlikely it'll make it through the night without any accidents but it should get better over time and obviously keep praising it when it does manage to to outside as you want it to.

That was how my whippet was trained and that seemed to work fine, the main issue at the time was getting hold of enough newspaper but living in London it's not as if you'll ever suffer from a shortage of that.

Some dogs seem happy enough with crates but provided they've got a bed that they can return to and feel secure in that will do much the same job. I'd never really thought about it too much but my parents' dog(s) have always had their bed under a table in the kitchen so it's probably not all that dissimilar in some ways.

Appelhanns · 3 Nov 2012 at 17:01

The tips that we used were to put a throw or something over the crate to make it more den like and cosy, and then at the very start, we put a small clock under cushioning as the ticking is supposed to be like their mothers heartbeat which is obviously comforting and helps them sleep.