Girls with puppies

how many of you crate them when you are not home

i had to this morning and i have been crying all morning

I crate my dog when we're not home because she can be destructive and I'm too fearful that she'll ingest something dangerous. Although our house is incredibly puppy proof she is too smart for her own good and will figure something out.

On the bright side, I've been doing it since she's a baby so it's just how she knows life to be. I leave treats, water, a bed and a kong with peanut butter in there when I am ready to go and when I say 'who wants peanut butter' she goes flying into her crate. It's her home and she likes it (to an extent of course she's always equally excited to get out).

I got her a HUGE oversized crate - she weighs 25 lbs and it's for a 100+ pound dog - so that she has room to sprawl out and move around. I don't suggest this if your puppy is young and still training but once it's trained you can do this. She loves it so much that when I climb in to clean it (yes climb in, it's that big) she barks at me and nudges me out. It's her home and I'm not allowed in!

Good luck with crating. I know it's hard bc you love your pup but some times it's for their own good. If your puppy would swallow something or get hurt in some way without your supervision then it's totally worth crating!

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Posted by AdriandSteve

I never did. We always put a gate up and left the doggie in the kitchen. That way it'll be easier to clean up an accident but we're not confining them in a small place.

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yeah we are going to buy crates but i am nervous he will chew my caninets

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Posted by kerber981

I crate my dog when we're not home because she can be destructive and I'm too fearful that she'll ingest something dangerous. Although our house is incredibly puppy proof she is too smart for her own good and will figure something out.

On the bright side, I've been doing it since she's a baby so it's just how she knows life to be. I leave treats, water, a bed and a kong with peanut butter in there when I am ready to go and when I say 'who wants peanut butter' she goes flying into her crate. It's her home and she likes it (to an extent of course she's always equally excited to get out).

I got her a HUGE oversized crate - she weighs 25 lbs and it's for a 100+ pound dog - so that she has room to sprawl out and move around. I don't suggest this if your puppy is young and still training but once it's trained you can do this. She loves it so much that when I climb in to clean it (yes climb in, it's that big) she barks at me and nudges me out. It's her home and I'm not allowed in!

Good luck with crating. I know it's hard bc you love your pup but some times it's for their own good. If your puppy would swallow something or get hurt in some way without your supervision then it's totally worth crating!

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i wish i did it when we first got him but he is only 10 months old

his crate is big enough for him and some toys but really no moving around

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Posted by RitasEngaged

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Posted by kerber981

I crate my dog when we're not home because she can be destructive and I'm too fearful that she'll ingest something dangerous. Although our house is incredibly puppy proof she is too smart for her own good and will figure something out.

On the bright side, I've been doing it since she's a baby so it's just how she knows life to be. I leave treats, water, a bed and a kong with peanut butter in there when I am ready to go and when I say 'who wants peanut butter' she goes flying into her crate. It's her home and she likes it (to an extent of course she's always equally excited to get out).

I got her a HUGE oversized crate - she weighs 25 lbs and it's for a 100+ pound dog - so that she has room to sprawl out and move around. I don't suggest this if your puppy is young and still training but once it's trained you can do this. She loves it so much that when I climb in to clean it (yes climb in, it's that big) she barks at me and nudges me out. It's her home and I'm not allowed in!

Good luck with crating. I know it's hard bc you love your pup but some times it's for their own good. If your puppy would swallow something or get hurt in some way without your supervision then it's totally worth crating!

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i wish i did it when we first got him but he is only 10 months old

his crate is big enough for him and some toys but really no moving around

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10 months is still young - you can certainly start now.

And until he is fully trained you don't want him to have too much space. They don't know what to do with it and get scared. They'd rather something small and secure. Upgrade to a larger crate when he's 1-1.5 and more grown/trained.

how old's your pup? how long are you crating him for?

edited cuz i see he's 10 months old. as long as he's not in the crate all day long, i see it as a good thing. thats the only way mine got trained. plus he was chewing the table legs while we were away.

Our first puppy FH and I crate trained because the FIL's would let him out midday for a potty break and to play with him. With the second pup, we didn't have that option because the FIL's were abroad half the year so we limited his space to the kitchen and had wee wee pads for him. I just felt horrible leaving him in a crate all day while we were at work.

Let me tell you, it took FOREVER for him to be house trained that way because he'd miss the wee wee pad and there was nobody to correct him. He is also really mischievious and would get his mouth on anything, even if we were sure we had puppy proofed the kitchen.

Now we are in our new house and he has to be crated (10 months old now) because we have an open layout and there is too much construction still happening and I feel bad too but he is really okay.

I make sure he goes to the bathroom before he's crated and give him toys with treats in them so he has something to gnaw play with. I also take my dogs for an hour walk in the morning or night (I really want to do both!) so they are more inclined to nap during the day.

Once he is more mature I will hopefully be able to leave him out with our other dog during the day.

HTH!

And like I said, I didn't crate him during the day until recently and he is also 10 months. Your puppy will adjust! Make sure it's a great place to be by giving him a treats and praise when he goes in by himself!

we dont crate her... we tried to gate her into one room and then she learned to jump the gate so now she has freedom! She's a year now and shes pretty good!
some times when shes really tired she'll just go in her crate and sleep - its very cute!

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Posted by AdriandSteve

I never did. We always put a gate up and left the doggie in the kitchen. That way it'll be easier to clean up an accident but we're not confining them in a small place.

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that is what we did.... Eva(my girl) has never been crated....

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Posted by cateydee

how old's your pup? how long are you crating him for?

edited cuz i see he's 10 months old. as long as he's not in the crate all day long, i see it as a good thing. thats the only way mine got trained. plus he was chewing the table legs while we were away.

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well he is in it from the time we leave work til we get home

Unfortunately we have to crate her. Like pp said, she's destructive and I'm afraid she'll wind up hurting herself or my other dog who is older and no longer needs the crate. But we are slowly weening her off of it. When we know we'll be back in an hour we leave her out and we're starting to leave her out for longer, like if we got to dinner or to a wedding appointment or something. There's a marked improvement!

ETA: We tried putting up gates, but she jumped them and we're afraid she'll get hurt escaping. We tried leaving her in the basement and she turned the gas on with her paw. There is no confusion as to why we've named her Lucy-fur.

Oh Rita its hard to leave them in the crate, I know. I have raised 4 puppies in my time and EVERY one was crate trained. It takes some time but after a while they would go into their crate on their own because it becomes like their bedroom. They don't mind and it can be better for their safety if they are in the crate, especially at 10 months when they still put anything in their mouth. This way you have the peace of mind knowing she isn't getting into dangerous stuff while you're gone or being destructive!

FILS have a 13 month old puppy who they use a crate for and at first she would cry - now she goes in even when everyone is home!!!