Crating your dog – the whys and wherefores

Before I start, I should say that this is not aimed at anyone in particular. It's something I've been mulling over for a while.

Dog crates are becoming increasingly popular and they can have good uses such as making sure your dog is secure in the car. They are, sadly, also becoming all too frequently used as a means of keeping a dog in one (extremely) limited place, sometimes for extended periods of time, for the convenience of the owner rather than for the benefit of the dog. Before reaching for the crate, be it for the first or for the umpteenth time, it’s worth stopping to think about how the crate is perceived by the dog.

If you haven’t already, it might be worth going and sitting (to the extent you can!) in your dog’s crate. Even if you just sit on the floor with your head in the crate, you should get some idea of how it feels, and how would you feel if you were shut in there, with the whole world outside there but not within your reach... Another way to think of it might be as a very small room in the house, one that’s got just a few things in it. How long would you be happy in there? How would you feel if the door was locked? What might make it better for you if you did have to be in there?

And the other thing I’d suggest is that you use the word ‘cage’ instead of ‘crate’. Be realistic about what it is – it is a not in itself a nice thing. For it to be nice, you have to make it so and teach your dog to be happy with it. Otherwise it is only one step removed from a prison cell.

That is how we need to think when we decide to crate our dogs, no matter how long for but especially if you intend to crate them for any length of time. And remember, a dog has no way of knowing what you plan until it actually happens... for all he knows he might be in there forever.

To make life as easy for our dogs as possible, there are some golden rules when it comes to crating.
1. Always take the time to teach your dog that the crate is a nice place. Never just put him in there and let him get on with it.
2. Never, ever use a crate as a punishment.
3. Do not use a crate as an alternative to training and to good general management. That is a lazy cop out that does not address the problem that caused you to crate your dog in the first place.
4. Do not leave your dog crated, with the door closed, for any length of time (more than a few minutes) unless for medical reasons. Leaving a dog crated for hours while you are at work or overnight (or worse both!) is unfair on your dog and may well lead to serious behavioural problems.
5. Always monitor your dog’s attitude towards the crate and do not force him to do what makes him unhappy or scared.

If for any of these you have thought ‘but I have no choice’, then there is a simple exercise you can do. Imagine that crates did not exist, so the solution to your problem cannot include a crate – what would you then do?

The alternatives to crating depend on what you’re trying to address. If you have a puppy who chews, you could puppy proof one room then fill it with things your pup can chew. If you have a dog who drives you mad each night with zoomies while you’re trying to watch Eastenders, give him more exercise and mental stimulation games. If you do need to leave you dog alone while you are at work and for some reason you cannot give him the run of the house, again find a room that you can make a safe and nice place for him, somewhere that is bigger than a mesh box a few feet square. Very often, the one simple thing that will help is more time from you – more thinking time, more interacting time, more exercise time.

There are, of course, benefits to crate training a dog, even if you don’t intend to have one as a permanent feature in your house. As already mentioned, many people use crates as a means of having their dog in the car safely. There may be times when an injury requires that your dog’s movement is restricted. You may go away frequently and a crate will provide a consistent safe sleeping place for your dog.

I don’t at all have a problem with this sort of crate use, or of having a crate in the house with the door open that he can go in and out of as he wishes. I also don’t have a problem with a crate being used on a very temporary basis as part of a training programme. However, I believe that, unless during travel or to restrict movement for medical reasons, the times your dog’s crate door is closed should be very, very limited. Once you get into the habit of ‘just popping him in there for a while’ you are using it too much. After all, would you ‘just’ lock your children in the kitchen for an hour or two each day? Or would you like it if your OH ‘just’ locked you in the loo each time you did something annoying?

I have had in total 9 dogs (excluding those when I was a child), have crate trained 2 but never used them past a specific purpose. Yes, puppies have chewed things when I was out, but that is part of having a puppy. Yes, we’ve had wees and poos, but that is also part of having a puppy or, sometimes, even an adult rescue. We’ve had annoying times, like Nola learning she could stand in the window and bark at rabbits in the middle of the night, but have always found a solution that didn’t involve locking her in a crate. And yes, I am now a trained animal trainer but haven’t always been, and managed to work through things then.

There are some wonderful resources – books, DVDs and online stuff – that will help you understand your dog better and will mean you don’t have to rely on a crate, or book a session with a good, positive method trainer/behviourist. Use the money you would have spent on the crate differently, in a way that will ultimately make more sense for the dog.

One final thought... I have a friend who has a very nervous rescue collie called Zazu. Zaz was at home, locked in her crate, during a house fire. Very luckily a fireman found her and saved her. She had, though, the indescribably traumatic experience of being in a fire, trapped and unable to do anything to try and save herself. She’s never truly got over it.

Fantastic advice Liz. Misty was kept in a cage a lot before we got her, the poor thing. We have always let her have the run of our  house. We did have some toilet accidents when we first got her but we expected that. Now she's good as gold and only goes in the garden.

Maisie hated her crate we tried to make it a happy place is feeding her in it when she lay down in her bed which was in it we gave her treats anytime we closed the door she would cry we tried leaving her until she stopped crying then giving her a treat she would get very stressed out in it. The crate now lyes outside and her bed is on the floor in the living room which she constantly lyes in. When we were putting the crate down she was the happiest it's like she knew it's was going away. I don't have a problem with them at all our Maisie just didn't like them. Yes she's chewed a couple of things and pooped now she's six months and no mess when we head to work and nothing gets chewed as everything is out of reach my partner learnt the hard way when she chewed his play station controller made me chuckle though haha

Awww... little Maisie. To be honest, it sounds like it all happened too much too soon for her.

When I taught Millie, I started with putting her meals just far enough into the crate so she had to have her head in. That way, she could see the inside of the crate and get an idea of it without anything else being asked of her. After a day or two, the bowl went further and further in, until the whole dog was in, and by that time she was going in herself to have her meal.

As she was on foster at the time and on kibble, I started putting some in her bowl but the rest would be scattered round in the crate so she was spending longer in there, and also associated the whole thing with food. Only then did I close the door, and only then for the duration of her meal to start off with.

By that point, I had a dog who was happy to go in a crate, with the door closed, while she was eating. So the next step was for her to be in there, door closed, without that distraction so she could take in where she was and that it was ok. After she'd finished snuffling up all the kibble and stopped to look at me to come out, I waited for literally 5 seconds before giving her a treat while still in the crate, then let her out. The treat (reward) was for being quiet in the crate, not for coming out. Over the next few days, we extended that to 10, 20, 30 seconds... always with the treat for sitting quietly and not for coming out.

Then I rewarded her with a chew, at which point she was happy to lie and eat it.

We stopped there with Millie as it became very clear that she wasn't the fragile wallflower we'd expected and could cope with (instigate!) the roughhousing. But had we needed to use the crate for her safety at any point, we would have been able to continue that build up of time.

Yeh I think your right the breeder had told us that the pups had been in the crate from birth but I don't think she had as she hated it. Shes quite happy having the run of the livngroom while we are out and that's fine with us.

I believe if you get a puppy it really opens your eyes and you should do some reading of all different puppy books i done mine the wrong way round and got mia at three read all the books and came across different problems i couldnt get help with just wish the forum was there when i started out . Wouldnt change it for the world though and glad i had the time and patience to retrain mia again.

I believe if you get a puppy it really opens your eyes and you should do some reading of all different puppy books i done mine the wrong way round and got mia at three read all the books and came across different problems i couldnt get help with just wish the forum was there when i started out . Wouldnt change it for the world though and glad i had the time and patience to retrain mia again.

I've never had a puppy or a staff before im learning everyday

LizP wrote:Awww... little Maisie. To be honest, it sounds like it all happened too much too soon for her.

When I taught Millie, I started with putting her meals just far enough into the crate so she had to have her head in. That way, she could see the inside of the crate and get an idea of it without anything else being asked of her. After a day or two, the bowl went further and further in, until the whole dog was in, and by that time she was going in herself to have her meal.

As she was on foster at the time and on kibble, I started putting some in her bowl but the rest would be scattered round in the crate so she was spending longer in there, and also associated the whole thing with food. Only then did I close the door, and only then for the duration of her meal to start off with.

By that point, I had a dog who was happy to go in a crate, with the door closed, while she was eating. So the next step was for her to be in there, door closed, without that distraction so she could take in where she was and that it was ok. After she'd finished snuffling up all the kibble and stopped to look at me to come out, I waited for literally 5 seconds before giving her a treat while still in the crate, then let her out. The treat (reward) was for being quiet in the crate, not for coming out. Over the next few days, we extended that to 10, 20, 30 seconds... always with the treat for sitting quietly and not for coming out.

Then I rewarded her with a chew, at which point she was happy to lie and eat it.

We stopped there with Millie as it became very clear that she wasn't the fragile wallflower we'd expected and could cope with (instigate!) the roughhousing. But had we needed to use the crate for her safety at any point, we would have been able to continue that build up of time.

Great post Liz and great advice!

We got a crate for Bane for when we took him on holiday. I think he was just over a year old then. We thought that having the crate may make him feel more comfortable in an unfamiliar place and it would be somewhere safe that we could leave him if we had to pop out, but having not been used to one from a puppy wasn't expecting him to take to it.

This (points above) is exactly how we trained Bane to be comfortable with his crate and it worked so well. He is scared of so many things so to start with even just accidentally knocking the crate as we walked past would send him running. We really didn't think he would ever be comfortable in it but he really surprised us!
You just have to take it slow and always always associate it with good things! When we first put it up, we just ignored it and left it in the corner of the room for a day or two so he could get used to it being there and then started work on feeding him in it, praising him anytime he went to have a sniff or investigate. Within a week to 10 days he was going in there by himself!

They can be a great thing but as you said so many people misuse them. We don't use it in every day life but know that it is a helpful tool if really needed.

Marley was crated as a pup and he loved it. I spent alot of time making sure he saw it as a safe haven and not a punishment area. the guy I got him from was fantastic and gave me a blanket from his birthing den. even more so important as it was around fireworks night when I got him. It was his den and I have many happy memories of him laying on his back in it fast asleep.
If I am honest it was me that broke, I let him sleep next to me one night and well... the rest is history. now I have two dogs deciding its to warm and kicking the duvet off the bad to leave me waking up cold lil buggers...but its was all made up when i wake with marley snuggled into my back and head on my neck while laska sleeps on my feet, some mornings its so hard to get up for work with them like that

Nathan wrote:the guy I got him from was fantastic and gave me a blanket from his birthing den. even more so important as it was around fireworks night when I got him.

Now that's a great idea!

Funny, I was lying having a (too early!) morning cuddle with Millie this morning, thinking how I wouldn't miss it for the world, even though it was only 5.45!

Good advice, I found a baby gate more useful than cage when Iza was a pup but the cats like the cage .still use gate the odd time like when I decorate.

The baby gates very handy you get an extra tall one as well