Do you have your dog crate trained & leave them in it during the day?
Monday, February 8th, 2010 at
2:12 pm
I know alot of people crate train their dogs, but I don’t really know anyone who leaves their dog in a crate all day. I work from home and would like to possibly train a new dog to stay in a crate when I leave for a couple hours. I just didn’t know how big of a cage to get and how well this works??
Filed under: Dog Training
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I have crate trained. I am actually in the process right now. The crate is only used when you are training, but it is taken up once they are trained. It works EXTREMELY well. Get a cage just big enough for you dog to stand up, turn around, and lay down. Don’t leave a dog in there more than 7-8 hours without a chance to get out, stretch their legs, and "go."
Just in case you need these!
Below are Crate Training/House Training Tips.
When you are leaving the house, or going to bed for the night, do the following. Never actually shove the dog in the crate, either throw treats in there, or sqeek a toy and put it in there. The dog will eventually learn that they have to go in, if you place them in front of the crate, and say the word.. Place the dog in the crate, along with some safe toys. Close the door, give a treat, and say your crate command.(Such as, night night, crate, or bed). Leave.
**I DO NOT SUGGEST CRATING PUPPIES THAT ARE YOUNGER THAN 12 WEEKS**
Repeat slowly extending the time, and make sure you leave time between kennel times, to spend with your puppy. Never expect your puppy to stay in his kennel longer than the age he is in months plus one. (example, if your puppy is 5 months old, only leave it in there for 6 hours. No dog/puppy should stay in it’s kennel longer than 7-8 hours.
Rules:
1.Try to teach them that their crate is a good place. Reward them when you place them in the crate. This is teaching them, that a treat comes with good crate behavior. Always keep your dog in the crate, unless you can keep a good eye on him.
2. Another option, if you do not want to place your dog in the kennel all of the time, hook his leash to your belt loop, this way he can not go off and use the restroom somewhere, and you don’t know about it.
3.Always take him outside after;(ON A LEASH); rough play, after he eats or drinks, after being let out of his crate, after he wakes up after a night or if he is,
sniffing,staring at you,whining, or sitting at the door.
4.Don’t ever hit your dog, or rub his nose in his mess. This will just teach the dog to be afraid of you.
5.Don’t feed him or give him to much water, before you plan to put him in his cage.
6.Don’t expect your dog to hold it’s restroom, more than the age of the dog in months, plus one. But no dog should have to hold it’s bladder more than a 7-8 hours.
7.Be patient!! That is the key, to housetraining. Of course if you get too overwelmed, you can always buy a book, or ask a professional trainer!
8.Always, when he goes to the bathroom ouside, give lots of praise and treats!!
9. If you expect your puppy to go outside, and dont use puppy pads when he gets older, starting out with puppy pads, is not a good idea, because this trains them that it’s ok to go inside, and then before they know it, they cant, it is to confusing for them.
10. Work out a schedule that fits your lifestyle. Feed your dog the same time every day.
11.When you go outside, stay outside until he uses the restroom.
12. Dogs while first potty training, need to go outside every 2-3 hours.
13.Do not make the dog smell his mess, strike him or lock him ouside. This will just confuse the pup, and it might be afraid of you.
14. Ignore whining, unless you KNOW that he/she has to go to the bathroom.
Good Luck!
dont enclose your dog its a horrlible thing to do maybe shut your dog in a room like i do with water and they are happy:)
thanks
yes
All of my dogs have been crate trained as puppies. They remained in the crates whenever I could not directly supervise their activities indoors. Once they were reliably housebroken, they no longer were required to stay in crates and now all have free reign of the house. The only time we need to use crates is for safe transportation in vehicles and while attending competitions.
yes to crate train your dog you will need one that is just big enough to stand up and turn around in that way he will not potty in his area that he knows he has to lay in.
My Mom has her two pointers crate trained.
They LOVE their crates.
They are in there about 4 hours while no one is home Monday through Friday. They do just fine.
I crate my dogs during the day. I don’t leave them in there all day though, I have a Pet Sitter come in mid-day to take them for a walk, play with them and give them love. They’re never in the crate for more than 4 hours at a time.
The crate should only be big enough for the dog to stand, turn around and lay down comfortably. If you’ve got a puppy, then your best bet is a wire crate - Buy the crate to fit the dog when it will be full-grown, then use the divider that comes with it to change the size of the crate as the puppy grows.
once a dog passes the puppy chewing stage,please don’t leave them in a cage- it kind of defeats the purpose of protecting your house/ my pastor was robbed last week,i asked where was your dog? he said in the crate-many times a robber is frightened off just by the sound of a large dog at the door.
crate training was the only thing that worked for house training my dog and he really likes to be in there now.
besides house breaking, its safer to leave them in a crate when you are gone so they don’t hurt themselves.
The crate should be just big enough for him to lie down comfortably, and just enough room to turn around, but not much more room than that, or they will try to use a corner of it for the bathroom.
good luck
Works fine. Yes, my guy is crated while I work. I know he is safe. Get a crate big enough for your dog to stand and turn around in. A word of caution, never leave a collar on a dog in a crate. Never. Do not ever use his crate for punishment, it is their refuge. Good luck.
Also, give him plenty of exercise before and after work.
I know people that crate their dogs during the day. They go home at lunch to let them out for a bit. I have never crate trained. I have a baby gate so our puppy can be out. I am home every day though, so she pretty much has free range. We put the gate up when we go out.
Crates are excellent for a couple-hour absence. It should be large enough to liberally enclose a standing dog. A site I’m familiar with, drsfostersmith.com has them for you to examine for pricing and accessories (I sound like an ad for them, but it’s merely a site I’m familiar with for illustrative purposes only). Dogs like a "den" where they can go to get away from it all.
I have nothing against ethical crate training and use. It becomes unethical when it is used to punish a dog or to confine it for long periods of time. (While a properly introduced and utilized crate can feel quite naturally like a den to a dog, no wild dog’s den has a locking door on it, and this is where problems with inappropriate use can occur.)
Myself, as a long time dog trainer, I have not used crates, per se. But I have used the essence of crate training (spatial restriction) for housetraining problem dogs. However, I’ve never had to use spatial restriction for housetraining (or in some cases, while correcting the behaviour of problem chewers) for longer than a few weeks. Then it’s always free run of the house. I simply will never understand keeping one’s dog restricted to a cage, a room in the house, etc.
I know many t.v. dog trainers are disgusted by the use of baby gates, long periods of caging, etc. While I’m not "disgusted" by it, I will never understand it. As a dog trainer, I choose training the dog to behave properly over having to "manage" it for the rest of its life. As such, all my own dogs have complete freedom in my home. And all the dogs I’ve worked with eventually have total access to every room…because they’re trained, rather than managed.
I’m always curious why people feel they "need" to cage an adult dog (meaning, lock the cage door). Is the dog not housetrained? Has it not been taught what is and isn’t appropriate to chew? What? Just curious.
I have a crate and he sleeps in there most of the night. When I go out, he is gated in the kitchen with the crate door open and with fresh water, the tv on to the weather channel and a light on. I don’t leave him for long periods, a few hours maybe but this works for us. When he was a puppy and not trained, he was in the crate til he was potty trained, about 4-5 months old. Just keep the crate always around and let him sleep in it at nite so he gets used to it and it’ll have his smell.
Mine is in his crate napping with the door wide open right now. He’s passing time until LUNCH!
Crate training is the most humane way to train and protect your dogs. Dogs naturally like small spaces (if they are scared they will hide under a table or in a corner). The crate should be just big enough for them to stand up and turn around. If you get it too big; they will use the bathroom on one side and sleep on the other.
I trained both of my dogs in crates. They would be left alone up to 5 hours (as adults…puppies must be let out more often). Now they are 9 and 8 and are reliable enough to be left out. I still use the crates for traveling.
You can buy books on crate training. Good Luck!
My boy was in a crate while he was young whenever I was gone. Fortunately while he was young, I only had a part-time job. Now that he’s outgrown his crate I’ve weaned him off of it.
A good tip for size I like to give is to get the metal crates. They fold and can be easily put out of sight when needed. Many of them also come with dividers so you can make the crate smaller or larger as needed. When I got mine I estimated at how big he would get as an adult and while he was a small puppy I blocked part of the crate off so it was just big enough for him to stand up and turn around in.
When I was home, he was out of his crate. There have only been a few times where he has had to stay in it most of the day. Even then he did fine. Now I live close to work so I can easily go home during my lunch hour, feed & check up on him.
I credit his crate to teaching him good house manners. He’s just shy of a year old and doesn’t chew or destroy out of separation anxiety. So when done right crate training works extremely well!
Yes, My two dogs stay in crate for almost 8 hours 5 days a week. Because me and my siblings are at school and my parents are at work.
I have never caged a dog in my life and I have had dogs for over 40 years. We do restrict our young dogs to secluded area while they are being trained. We set mats at the door for them to do their business on. Using this method we usually have a dog trained in a few weeks. After that they are allowed to roam the house at will with the exception of our eating and sleeping areas. We don’t ban them from these areas we just make it clear that we don’t wish them to be there. It is basically a mutual understanding.
I have been bed ridden for two days. I tried to get the dog into the bedroom so that he would not feel abandoned during the day. He would not enter the room.
So; without using cages we have dogs that don’t deficate in the house and are fully aware of their boundaries. What was so hard about that?