Is this right? Crate question

[Sirrahsim]

I was just reading an article by this dog trainer guy and I'm curious if his views are mainstream or what. Basically he said that with a young puppy it is ok to have them in their crate for a good portion of the day. For example, I would let Ginger out first thing in the morning to pee and then let her play for a while in a confined area (kitchen) while I can watch her. Then I should feed her breakfast, take her out to potty again, then put her back in her crate for a few hours. Every few hours I should let her out to potty and play for a little while (an hour or so) but that she should spend the better part of the day in her crate when she is not outside to go potty or being taken for a walk. Aside from praising her like crazy and giving her treats from time to time when she is quiet I am supposed to pretty much ignore her when she whimpers and she will eventually get used to crate time.

Is this good advice?? I am drawn to it because it seems like it would be ideal for my situation but I don't want to do anything that will harm her development, you know?

Thoughts, ideas, input?

[Freedom]

It doesn't sound right to me. If you wanted a caged animal, you could have picked a hamster. You wanted a dog, so let it be a dog.

The crate should be for overnight sleeping, afternoon nap times, and perhaps to calm down from over excitement (sort of a time out). Once the dog learns that is her private place, there should be no need to close the door except for the time outs.

[Ginger's Mom]

Sounds good to me. The important thing is that you are giving her attention, excersize, stimulation, and letting her potty when she is out. Taking her out of the crate for 1/2-1 hour, then putting her in for two hours, taking her out for 1/2-1 hour, then putting her in for 2-3 hours, etc. on and off all day sounds like a good way of teaching her new things and learning the rules of the house. Keeping her in the crate is better than letting her out without your constant supervision while she is still learning what it is like to live in your house. Freedom without your undivided supervision is worse for her than being safe in her crate. Just think while she is in the livingroom being quiet, you may think she is being a good girl sleeping or chewing on a chewie, when in fact she is chewing on your electrical wires. I would rather see a pup get four hours of supervised play, exploring, cuddling, training sperad out throughout the day, than letting her have run of the house while you are trying to take care of your boys. She is a puppy and is likely to make poor decisions on her own, until you have taught her otherwise. Her free time can, and should, be expanded as she matures and shows you that she has learned/is learning the rules of the house.

[pitc9]

I think it's gret advice for housetraining her.

[k9krazee]

I think it's good advice as well. It's kind of what we did when house training Micki and Mini, except for a large portion of the day they had to be in crates because of school/work schedules. I think that because you're home you can be there to play with her plenty and reduce the amount of crate time as she gets older. Puppies tend to sleep the majority of the day anyways.

[Sirrahsim]

Thanks :) Being able to put her in her crate throughout the day without feeling guilty about it is going to go a long way towards helping me figure out how to juggle my boys and Ginger.

[Flatcoatluver]

Yep this is exactly what I do with Sage. I can let Zoey and T.j roam the house, but Sage gets in way to much trouble if I'm not watching him. My dogs love there crates, and will go in there even without me asking them to.

To add on to what Freedom said, crates should NEVER EVER be a punnishment place. Crates should be a happy place that dogs enjoy to go in.

[Sirrahsim]

I read up on it (briefly) before we bought the crate so we have never used it as a punishment. Ginger doesn't mind being in her crate at all. I tried this method today and it has gone very smoothly. She just slept most of the time and when I let her out she eagerly played for a while (she loves tug of war with Tyler!) and then when I said "Go to your room" she went in and got comfortable. :) We just finished another play time and now she is laying in her crate with the door open licking peanut butter out of her Kong without a care in the world. :)

[sasvermont]

I am not a dog person. I have lots of friends with doggies and they have all trained their doggies with crates. Those same doggies go in to the crates when they want to sleep and keep out from under foot. When kids comes around, the doggies hide in the crates. So, from what I have heard, crates can be a blessing. The secret is to let the doggie learn to love it. The kong thing sounds like you discovered gold! Here's to crates and doggies! :D

[Taz_Zoee]

Sometimes I wish I'd stuck to the crate training. But we have the crate in our bedroom (because there is not a better place in the house for it) and I am a light sleeper. So everytime she'd move I'd wake up thinking she had to go potty or something. It just didn't work for ME. The crate is still in our room, and now acts as a clothes horse for Bruce's things. And Bruce's clothes make a nice bed for Taz. :D LOL

My brothers youngest dog, Lucy, has to sleep in a crate because she has chewed holes in the carpet during the night. And she was a bit older (almost a year I think) when they had to crate train her. She is fine with it. :)

Maybe the next dog we get I'll crate train and just put the crate in another room. I really like crate training and support it 100%.

[Glacier]

Maybe the next dog we get I'll crate train and just put the crate in another room. I really like crate training and support it 100%.

Tee Hee....My bedroom would drive you nuts! There are five crates in there and one more just outside the door. It's tricky to walk in the dark. The spots that aren't filled with crates are filled by the non-crated canines!

I think crates are the greatest invention ever. I love them! I couldn't have kept Anvik if he didn't like being crated. He can't be outside at night(too much noise) and he took a long time to be trustworthy in the house. When he was injured(abdominal hernia), he was on strict crate rest. He came out to pee a few times a dog, stayed on leash and went right back in. He would not have survived that injury without his crate. He races for his crate at bedtime now, even though I think he'd be ok outside of it.

Crates let more of the dogs sleep inside--the ones who counter surf or chase cats. My cats are safe, the dogs are warm. It's all good! I've crated trained a 12 year old dog who'd never been inside before. Pirate doesn't sleep in her crate anymore as she's proven herself trustworthy when unsupervised.

I can't imagine trying to raise a puppy without a crate anymore. Tehya is allowed to sleep outside of her crate now, but she would have driven me nuts without it when she was younger. She still likes her crate and chooses to sleep there quite often. All I have to say when I want her to go in it is "Tehya want a treat?". She knows she gets extra good treats in her crate only.

[kallisto4529]

We have crate trained Reilly, it has worked out really well, Jeff and I both work nights and he is 14mos old now but we still can not trust him out without total supervision, he still gets into everything!!!!!! lol Sometimes I wonder if he will ever be able to be out without us around, or be able to sleep in the bedroom without his crate. I get a little discouraged sometimes but I keep it up, I pray one day he can be loose in the house.

[Rachel]

Sounds like a very good method to me. The only thing is she should probably go out again after a play session as generally that is one thing that necessitates going to the potty for a puppy. Don't neglect interacting with her during some of the play sessions. She needs mental stimulation and some basic training for her level of ability.