Need Advice on Finnegan *UPDATE POST #21*

[binka_nugget]

I completely agree with bckrazy. If they were an active sports home or a very breed experienced home, it'd be a different story. I don't think it's a matter of whether crating for 8 hours a day is right or wrong for your typical family dog -- It's whether it's right or not for a Border Collie pup. Your typical Border Collie is high drive and NEEDS work. Eight hours of crating would be living hell for a dog that was bred to work all day. I work full time and spend a ton of time working with Keeva because she needs a job. It's already overwhelming as it is without having her crated for 8 hours a day.

Are they set on a pup? An older, lower drive BC might fit her family a little better..

[Husky_mom]

I guess it has to do with the breed too... a BC might need more out time than crate time..

huskies can and are also active dogs... and can and are very very destructive if bored ... so no matter what breed you get it´s also an individual thing... I think you should consider what was suggested, what are they actually doing when he´s out of crating... as he´ll need TONS of exercise and stimulation to "conpensate"..

in this particular case I would recommend to keep looking...

Queeq, a Pom, gets "crated" in a bathroom from 8:30 to 4.... sometimes 5... but then she´s out... then goes back to sleep at 9:30-10p.m. and she doesn´t complains or whines... but she´s a smaller dog... but when out she does a few laps and then just plays normally...

[Catty1]

I have read a bit here on crate training...I think it depends on the size of the crate and the type of training.

If it is a larger dog cage with a doggy bed, food, water, toys - and IF the pup is trained to see it as a happy safe place, it can work very well.

It should NEVER be used for punishment.

If you are talking to this person again, you might ask what kind of crate they are thinking of, and how they crate trained their previous dogs. (If they never have had dogs, and HAVEN'T crate trained any, well, there you go!)

[Animalhouse26]

Personally, I have NO probs with Crating the dogs for 8hrs. That is a Standard work shift.And the fact that she is having someone come to let the dog out in the middle of the day is good.
I personally feel if a dog is getting Enough Excersize Out of the crate.. Then crating them 7-8 hr a day is fine and dandy.
Everyone has to remember Dogs are Den animals, and if trained right.. don't mind sitting in the crate that long.
I Don't work right now, But when I do.. My Foster is in a crate.. the whole time, as I have no one to come in the middle of the day to let him out.. And he is fine.
He sleeps in the crate at night, because otherwise he would destroy my house.. and that is a MIN of 8hrs. And he sleeps the whole time. :-/ And he is a happy Puppy.. No issues at all.
With the Economy the way it is.. finding someone that can afford a dog, that DOESNT Work 8+ hrs .. is going to be hard. But leaving a pup or dog out of the crate .. that isn't trained.. is a bad idea in my eyes. That could end up with the dog in the hospital for eating somthing you didn't think he could. Or you coming home to a destroyed home.

So, that is my 2 cents

[Giselle]

I don't think it's a matter of whether crating for 8 hours a day is right or wrong for your typical family dog -- It's whether it's right or not for a Border Collie pup.

I was going to say the same.

Border Collies are special dogs that need special owners. They are not just high energy. They are not just intelligent and biddable. They don't just need obedience training. BC's are *intense*. I never really understood what that meant until I got Ivy, but, now that I do know what it means, I know that intense dogs need intensely committed owners.

Crating 8 hours a day for a high drive, intense BC pup may be doable if the owner was highly active outside of the crating times. So that, then, becomes your question: Are they as intense as the dog or are they ready to commit to it?

[shepgirl]

I personally never crated my dogs unless it was for housebreaking. BC are especially prone to destructive behaviors if they don't have their exercise needs met, hen the owners wonder why... Dogs are den animals but even den animals roam during the day and go back to the den to sleep at night. I've had friends crate their dogs while they worked all day and it was easy to see the dogs were bored and not that well behaved. I would wait for a more suitable home. Teens have a lot of stuff going on , they might not want to continue coming home to let the pup out.

[Freedom]

Why not go hang out at a local training place, during flyball practice, have him with you, see if anyone would be interested?

Just a thought.

[BC_MoM]

I don't think it's a matter of whether crating for 8 hours a day is right or wrong for your typical family dog -- It's whether it's right or not for a Border Collie pup.

You said it! Finnegan is going to a LOT of work.

Personally, I have NO probs with Crating the dogs for 8hrs. That is a Standard work shift.
Everyone has to remember Dogs are Den animals, and if trained right.. don't mind sitting in the crate that long.

Denning is a lot different than crating. We've just taken the idea and implented it in a new way.

Just because 8 hours of work is normal for us, doesn't mean dogs understand 8 hours of crating and will just shut up and deal with it. Especially a high drive BC pup from herding lines.

Why not go hang out at a local training place, during flyball practice, have him with you, see if anyone would be interested?

Just a thought.

He came to flyball last night, and he did awesome. And he's only 3 1/2 months! No one was really interested.

[binka_nugget]

Just a thought, perhaps try posting on the AgilCan yahoo group? It's the unofficial official () Agility Association of Canada list. Some of Canada's top trainers are on that list.. who knows.

[AllAmericanPUP]

For a high energy BC pup i would say 8 hours in a crate is probably not fair to him at all.

But like others said, most people's dogs are left in a crate for 8 hours a day. The average dog owner generally has a full time job where they can't be at home with the dog.

When I was working my dogs would be in their crates from 6:30 AM til 5:45 PM on a normal 10 hour day and longer if we worked more hours.

It's not the best situation but they deffinately didn't suffer and got plenty of exercise when I was home.

Obviously we'd all love to find great homes for dogs where they aren't left alone alot but if the "worst" thing about a potential home is that the dog will spend 8 hours a day in a crate....then i'd say they are a pretty good home to adopt to, maybe a high energy puppy wouldn't be suitable but I'm sure you could find them an adult that would suit their family