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Is it okay to crate your collie while you are at work for 8 hours a day?


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I rescued a border collie/french bulldog recently that was hit by a car. She appears to be around 9 to 10 months old. We have a backyard and a chihuahua that she plays with and we do take her on walks, play with her in the back yard, and have tons of chew toys for her. When we leave, she starts chewing on shoes, the sofa (destroyed), our new wall, and well anything. It doesn't matter if we are gone a half our or leave for work. When we are home, she doesn't chew on her toys or her chew bones and seems perfectly content. We spend a lot of time with her and play with her a lot in the backyard. Today we put her outside in the fenced in yard with rawhide because we had to leave for work and I don't want her to destroy anything else. I don't know what else to do. Please help. We are desperate. I don't want her to dig a whole, escape and get hit by a car, and I want her to be happy. I read that you shouldn't crate for more than three hours, yet I keep reading that people crate their dogs while they are at work. I'm confused. Please help.

 

Thanks!

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Personally? I say no. I know a lot of people who crate their dogs while they're at work, but I think it's unfair, especially if the dog also sleeps in a crate at night. If you can come home during your lunch break and give the dog a lot of one-on-one attention and exercise, it might be an option, but if you can't do that I'd recommend doggie daycare. Border collies are way too smart and active to be happy if they're crated that much.

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Our dogs are either crated or kennel when we are not home or available to supervise them, especially pups. If the dog is being left in the house without the ability to empty out and does fine aside from being destructive the dog should be fine in a crate. Depending on it's destructiveness you may not be able to have anything other then chew toys in the crate, ours will shred and eat towels and blankets so they get no bedding material for their own safety.

A good alternative is a good capped 6 x 12 kennel run outside with a dog house on concrete or patio blocks to prevent digging with shade. They can get exercise, empty out, lounge in the sun, go into their dog house if it rains, etc. without risking injury or causing destruction. That way if your work day runs long you don't have to worry about her soiling in her crate and having to lay in it, yuck

.

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The way that I look at it is, if your dog is wrecking your property and has the potential to harm itself by ingesting inappropriate "items" (like couch fabric, shoe laces, etc) I would crate the dog in a sufficient size crate with appropriate toys when unable to supervise or when you are not home. If you crate your dog while at work daily, you will need to make sure that she is receiving appropriate exercise and mental stimulation outside of the time crated.

 

I crate one of my dogs daily while I am at work - 9 to 10 hours a day. She is in an extra large crate with water, a nylabone, and a kong. She is not crated at night. We walk daily, play outside, and train (stockwork) on a regular basis.

 

(As an aside, on days that I am home with my dogs during the day, they are sleeping most of the time. So, I suspect that is what they do while I am gone at work. :) )

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If my choices were to either crate the dog or leave her in the fenced back yard, I would crate the dog. The dog's safety trumps any wish to avoid confinement, between the two scenarios, at least for me. I have also used the alternative that Debbie suggests--the roofed kennel/raised dog house combo.

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My border collies were crated 10 hours a day while I was at work up until they were about 3 years old. They did just fine. In fact, they often would go hang out in their crates after we were done playing and exercising. I did not crate them at night after they were reliably potty trained.

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I crate dogs when I leave the house until I am confident they won't chew, soil, etc. I am gone for 8-10 hours a day so I have someone come by at noon to let them out, grab a drink and have a snack. This has worked well. My dogs get plenty of attention and activity when I am home and I make sure they have a crate they can stretch out in. They all still love their crates and have turned into lovely, trustworthy dogs who can be left loose in the house. Ok, the Lhasa was a bit problematic with marking, but even he eventually earned the right to be loose. :)

 

I am no longer comfortable with my dogs being outside when I am away. I'm finding that the older I become, the less I trust people not to cause them harm or put them at risk. The day I came home to discover someone had been shooting paintballs at my dog (they missed!) was the day I became overprotective that way. I also don't want my dogs to bother neighbors with nuisance barking, which is probably why my Sheltie became a target for the paint gun jerk in the first place.

 

Anyway, I am very comfortable using a crate to safely contain my dog for as long as I need to. In fact, I can't imagine raising a puppy or young dog without a crate anymore. It gives me real peace of mind to know they are safe and so is my house.

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WildFlower, on 13 Aug 2013 - 14:58, said:

The way that I look at it is, if your dog is wrecking your property and has the potential to harm itself by ingesting inappropriate "items" (like couch fabric, shoe laces, etc) I would crate the dog in a sufficient size crate with appropriate toys when unable to supervise or when you are not home. If you crate your dog while at work daily, you will need to make sure that she is receiving appropriate exercise and mental stimulation outside of the time crated.

 

I crate one of my dogs daily while I am at work - 9 to 10 hours a day. She is in an extra large crate with water, a nylabone, and a kong. She is not crated at night. We walk daily, play outside, and train (stockwork) on a regular basis.

 

(As an aside, on days that I am home with my dogs during the day, they are sleeping most of the time. So, I suspect that is what they do while I am gone at work. :) )

Ditto. Spot on!

 

My dogs aren't crated now, but when they were younger (in other words, unreliable in the house), they were all crated while we were at work. I would feel much better about that, than leaving a dog in the backyard. There is just too much that can happen to them. As long as she can "hold it" all day, she is much safer in a crate with water and chew toys, than left to ingest something she shouldn't, or get out of the backyard somehow. Crate trained dogs learn to love their crates, feel safe in them, and you'll notice she may even get in on her own...it can be their comfort zone. My dogs all ran willingly into the crate for a cookie when we left in the mornings.

 

Don't feel guilty about it, either. Dogs are turned into shelters ALL THE TIME for doing stuff like your picture shows. (little devil :lol: ). I would much rather people stop feeling "it's so unfair" to crate them, when the alternative is to not keep the dog. Not that you'd do that, but many, many do. She should be fine.

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Thank you so much for the wonderful advice. I want to be as humane and good to Bessie as possible so she has the happiest life so this has been a struggle. The concept of locking an animal up seems to go against these things but I have been told they are den animals. I hadn't really thought about all the potential harm she could do by chewing away at everything, and outside she may run away so crating may be the best option. It's about to get realy hot here in Los Angeles and I can't keep her outside all the time with the heat. I've never used a crate or a kennel. It's my understanding that you slowly get them used to a crate so they learn to love it. I appreciate everyone's experienced advice and opinions. I feel much more comfortable with the idea of crating. It sounds like Bessie is still a puppy and as long as we take her to training, spend a lot of time with her on physical and mental activities, that the chewing will get better around 3 years old. If there are more comments, stories, and suggestions, please keep them coming.

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everyone has their own methods of crate training, we just put them in and let them deal with it, if they make a production we don't acknowledge them, sometimes putting the crate in a different room then you are in helps, I'll close the door and let them vent.

 

We also make certain to not let them out until they are quiet. We always feed them in the crate, makes evening crating up way easier, I can just toss a little kibble into the back of the crate and the race is on, doesn't take long before they are diving into crates the moment they hear the dog food bucket lid rattle.

 

So far that method has always worked for us, both with pups and adults, but I've heard where it didn't work for others so you may have to adopt someone else's method or mix of methods that best suits your dog.

 

If she had been hit by a car and injured there is a chance that she is already used to be crated/confined and there will be no issues. I would suggest a good solid plastic airline crate over the wire fold down crates only because we have had dogs that could disassemble the wire crates as fast as you could latch the door and I have seen photos were dogs were able to get a hold of furniture and carpet from inside those wire crates and continue their habit of destruction.

 

 

I know that folks mentioned it above but please be certain she is not swallowing what she is chewing up, if she is be certain to not give her anything in the crate that she can shred and eat, a trip to the vet clinic for impaction surgery is not fun and expensive too.

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Oh, sorry to be a wet blanket, but I have a 5 year old that I wouldn't ever leave in the house uncrated, even just loose while we are home she will sneak off to the bedroom and shred sheets, blankets and pillows. In her defense we didn't get her until just over a year ago and she was kennel kept by her previous owner so had no house manners what so ever, but on the flip side we have purchased other dogs that only knew kennel life and they never shredded stuff.

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It is best if you must crate especially for long periods of time, to seriously educate yourself to the various methods and adjust according to your dog. If you could get someone to let her out during the day that would be good.

 

One thing I would like to seriously advise against is leaving any dog unsupervised with particularly rawhide!!! I NEVER give my dogs raw hide period AT ALL,!! too many horror stories and most trainers these days, including myself always advise clients of this danger. Many a dog has had to undergo surgery for blocked intestines, or choked on bitten off pieces ( which even if you are there when or if choking begins , to get a piece of slimy, slippery rawhide out of a panicky dogs throat!!! :(

 

I prefer the hard shin bones or bully bones or kongs, ( still prefer supervision even with them), but all in all they are much safer.

 

On the crate training...as someone else mentioned it is important NOT to let them out until they quiet/settle down (even if they settle for a moment). I always tell my pups, shhhhhh, settle....they will usually comply, sit and then they can come out! Whenever you put dog in or take her out NEVER be excited or emotional...ALWAYS be calm and soft spoken. Also, cardinal rule...NEVER use the crate for discipline, or when you are angry with dog. Or at least don't let them know you are angry..LOL, which can be difficult with BC's, they usually see right through us human types!

I wish you the best of luck with your pup!

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Crating is not unfair to the dog if you don't use it as an alternative to actually interacting with said dog. Any dog that is destructive as Bessie (and yes, she's still a puppy and probably can earn her freedom as she matures--though not all do!) should be contained for her own safety, not to mention the safety of your personal belongings. If you are uncomfortable with a crate, there are other options, such as an X-pen or blocking her into a room, like the bathroom, with nothing she can destroy, though if she's chewing walls and the like, baby gating into a bathroom probably isn't a good idea.

 

If you choose an X-pen, make sure it's sturdy enough to contain her if she climbs on it or pushes it around (I've had puppies do that).

 

Honestly, consider what will happen if your pup eats something the requires surgical removal. Aside from the risks to her of surgery and the cost to you, for the time she's recuperating she would need to be crated anyway.

 

I also find crates handy for travel.

 

Until recently when I got a full time job I worked from home. Here is how my dogs spend their days while I'm working at the computer:

 

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J.

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Julie I LOVE the picture! Such peaceful babies!

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