Poll: Do you crate your BC?

[hsnrs]

We crate our Aussie Alfie at night next to the bed. She is now 4 yrs old but did this from day one. That way everyone gets a good night's sleep. JMO

[WyoBC]

I voted "At night". Since I brought Black Jack home he has always liked being in his crate so I just go with it. Once in a while he will want to sleep on my bed so I'll leave him out, but by morning he's back in his crate again. I think in my sleep I roll around and try to squish him But it does keep him out of trouble during the night.

[flrpwr52]

I voted rarely because they are only kenneled when I have to leave the house without them. When pups they are kenneled at night also.

[Laura L]

Ditto to Julie & Darci's replies. I've got 8 dogs in the house, the foster dog & one of mine are always crated when I'm gone & when we go to bed. The rest are loose or shut on the front porch depending on the time & situation.

 

It's easier to have them all crate trained so that if you need them to go in, you just open the door, tell them "to bed" and it's done.

 

Laura

[PSmitty]

I voted for "during the day", which is the closest I could choose. Those of you with reliable dogs (especially puppies) have no idea how lucky you are! I do feel there are many good reasons for crate training your dog, even if they rarely get crated. Julie gives a list of good examples, and I also want my dogs to be well behaved in crates in case they end up staying overnight at a vet, need to be boarded in an emergency, or at things like agility/flyball/waiting their turn at a stock lesson.

 

My first dog was never crate trained. She was a hellion and I had a huge hole in my sofa to prove it. She has since been crate trained and is good in a crate when needed, but is never/has never been crated at home. She's reliable and well behaved now. My second dog, BC mix Jack, came crate trained and showed me I will never not have a crate trained dog again. He isn't crated any longer at home, unless he wants to be (he's got fear issues and will go in the crate when he's scared or anxious...it's his safe place), but he was crated regularly when he was younger. My baby dog, BC Alex is still crated when we're at work or away for longer than a hour or so, but he's just about at the point where he might be ready to stay out for extended periods, and eventually won't be crated during the day.

 

They travel crated also, but don't sleep in crates at night.

[Carson Crazies]

I chose during the day - because it was closest. Two dogs are left free to roam during the day while I'm gone. The three border collies are crated during the day for various reasons - one is a puppy, one is a very young dog, and one chews her tail if left loose. At night the only one crated is the youngest puppy, and June only if there is a thunderstorm. They're all crated when we travel (which we do often).

 

I do agree - with more dogs it just makes it easier to avoid chaos.

[kajarrel]

Must husband and I have 6 dogs (7 up until 2 weeks ago ) and, while we do have a couple crates in the house, the dogs are not routinely crated, either when my husband or I are at work or at night. Neither did we "crate train" the 5 older dogs as pups. Instead, I confined them to a (bath)room when we weren't present. I always find it interesting that people cite this as a reason to crate young dogs - mine just went into the crate when they asked them when they were older. If they cried, they were told to stop and did . . . Occasionally (rarely) one or another will go into a crate on their own to sleep. No extensive training was needed. However, the youngest (6 months) just underwent surgery for shoulder OCD and is on crate rest. So, I do find the crate a good tool to have around, but not one that needs to be used extensively under normal circumstances. Hard exercise/play/work is done outside and, when they're inside, they're normally lying down and waiting to go outside.

 

Kim

[JohnLloydJones]

We crate trained Senneca shortly after adopting her. It was a struggle to get her to go in at first -- probably bad experiences from her earlier life. Now she uses it as a den and we close the door only very rarely; mostly for visitors (and their children) who have issues with dogs. We never crate her when we go out; she has the full freedom of the ground floor. Other than that I also crate her before and after agility classes.

[Lewie'sMom]

I voted both at night and while I'm at work.

 

Lewie is still a pup. Even though he's housebroken I crate him when I can't keep a close eye on him. He's never been destructive but has managed to mar a couple corners of my new baseboard and the coffee table leg. Guess it was too easy of a transition from chew toy to whatever was closest.

 

He's crated beautifully from day one and has only objected once or twice. Besides, sometimes Mom needs a time-out.

[FoxgloveBC]

Both of my dogs are crated when I am at work, school, or asleep. My Sheltie is 18 months old, and my BC is only 6 months old. They are still too in the "puppy stages" to really be trusted.

 

First off I have a loft style condo, so everything is open, no doors except to the closet and the two bathrooms. It would be very hard to keep parts of the place off limits to loose dogs. I wouldnt want them getting into the cat litter box, cat food, and such. Whenever I get a house, I will probably start letting Yoshi be free during nights and stuff. I am not too sure with Foxy yet. As of now, she is completely untrustworthy! However, when the house days come, there will probably be a lot less crating =) I cant wait for that. I think I will probably always crate when I am gone at work though, too much time for them to get into trouble. I would like to have both dogs be able to be out at night though..we shall see if they can handle that one day

[Lenajo]

I finally ended up picking the "during work and during sleep" option. It really depends on the dog, how old, what temperament, etc. I'd leave Isabel loose without thought, others would be find in a limited 1 to 2 rooms, but Gabe...that's be like leaving a monkey with a switchblade loose in a balloon factory. Uh..no! Crate it is.

 

I remember housebreaking by confining to the bathroom. or laundryroom Yeah...I remember the scratches on the door, the chewing the windowsills, the pulled up linoleum... heaven forbid they manged to reach higher than you thought, or get a cabinet open.

 

Sometimes the "good old days" weren't. My theory now is if the dog isn't 99% houseproof why not let them do their sleeping in the crate?

[kate40541]

I always crate train puppies and crate them at night time and if I have to leave the house, but once they're house trained and past their chewing stage they graduate out of the crate and then they're never crated. I'll give them short trial periods out of the crate and gradually increase the time they're left unattended in the house. Eventually I don't use the crate at all and my dogs have always been trustworthy in the house for whatever time they're left.

 

 

This is exactly what we do. The crates are no longer out but it's not a problem for a dog to be put in one if it becomes necessary for some reason. I do crate at agility trials and traveling as well as if a dog came to stay that I wasn't familiar enough with them to know if they'd be ok loose. I do work from home and am with them almost all the time so they're fairly well-supervised.

 

We have three dogs and one cat who only respects the oldest dog and she doesn't have problems telling any others what to do and how.

 

Suzanne

[PSmitty]

I remember housebreaking by confining to the bathroom. or laundryroom Yeah...I remember the scratches on the door, the chewing the windowsills, the pulled up linoleum... heaven forbid they manged to reach higher than you thought, or get a cabinet open.

 

Amen, sista!

 

A few months ago, my husband found a wandering little dog, whom I referred to as The Dustmop (uh, not affecionately, either). It took several days for us to locate his owner, so he stayed with us a couple of nights. First night, confined him to my bathroom. After the damage that little sh!t did to my door, we cleared out a crate for him the rest of the time.

[Shetlander]

I remember housebreaking by confining to the bathroom. or laundryroom Yeah...I remember the scratches on the door, the chewing the windowsills, the pulled up linoleum... heaven forbid they manged to reach higher than you thought, or get a cabinet open.

 

LOL. That was my nightmare scenario when I got Quinn and had heard all the horror stories about Border Collies. I had fairly new linoleum in the kitchen after years of a really nasty dark carpet that was there when I moved in. I loved my linoleum (still do) and kept thinking of the tales of dogs tearing up tile or linoleum, as well as chewing woodwork, doors, cabinets, etc. Add to that Quinn jumped like a cat from a very young age and climbed like a goat, the kitchen wouldn't have held him in anyway.

 

Anyway, between Quinn being so awful for the first couple of months that I had to watch him like a hawk every second he was moving and keeping him safely contained with safe toys when I couldn't, he caused the least damage of any of my puppies including my innocent appearing shelties. Though he took much longer to be free at night (he wouldn't stay on the bed) than my other puppies, he was loose during the day while I was gone before the majority of them.

 

I know crates can be misused (most techniques can) and the Brits don't seem to like them, but I swear by crate training.

[hoku's mum]

I chose 'rarely', as we crate trained Hoku as a pup, and he was in it at night and when we were gone (I work mostly at home). But by about 8 months, he was reliable, and the door of his crate is just open now, coz he likes his space. Now at 2.5 years, he still sleeps in there all night long (and some naps in the day if I am near by), and has the run of the house when we are gone, no idea where he spends his time, but he is a good boy. We just have to keep him and Gussy separated with a baby gate while we are gone, or he gets grumpy with her.

[MrSnappy]

My dogs are crated in the car, always.

 

They are never crated in the house except as pups, and rescues are crated as well. Otherwise my dogs hang loose in my house all day.

 

RDM

[Beth G]

We crated ours til about 1 y/o. Then weaned them off.

We are home alot because husband and I are both disabled. So we are never gone long. I think that cuts down on any separation anxiety. Because it was easy to train them out of it. It was moderately bad in the beginning. But we would just leave for increasingly longer amounts of time and they got used to it.

[BustopherJones]

Annie is crated at night, and when we are out of the house; DW is a stay-at-home domestic engineer, so Annie is typically not crated during the day unless DW has errands to run. We tried not crating her a couple of evenings, only to be awakened in the wee hours of the morning by a BC with a ball in her mouth; whereas the crate is in the bedroom with us, Annie feels as if she is sleeping at the foot of the bed, and thus is comfortable in that setting. As for leaving her uncrated when we are not at home, we tried that once, and the consequences were not pretty...

[bcnewe2]

I crate train all the dogs except the oldest one. I didn't know any better at that time. They don't use crates on a reg basis but I want them all comfortable in one if need be. I have small rooms so really don't have room for crates but I've been thinking about making a space for one or 2. I think Mick would be better in a crate in a storm. I tried to get him to go in the closet (only place in the house except son's bathroom without windows) during a storm but he didn't want to. So he just hides his head under my arm or some other thing he can get his head under. Dew the pup goes under our bed and won't come out till it's over. So crates would probably make them feel better.

 

K~

[Gemmy4ever]

I actually NEVER crated my dog. (aussie) She was an outdoor dog, but because of her cuteness we sometimes let her take a peek inside. She sits on the rug inside, next to the door. Most of the time she stays outside, though. We never ever put her in a crate before.