"Crate is great"
Aug. 26th, 2012 04:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
koalathebearWe always say that to our doggies because we really believe it's true. All the dogs who have come through our house have been crate trained. See these photos here.
Crates are not cruel if used properly. Most dogs love them.
It's a place to sleep, it's a place to hide from the world, it's a place to chill. It's a way to make sure the dog doesn't wander your house restlessly at night. For puppies it's a great toilet training tool. For older dogs, it's great if you need the dog to sleep in a strange place overnight - like at a friend/relative's or while you're on holiday. There have been holiday places we have rented where they would not have let us stay there if our dogs were not crate trained, like here:
If you have multiple dogs, it's a good way to have a time-out if they get too hyper. It's a good way to transport a dog. It gets them used to the crates/cages at the vet. The crate is a good place for a dog to hide away if overwhelming visitors come to the house, if you need to keep the dog contained while you need to do something else.
Our foster Nutmeg was quite shy and reserved and she LOVED her crate so much.
None of our dogs or foster dogs came to us crate trained so we had to train them from scratch. There is a lot of information out there on the Internet about crate training, but we like to keep it really simple.
1. We try never to force a dog inside the crate when it doesn't want to go in there. Some dogs don't mind but some are sensitive and if they see the crate as a place of punishment - they will never like it.
2. We start crate training when the dog arrives with us i.e. not just at bed time because at bed time is generally not enough time to settle them in.
3. We put the crate in a room with lots of traffic - like the study - or as near as possible depending on quarantine. We leave the crate open during the day and scatter toys and treats in there. When the dog goes in, we reward.
4. Now and then when the dog goes in, we close the door and praise/reward the dog - then open the door again.
5. We lure the dog in and reward when he's quiet. Increasing the time he is able to stay quiet in the crate. We do it when it's daylight and he can still see people and other dogs around him so he doesn't freak out.
6. In the evening, we lure him in and close the door. We will pat the crate cushion and encourage the dog in. Once the dog knows the command, we give it a word: 'crate' and the dog goes to the crate on cue.
We use the crate for overnight sleeping and short periods of crating. We would never crate a dog all day but might crate a new dog for a couple of hours if we have to go out and the dog has not yet earned free range rights.
This was our foster dog Ollie during crate training.
Then we taught him to go to his mat or crate on cue
This was Nova, the foster dog as you can hear, he absolutely HATED his crate on day a. I thought he'd injure himself
Day 3 and he's so much better
Day 4 and he is almost perfect. See here.
For very young puppies and also dogs that really, really hate the crate at night, this is what I do - it's what we did with our foster dog Dodge:
With all of our dogs, we then start moving them further and further away from the bed, out the door and eventually in to another room. In order to allow our foster dogs to settle in when they move, we always lend a crate to the adoptive family - so far:
1. The dogs have all settled in perfectly with no crying
2. All families have gone out and bought their own crates and returned the borrowed crate to us
For hyper fosters, we use the crate to help the learn to chill out. In the evenings, when we are at our computers, they are crated near our desks. As they learn to quieten, we open the crate door and they can wander as long as they are not too restless. Most settle within a few days.
What type of Crate? Wire, soft, travel?
For housetraining/transport the travel crates are fine.
For sleeping/housetraining/relaxing, the collapsible crates are good - they're not so portable.
For dogs that are already fully crate trained, the soft crates are great because you can take them with you to picnics, agility, obedience, to other people's houses (so you can stash your dog there if they don't let dogs inside but are willing to let you have a bit of kitchen/family room space to park doggy).
For a foster that might have anxiety, the collapsible wire crates are probably best - just remember that they're not very portable i.e. unless it's a puppy crate, it doesn't fit in the backseat of a normal car very well. I'd never use a soft crate for a dog who wasn't crate trained or you might end up with this:
If the dog is calm and chilled, then you might consider starting with a soft crate, but take it slowly - put the dog's bed or mat in there and don't try and close it until you're sure the dog won't freak out.
We lend all foster dog applicants a crate for the two week trial period as it helps the dog to settle in better.
*
Jerry in a wire crate:
Jerry and Dodge chilling out while we are playing board games at a friend's house
What sized crate?
Once a dog is crate-trained, we like to use a nice, large and comfy crate for the dog.
While you are using a crate for toilet-training though e.g. for puppies or untrained dogs, the crate should only be big enough for the dog to stand up in and and turn around. You don't want it to be large enough for it to be able to toilet in one corner. Dogs generally do not like soiling where they sleep but if the crate is large enough, they'll toilet in one part and sleep in another - which is NOT what you want.
The crate along does not help with toilet-training. You need to:
1. toilet the dog very regularly - immediately after the dog wakes up and immediately after it drinks water and about 10-15 minutes after it eats
2. toilet the dog first thing in the morning and last thing at night
3. puppies need to be toileted much more regularly. Young pups, every 2-3 hours.
Don't leave a dog in a crate for too long.
Where to buy a crate?
Don't buy from a pet store - they are expensive. Buy your crates online. We buy our crates from:
vebo: http://www.vebopet.com.au/collapsible-metal-wire-dog-crate-5-sizes.html
k9pro: http://k9pro.com.au/shop/dog-crates/wire-crates/
ebay
vet 'n pet direct:
https://www.vetnpetdirect.com.au/
deals direct: https://www.dealsdirect.com.au/shop/home-pets-dog-supplies/SG9tZT4_PlBldHM_Pj5Eb2cgU3VwcGxpZXM=
Crates are not cruel if used properly. Most dogs love them.
It's a place to sleep, it's a place to hide from the world, it's a place to chill. It's a way to make sure the dog doesn't wander your house restlessly at night. For puppies it's a great toilet training tool. For older dogs, it's great if you need the dog to sleep in a strange place overnight - like at a friend/relative's or while you're on holiday. There have been holiday places we have rented where they would not have let us stay there if our dogs were not crate trained, like here:
If you have multiple dogs, it's a good way to have a time-out if they get too hyper. It's a good way to transport a dog. It gets them used to the crates/cages at the vet. The crate is a good place for a dog to hide away if overwhelming visitors come to the house, if you need to keep the dog contained while you need to do something else.
Our foster Nutmeg was quite shy and reserved and she LOVED her crate so much.
None of our dogs or foster dogs came to us crate trained so we had to train them from scratch. There is a lot of information out there on the Internet about crate training, but we like to keep it really simple.
1. We try never to force a dog inside the crate when it doesn't want to go in there. Some dogs don't mind but some are sensitive and if they see the crate as a place of punishment - they will never like it.
2. We start crate training when the dog arrives with us i.e. not just at bed time because at bed time is generally not enough time to settle them in.
3. We put the crate in a room with lots of traffic - like the study - or as near as possible depending on quarantine. We leave the crate open during the day and scatter toys and treats in there. When the dog goes in, we reward.
4. Now and then when the dog goes in, we close the door and praise/reward the dog - then open the door again.
5. We lure the dog in and reward when he's quiet. Increasing the time he is able to stay quiet in the crate. We do it when it's daylight and he can still see people and other dogs around him so he doesn't freak out.
6. In the evening, we lure him in and close the door. We will pat the crate cushion and encourage the dog in. Once the dog knows the command, we give it a word: 'crate' and the dog goes to the crate on cue.
We use the crate for overnight sleeping and short periods of crating. We would never crate a dog all day but might crate a new dog for a couple of hours if we have to go out and the dog has not yet earned free range rights.
This was our foster dog Ollie during crate training.
Then we taught him to go to his mat or crate on cue
This was Nova, the foster dog as you can hear, he absolutely HATED his crate on day a. I thought he'd injure himself
Day 3 and he's so much better
Day 4 and he is almost perfect. See here.
For very young puppies and also dogs that really, really hate the crate at night, this is what I do - it's what we did with our foster dog Dodge:
Because the dog had seemed fairly comfortable in the soft crate during the day, we plonked him in a soft crate and hopped in bed. He started whimpering, crying and being very noisy. Dan got fed up with it so he picked him up and put him in the wire crate in the kitchen - at which point he started screaming, howling, shaking the crate around, barking and sounding like he was being tortured.
So in the end, I got up, grabbed the travel crate which is small enough to fit near our bed and sturdy enough not to be damaged by a crazy dog. To be honest, if I'd known he wasn't good in a crate, I'd have gone straight to the Puppy Method but as it was, at around 1.30 am, the Puppy Method worked which was to put the crate by side of the bed where doggy can see/hear you, then dangle my arm over the side and stick fingertips into the crate door. With puppies, I can put the little crate on a box so that I just have to stick my arm out to the side. For an adult dog, it's trickier because the crate is on the ground so I have to kind of dangle half my body over the side of the crate in order to stick my fingertips in the crate.
This technique has worked for all of our dogs so far:
1. Put dog in crate next to bed
2. Don't talk to or acknowledge the dog's crying
3. Let the dog sniff and lick your fingertips
4. Dog falls asleep
5. Then face the dilemma of going to sleep with dog slobber on fingertips vs getting up to wash hands and potentially waking up dog again :)
With all of our dogs, we then start moving them further and further away from the bed, out the door and eventually in to another room. In order to allow our foster dogs to settle in when they move, we always lend a crate to the adoptive family - so far:
1. The dogs have all settled in perfectly with no crying
2. All families have gone out and bought their own crates and returned the borrowed crate to us
For hyper fosters, we use the crate to help the learn to chill out. In the evenings, when we are at our computers, they are crated near our desks. As they learn to quieten, we open the crate door and they can wander as long as they are not too restless. Most settle within a few days.
What type of Crate? Wire, soft, travel?
For housetraining/transport the travel crates are fine.
For sleeping/housetraining/relaxing, the collapsible crates are good - they're not so portable.
For dogs that are already fully crate trained, the soft crates are great because you can take them with you to picnics, agility, obedience, to other people's houses (so you can stash your dog there if they don't let dogs inside but are willing to let you have a bit of kitchen/family room space to park doggy).
For a foster that might have anxiety, the collapsible wire crates are probably best - just remember that they're not very portable i.e. unless it's a puppy crate, it doesn't fit in the backseat of a normal car very well. I'd never use a soft crate for a dog who wasn't crate trained or you might end up with this:
If the dog is calm and chilled, then you might consider starting with a soft crate, but take it slowly - put the dog's bed or mat in there and don't try and close it until you're sure the dog won't freak out.
We lend all foster dog applicants a crate for the two week trial period as it helps the dog to settle in better.
*
Jerry in a wire crate:
Jerry and Dodge chilling out while we are playing board games at a friend's house
What sized crate?
Once a dog is crate-trained, we like to use a nice, large and comfy crate for the dog.
While you are using a crate for toilet-training though e.g. for puppies or untrained dogs, the crate should only be big enough for the dog to stand up in and and turn around. You don't want it to be large enough for it to be able to toilet in one corner. Dogs generally do not like soiling where they sleep but if the crate is large enough, they'll toilet in one part and sleep in another - which is NOT what you want.
The crate along does not help with toilet-training. You need to:
1. toilet the dog very regularly - immediately after the dog wakes up and immediately after it drinks water and about 10-15 minutes after it eats
2. toilet the dog first thing in the morning and last thing at night
3. puppies need to be toileted much more regularly. Young pups, every 2-3 hours.
Don't leave a dog in a crate for too long.
Where to buy a crate?
Don't buy from a pet store - they are expensive. Buy your crates online. We buy our crates from:
vebo: http://www.vebopet.com.au/collapsible-metal-wire-dog-crate-5-sizes.html
k9pro: http://k9pro.com.au/shop/dog-crates/wire-crates/
ebay
vet 'n pet direct:
https://www.vetnpetdirect.com.au/
deals direct: https://www.dealsdirect.com.au/shop/home-pets-dog-supplies/SG9tZT4_PlBldHM_Pj5Eb2cgU3VwcGxpZXM=
(no subject)
Date: 2012-08-27 07:54 pm (UTC)