Crate Bedding & A Couple Other ?'s...

[Brooke&Ryan]

Hi guys!

I've got a few questions. Ryan's aunt is a dog trainer in town...& she stopped by today while we were not here. You can see Julius crate from our backdoor.....& she was HORRIFIED to see that Julius did not have any bedding in his crate. She said that not having bedding in his crate could possibly cause hip dyslplasia. I was under the impression that was not the case at all. Julius is for the most part house trained...& he has only peed in his crate a few times during the first couple weeks that we had him. We had put a pillowcase with some cedar chips into the crate for Julius to lie on but he showed us that wasn't such a good idea... Cedar chips EVERYWHERE. So they were prompty removed. He has not had anything in his crate since then....maybe about a week or so. I had actually rounded up some old towels that I was going to place in his crate since I really don't care if he chews on those. Just wondering what your thoughts are about crate bedding. I've searched it on the site & have found many people posting who do not put bedding at all in puppies crates...but that is usually for puppies that are not crate trained yet. Are the old towels sufficient? Should I look into more suitable crate bedding. We have a smaller crate right now....still waaaay big for what he needs...but we'll probably be getting a bigger one by the end of the summer. Just wondering if we should invest in one of those crate mats. Your opinions would be appreciated.

And....Ryan's aunt also said that Julius should have water in his crate available to him all the time. Julius has his water bowl outside of his crate...& he's usually never in his crate for more than 3 hours (except at night) & the water is available to him then. Just wondering if we should ALSO purchase one of those bowls that hooks onto the crate door. Is this a good idea or are we doing the right thing? I have read many places on the board that for a puppy you should try and cut off his water intake around 7-8 at night. Julius is basically housebroken. He has a few accidents here and there. He's getting better and better at telling us when he needs to go to the bathroom by going into the kitchen, whining, etc. I'm just wondering if putting the bowl in the crate is asking for him to start peeing in the crate. I didn't think that this sounded like a good idea. But I could be wrong. Any advice on either of these two situations would be greatly appreciated.

Ohhhh, & one little brag. Julius finally mastered down today for the FIRST time. :D Just had to share.

Thanks!!

Brooke

[Teena]

Nope, you do not have to have bedding at this point. My lab is almost 3 and a MAJOR chewer, any and all bedding would be shredded. She has not suffered any health problems from not having bedding. Just recently we have been trying to reintroduce bedding to her crate.
I have found that old blankets work best. Those can be found at yard sales fairly cheap.
Again, no water isn't needed inside the crate. Mostly it would just end up getting spilled. I have never put water inside the crates.
Congrats on the down.;)

[Brooke&Ryan]

Thanks for the reassurance Teena. Ryan & I went to Petco & our local pet store today & looked at crate bedding (just looked, didn't buy). EVERYTHING I saw I could just imagine Julius ripping to pieces. We're going to try a couple cozy bath towels & see how that goes.

Brooke

[JonandMichelle]

My male does not have anything in his kennel either. I also do not believe in leaving a water bowl/attachment in the kennel/crate as well. BTW, he is doing just fine;)

[Brooke&Ryan]

Julius seems fine without a water bowl in his crate also. That's why I was so confused about what she said. He has access to the water all the time when he's out and about in the house. AND plenty of access to the snow outside as well. :)

[mmgy]

Goodwill stores are a good place to get old towels, etc. My crated dogs get bedding when they learn not to abuse it! So you have to give him something ever so often to test him. When they quit shredding all the old stuff, THEN they get a fancy bed.

And sounds to me like he has enough water access too. My crated dogs are outside all day, with unlimited access, but none at night in the crate. I don't think they've suffered in any way. After all, I can go all night without water, why can't they???

M2

[Judy Chrusch]

For the most part Czar has an old blanket or comforter in his crate providing he respects it and doesn't chew it and if he does, it gets taken away for weeks then tried again. As for water, he has access ALL the time in his crtae but very seldom drinks it during the day but you know what, I hear him drink late at night and or in the middle of the night sometimes and of course lately he has been eating more snow then drinking water inside, LOL. He NEVER has to go out to potty in the middle of the night in fact today, this morning he wouldn't go outside to potty till about noon and the last time he was out was suppertime the night before. He holds it like you wouldn't believe and he has every opportunity to go out as he wishes bc I'm always home. Anyway, if your dog respects a blanket or some type of covering in his crate then go for it, give it a try:D. Some dogs are perfectly happy w/o anything, Czar prefers to have something.

Judy

[Birdie'sMom]

Brooke, if he's a chewer, do not waste your money on beds. I am an idiot and kept buying Birdie new beds - even tryed one that was supposed to be "chew proof." HA!:D No one told Birdie that cause she teared through it in 15 minutes! Oh, well! Someone on this board, Judy Chrusch, I think?, suggested going to a second hand store and buying old comforters - she gets them for $3, I think. That way if they chew through them you won't be that upset! Good luck!:)

OK - she beat me to it! I knew she would - don't know why I bothered posting it!:D She;s always here with her great advice!:)

[Brooke&Ryan]

Thanks for the responses. We're going to try the towels & see how he does with those. He really isn't a chewer around the house. We had to redirect him a couple of times & that was really all it took for him. He has enough toys in his crate to occupy him ( I think....he has a nylabone, booda velvet bone, & usually one of his stuffed animals). I was pretty surprised that he chewed up his pillow case that was in his crate. I really loved him smelling like cedar. Guess he had other ideas.

Judy---Would you reccomend putting a water bowl in a soon to be 4 month old puppy's crate (I'm assuming you have a full grown rottweiler...)? Or do you think that they should be restricted on the water after a certain time at night? I just know what he did to the pillow....& I'm thinking that if we put a water bowl in the crate it could get VEERRRRY interesting. :D

Thanks again!

Brooke

[Judi W]

I don't know what kind of a dog trainer this lady is, but don't go to her for care advice. She is just dead wrong.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Those were my thoughts too Judi. It's a sticky situation though since she's his aunt. Apparently everyone who takes her class raves about her. I was just very taken aback by her phone call today since everything she said went against what I had read in the books when I was doing "rottweiler research:D " & from what I have heard on the boards. We're checking into another trainer...so we'll see. :(

Thanks!

Brooke

[Judy Chrusch]

Brooke, since you're still in the process of housebreaking I suggest not putting water in for the night, he's certainly not going to get dehydrated in that short of time and it sounds like you're doing the right thing otherwise and yes I have a 2 year old intact male and he was a bugger to housebreak when he was a pup, even pottied in his crate at times and I was home most of the time. I didn't think we'd ever have him housetrained and now look, he can go for an unbelievable amount of time w/o going and that's his choice. I'm sure all will work out and one day he'll be completely trained and you'll be amazed how long he can hold it:).

Judy

[Jaegergirl]

i never put water in maverick's crate. i tried putting blankets and/or carpeting in his crate but he'd chew it. personally, i got sick of having to clean blankets and such when he'd get sick on them or if he'd have an accident so i put in a piece of linoleum in the crate. that's all he gets and he doesn't seem to mind. i did purchase an old comforter from the goodwill store that i might give to him later on.. but for now, i'm just sticking with the linoleum.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Thanks for all of the posts everyone. I knew when I heard her phone call that something wasn't right. Everything that I had read on the boards was the total opposite of what she said. It was verrrry odd!

Brooke