For those of you that are worried

[Teena]

about crates being mean to your dog :
Last night, like every other night,i tell the dogs, bedtime!
They run to get into their crates & get their goodnight treat.
Axels' door was only open about an inch last night. He takes his nose & flips it open, so he can get inside & sit down before i get there. LOL
Now honestly when they will open the door themselves, it must not be to bad in there.
:D

[AdeL1610]

This reminds me of a time when Rachel's crate door swiveled shut, and somehow she couldn't get it open. She actually lifted up her head and barked three huge barks. I realised she couldn't take her afternoon nap in her crate because the door was shut! :D

[Joie]

Teena, thanks for sharing that! If you look in behavior you'll see I posted a question about crating and I was bombed with people saying it's mean and inhuman. I am glad to know that once the trauma is over and he adjusts that he will consider his crate his space/den.

Thanks again!

[livertw]

Daisy loves her crate. It is at one end of the kitchen, and she can see everything that is going on. She goes to bed happily at night and is curled up and snuggled into her blanket and plush toys by the time I turn out the light. During the day I leave the crate wire door open wide, and she often walks in to fetch a toy or to catch a nap. If it is noisy in the house (vacuum cleaner, visitors), she heads for "her" snug den. :D

[~Robin~]

Yup, when I tell Begbie "Go to bed!" he goes instantly to his crate. He'll even open the door with his head! :D

Sometimes when he's feeling a little stressed out, he'll go to his crate on his own and stare mournfully at the closed door! It's priceless!

[kjs kids]

Sasha loves her kennel. She'll just get in it sometimes to get away from Maggie, or if I'm working on the computer, she'll lay in her kennel and watch me work. This morning I found her laying in there asleep in the sunshine! Maggie will willingly go in, but prefers to lay right outside her kennel with her feet inside the door. Go figure? I don't think that kennels are a bad thing IF used correctly-not for punishment. Kelly

[LucyJ]

I do daycare so during the day I put a gate on the pantry and the dogs have indoor space there, and a doggy door to the yard. At 5:30 they come barreling in and head straight for their crates to make sure they have not been disturbed! :) They dive in, take a sniff, and off to the rest of the house they go. And NEVER forget and leave Chief's door closed... he'll stand in front of it and whine and carry on until he can go in and secure the perimeter! :D

On a more serious note, Chief sleeps in it with his door open. We DO use it as a time-out spot. Just like the kids get sent to their rooms when they forget their manners, so does Chief. But we only started this after he was truly comfortable and happy in there and it's been fine for him. He still loves his crate.

Mojo, on the other hand, sleeps with the door closed and she's still very new here, so we DON'T do time outs in the crate yet. Don't know that we ever will. Only time will tell. Every dog is different and she wouldn't deal with it as well as Chief does at this point. So we'll have to wait and see.

[Teena]

Jody, most of the people here, are in favor of crating a dog.
I did read your post & replied. :) I think the problem was the amount of hours you have to crate your young pup, because you are working.
I think they would have liked for you to have planned ahead & gotten an older pup.
I saw nothing against you personally, just concern for the young pup.
However, i don't know your situation, only the brief part, i caught in your post.
Sounds like maybe you saved his life? Glad things are going better. :)

[ April 12, 2001: Message edited by: Teena ]

[AngelBunny]

Jodie:

The issue *isn't* crating--most of us are big believers in crate training.

The issue in your case are the number of hours/length of time your young dog spends crated.