Crate Training- Do You Really Need A Divider?

[RockabillyLove]

I went into a petstore/warehouse type thing {it's in Melbourne}, and my partner and I had a look at the dog crates.

We saw that they only had XXL, Medium and Small in stock, but they were quite good prices, so I went to the front counter to ask if they also sold dividers.

The older man looks at me and goes "A divider?" and I said "It's a wire barrier you put in the crate to make it smaller for a pup, then take it out as it grows so the crate is never too big for it. It's so they have enough room to sleep, but not enough room to void and sleep".

He said "Oh, I'm a dog expert and I've never heard of a divider. Why don't you just use the whole crate?"

I said "Well, I'm going to crate train my bulldog, and the crate will be too big if I don't divide it"

Him "You DO know puppies will go anywhere whether you like it or not, so you shouldn't bother with dividing a crate. I just put food and water in there and leave, and clean it up later"

Me "The point of crate training is to discourage that"

Him "Well, I'm a dog expert and I wouldn't do that if I were you. Who recommended you do THAT?!'

Me "Well, Jos and Darren both said crate training is okay if I want to do it. And..."

Him "Oh, them. I know them. They're lovely people. They run the New Zealand club"

Me "No, they're in the British Bulldog club of Victoria. And they said it's fine"

Him "Well, I wouldn't bother. It's a pretty outdated idea, and it never works. Just get the large crate and deal with messes when they appear until you move the dog outside"

Well, now I'm all confuddled. :rolleyes:

According to Dog Expert, it won't work, and is basically a myth.

According to books, websites and reading other people's experiences, it works and is fantastic.

I crate-trained a bulldog before, and he was fine with it and kept his crate into adulthood as his special relaxing place.

Thing is, I'm not planning to 'move the dog outside'. Sure, he will spend time outside, but I don't want to crate train him for inside then shove him in a kennel outside one day and go about my business. I want an indoor dog who is happy to go outside for a few hours a day and play with his toys, snuffle in the dirt, bark at crows, that sort of thing.

Should I follow Dog Expert's advice, or follow the schedule I've already drawn up, which includes a divider?

[MolassesLass]

I've never seen a purchasable divider, it's always been something I've bodged up myself but Mr Dog Expert is a numbnut IMO or has been buying his dogs from petstores and puppy farms where the pups early life often extinguishes the natural cleaness.

[perrin]

My wire crate came with a divider :rolleyes: I thought all the big ones did. It's a 48 inch one.

Anyway by the time i moved our kelpie into the big wire one he had already been crate trained using the airline blue and white ones. I just kept getting a bigger size untilk he was to big for the large blue and white and then moved on to the wire crate.

Not very helpfull i know.

Perhaps if it was a good price you could buy it and then somehow make your own divider.

[ness]

My BC pup was crate trained in a 36" crate as that is all I had with no divider. Didn't seem to cause a problem and she was a small pup too. She still learned not to toilet in there and we had no accidents in the crate bar night 2 when she had a runny tummy and silly me thought she was fussing cos she didn't like being crated not because she needed to go out again (this was after she had already been out twice in the space of an hour). So my view is you can probably get buy without a divider and just using the full size crate. I also made sure she was taken outside at appropriate intervals and not given the opportunity to go in her crate. Having said that she was also being taken out to trials from 12 weeks and would spend time in her crate during the day and never had a problem in there.

[poodlefan]

Mr Dog Expert don't know a whole lot about crate training.

I expect he knows a whole lot about confining pups in them 24/7 though. :rolleyes:

I never bothered with the divider.

Edited May 7, 2009 by poodlefan

[Miranda]

I crate train, but I don't bother with a divider either. I've never had a problem with puppies soiling their crates.

[BittyMooPeeb]

As an owner of a dog who was confined to one eating/playing/toileting area while she grew up (not by me) I'd say it does make a difference. It took a long time to teach Nessie to go to the loo in the correct places - she was used to going in her eating and living area.

So, go with what the experts say if it seems to be working :rolleyes:. Just remember to take him out to the toilet at regular intervals. I found that the literature said that my pup shoudl be able to hang on for an hour, but in reality it was about 20 mins, so just keep an eye on him and make sure he isnt getting distressed at having to hold on.

I've tried a few methods, and this one is the most work to train, but has the quickest and most effective result

[kitty]

we're crate training (at night only) and we don't have a real divider, but we've kind of made something up for it.

I don't know if it's necessary or not, but it works..... so i'm not about to fix something that's not broken!

[Rebanne]

I've only ever crated trained 2 dogs from puppyhood and am currently training the 3rd. I use their full size crate and have never used a divider. No problems with the crates being too big

[puggy_puggy]

Only ever seen crates that come with dividers. Have never seen dividers sold seperatley.

If a puppy has to go to the toilet it is going to go no matter if you have a divider or not.

[all that glitters]

I have a large crate big enough for an adult shep, but my pup is only a baby shep atm! My breeder said don't bother dividing the cage, just bulk it up with blankies so it all seems 'beddy' and it worked She only ever peed in there on the first night which could have been me not hearing her whine/nerves/first night/confused. All good now tho

[Red Fox]

I don't think a divider is necessary but it may make things easier if the crate is really big (like big enough to run around in). We didn't use one, just covered the whole area with bedding like Shellectra said and no problems. This worked for our puppy pen too, no pee if there were bankets on the ground.

I thought most new crates come with dividers now though anyway maybe you should just try another retailer

[Stitch]

Yes, you can purchase dividers separately but not for all brands of wire crate.

It is an item that many pet shops wouldn't automatically keep in stock but would be able to order in for you if they deal with the right importer.

I use Savic crates and I can purchase dividers for them if I wish. Maybe Savic crate dividers will fit other brands, I don't know.

My experience is that puppies in a crate seem to have a personal space (like us) and if they can poo outside of that personal space then they will initially. So a large crate probably wouldn't inhibit them from soiling inside the crate and may not encourage them to 'hold on'.

After a while they don't seem to like having any poo in the crate at all no matter what size the crate is - but some puppies take a while to reach that realisation.

I should think that toileting behaviour varies between breeds and sizes.

[Teebs]

I also didnt use it for the 3 dogs i crate trained, (bulldog, Bull Terrier and Staffy) all dogs were fine in the bigger crate!

Edited May 7, 2009 by Teebs

[poochmad]

We also didn't use a divider. Our crate was so large that we were able to put a bed at the back of the crate and newspaper at the front in case he needed to pee (this area was sprayed with disgusting stuff to make him pee there), but surprisingly from 8 weeks of age, he never, ever went in the crate, regardless of how big it was. In fact, he had great fun shredding the paper so after 2 weeks of a clean crate, we just removed the paper and the pup had a nice lovely crate to move in.

[RubyStar]

I used a cardboard box to block off the other end of my crate when my Lab was a pup. I only had it in there a few weeks and she never messed in her crate.

Edited May 8, 2009 by RubyStar

[Kavik]

I haven't used a divider with mine.

The guy was not that tactful though

[Miss Danni]

The pet shop "Dog Expert" is an ill informed dolt.

With some brands of crates, such as Pet Cargo, you can purchase dividers/seperators or they might be included.

I'd only bother if the crate was absolutely huge for the puppy, otherwise put your money towards something else.

Edited May 8, 2009 by Miss Danni

[Nekhbet]

dog expert :rolleyes: love it ... can I come with you next time

ahhh gotta love em. Yeah great habit let the dog shit in its own crate and lay in it until he can be bothered cleaning it

if there is a huge difference go with a divider, most brands come with them. If not then just knock something up yourself (like plywood section with holes drilled in the edges and some cable ties)

[Seita]

My crate was a little large for my current puppy so for the first couple of weeks I had a cardboard box in there as a block but I've removed it now and he's coping just fine in the crate. We've only had one pee in the crate on the 2nd night.