Crates

[JulesP]

I use mine at comps & training. In the car. Amber likes to sleep in one overnight. Good for when you go away for dogs to sleep in.

My other use is that my cats also love sleeping in them!

[Sheridan]

I managed to trick Grumpy into his crate last night. Quite pleased with myself.

[megan_]

When we do agility training - one stays in the crate while the other one works.

When training at home - so they each get a turn

Feeding - to seperate them so they can eat in peace. They've never fought over food and I intend to keep it that way.

I keep Lucy crated when children visit (which isn't often) as she has charged at them before. Safer for everyone.

When we go to my Aunt's holiday house they sleep outside in their crates. If they weren't crated they'd chase possums all night....

I use a metal crate because they can unzip the soft ones. In the car they are in seatbelts. I worry about the crate become a missile as it isn't anchored.

Edited April 21, 2011 by megan_

[megan_]

In what way are they a good training tool, especially with relation to this crate games DVD I have heard about?

Crate games helps associate value to the crate. You can then use it in agility to create drive (run through the tunnel to get to the crate). It also teaches good self control.

[macka]

My two sleep in their crates overnight. They are also left open during the day and will often go in of their own accord, especially if I give them a treat they rush in to their crates to eat them. :p

Archer often likes to squeeze himself into Leia's little crate despite having his own 42" crate right next to it. Silly boy.

[W Sibs]

Use crate for:

Traveling (this has cured Emmy's car sickness)

Emmy goes in there when I need her to calm down

For feeding (if other dogs are over)

Separate them when I want to play with Charlie. He plays in a slower pace and Emmy LOVES to play and will take over.

Charlie uses his crate as a safe haven...

I have 2 metal crate in the living room for the dogs..

I have a huge soft crate one that's in the back where all their toys are kept

I also use their crate as a table.. to put my bag and stuff on there too We once used Emmy's crate as a spare table when I had guest over

[Souff]

First time Souff has ticked all boxes in a poll! ;)

For the "please explain" :

There are so many situations where I have used and recommended crates, and the overriding reasons are all about keeping puppies and dogs SAFE.

For travel, keeping dogs away from poisons, keeping male dogs away from bitches in season, dogs recuperating from an injury or op, relocating in emergencies such as bushfires or floods, leaving them somewhere strange because of a human emergency situation, all sorts of reasons.

PUPPY TRAINING SHOULD ALWAYS INCLUDE CRATING!

At the age of 7 or 8 weeks puppies can sleep in individual crates, with a nice big fluffy toy that has been rubbed all over Mum so that the toy smells like Mum. If there are 4 pups then there are 4 crates all facing each other and placed in such a way that Mum can see all of the pups and they can see her. Mum can sniff the pups through the crate and they can see and sniff her. These are pups that are weaned, have been well fed and toileted before going into their crate for the night. At 5am there are screams of "Let me out, and let me out now, we all want to play!" and some sleep muddled human goes in and lets them loose and the puppy mayhem of the day begins.

Now why would we put little puppies in a crate all by themselves? That is sooooo mean you say. Ha ha!

It is NOT mean and the new puppy owners are very grateful that this practice is employed BEFORE the pup comes home and has to spend the first night terrified because it is all alone in a strange place.

These pups are CONDITIONED to sleeping alone, BEFORE they go to their new homes.

If they are flying, they are going to be ALONE in a crate in a strange and often noisy airport.

Guess whose pups greet their new owners happily at airports and look as if they have just woken up from a sleep in a very familiar bed, and are now happy to get on with life in their new home? Plane ride? What plane ride?

They are NOT terrified and whimpering in the back of the crate, they do not piddle nervously because they don't know what the hell has happened to them - and the reason for this is that they have not been shoved in a crate for the first time in their lives. They are relaxed and happy.

Crates should be part of all puppies training and they should be a HAPPY part of a puppy's training.

Prop the doors open by day and let them drag toys and rugs in and out of the crate. Put the pup in the crate with a large juicy bone. Let a whole bunch of pups fall asleep in one crate with the door open, if that is what they want to do, by day. But by night, it is solo crating here. Yes, there will be often be one that wants to be a soprano at 1am.

Pillow gets pulled over owners head. On occasion a sleepy Souff has been known to get said crate and put it beside Souff's bed, so Souff can get some sleep. But puppy goes back to the rest of them as soon as it is daylight.

There are many times in their lives that dogs are going to be put in a crate, by necessity.

I cannot stress enough the importance of getting pups used to crates early in their life and with Mum present.

If your puppy has just come from a place where this has not been done, then start the process yourself. Make the crate a happy and secure place and your pup will LOVE their crate.

At their new home, many pups feel more secure in an enclosed crate than they do in an open bed. I suspect that this s a primeval instinct kicking in - a wild dog would not be found sleeping out in the open if there was a cave or a hollow log available. It would much prefer to be in one of those places, because it feels SAFER - and is less likely to be spotted by predators. It is also out of the weather.

A covered bed is a natural choice for dogs. A crate is a covered bed.

If your puppy or dog is crate traine, you can take them almost anywhere safely, and this is especially valuable for holidays (except to National Parks and wildlife sanctuaries) because many places will allow you to bring your dog IF it sleeps in a crate.

Every time you leave your dog at a vets for an op or observation, guess where it will be? Yep, in a crate.

Sometimes your dog will be in a crate out the back even before you have left the premises.

TOO MANY PEOPLE DO NOT CRATE TRAIN THEIR PUPPY. Please, do the right thing by your pup and buy a crate when you buy your puppy.

If the crate is too big in size, throw in some large stuffed toys and a blanket.

It is terrible to see a dog terrified of being in a crate for the first time in its life, when by necessity it must be in a crate, when the same dog could have been happily conditioned to the experience much earlier in life.

Souff

[smooch]

I use my crate for Smooch when I go out to use the ride on mower. It was never a problem until he had a spinal stroke which has left him slightly disabled in his back legs. I am so scared he might fall in front of the mower that he now goes into a crate. If I didn't put him in a crate he would tare everything apart inside just because I left him. Yet he is fine when I leave him to go out.

[whiskedaway]

Everything except car travel (we use harnesses though will use crates when we have a bigger car. Akira was never crate trained but took to it extremely well, and Halo has been crate trained from the start. We're going camping this weekend and it's so good knowing they'll be safe in their crates, and I also use it a lot at obedience when it's only me there because there's one dog in a crate at all times. Currently I just put them in the same crate together for obedience, but that won't last much longer!

[grumpette]

What about what the DOGS use it for of their own free will?

We have two crates set up in the lounge room a 42" and 46" and the dogs use it for

* barley during games of chasey, the dog with the toy goes in there for a rest and the others respect that space

* as a bone safe, many a time I have found bones buried in the blankets for later on

* a place to eat their treats in peace, when you set bones out of the fridge/treats out of the cupboard they all instantly rush to a crate, great for when it is pouring rain and they cannot go outside to have a bone

* as a cave when they wish time out or to shelter from a noisy storm

We the humans use them to

* separate Dee and Zephyr when Dee is in season, with cable ties on Zephyr's crate as he escapes and is able to break Dee out

* confine dogs when any of them need to recover from an injury

* act as a safe sleeping place for visiting dogs

* provide a secure chill out place for when at conformation shows, obedience trials, pet expos etc

So many uses.

[poochmad]

We use our crate as a bed for female. The male has free reign (and will sleep in his bed until late in the morning when he then joins us), but the female who is more shy than him loves the crate and will prefer to sleep in that than out of it. As the two of them have been known to play in the middle of the night, the female is now locked in until morning.

[GoldenGirl85]

Heres the most important question...What do you think of the crate? Im still tossing up between the K9Pro one and the K9+ one...I dont know which one to get!

[Katie P]

Mine gets used throughout the day as a napping space. Chase sleeps in my bed at night. If I have to confine him, I will also place him in the crate. It is more that it is handy to have.

[dandybrush]

GG im in the same predicament

the k9 pro crate is cheaper, however the k9+ one has weather protection, which would be handy when it showers at agility...and u can also roll the flaps down to block your dog from being tempted...

[PRADA68]

I use my crates for confinement during the day if I have to go out as I have a male terrier that likes to lift his leg on everything. I also use them for competitions etc.

[GoldenGirl85]

GG im in the same predicament

the k9 pro crate is cheaper, however the k9+ one has weather protection, which would be handy when it showers at agility...and u can also roll the flaps down to block your dog from being tempted...

Have a look at the K9+ crates on ebay, you also get a free carry bag with them...and I do like the roll down flaps, even if its just for wind protection, given the extras the k9pro crate isn't that much cheaper

I also like the water bottles you can get for the k9+ crates, but I dont know if my ditz would work it out lol

[Lab_Rat]

When I had a metal crate set up inside (for our RR when she was younger) it came in quite handy as a clothes drier, as it was set up near our fire inside...... :)

[halfthewords]

I have a soft crate that I sometimes use for Carl to sleep in when my partner stays over (not enough room for everyone in a king single ).

[ZaliGirl]

We have a 6 month old Golden Retriever that we crate trained from the day we got her. She sleeps in it at night and I use it to keep her in if I have to go out for a small errand. We also use it if we have people over and she is jumping all over them (like my mother). Also whilst we are eating our dinner in front of the TV (blush), she goes into the crate so she is not putting her nose into our food the whole time. She just goes in and plops herself down to sleep until we let her out. If we eat at the table, we do not crate her.

It works really well for us and I really do like having the option there.

[Isabel964]

I crate trained my youngest girl (now 5 years old) and used the crate for her first year. It was most beneficial for toilet training, and for sleeping and a routine. But after a year, without intending to stop using the crate, we just did not use it any more. The dogs have their own beds in the bedroom (not crates) and they are both well behaved and wonderful. I just don't think I need the crate any more.