BPO Training Forum > Behavior, Housebreaking, Obedience

Dog Crates

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newfdog:
I just want to get an idea how many people here have crate trained their dog. Dog crates don't currently exist in our home however it could be a possibility if we came across a particular dog that needed it.

So, who here uses dog crates and what were/are your experiences with crate training?

Newfdog

awo:
Hello,
    In response to your crate training question, we crate trained our saint until he was about 3 months old.  Dudley would be stay in the crate when we were both gone and when he slept at night.  He was 8 weeks when we got him, so he trained pretty fast, but our key to potty training was to let him out of the crate and get him excited to go outside and go potty, hence today, when he needs to go out, he goes to the door and whines.  Anyhow, as he got older, we then put him in the bathroom and worked our way up from there.  I will say, we were extremely lucky on training him so fast.  I believe in crate training, because most dogs feel safe in their own little space and we also did not feed him in the crate, but only had a water bottle on the side.  Most dogs will not go potty where they sleep, unless the dog can't hold it.  Remember dogs came from wolves, who were denning animals.  I do believe though, that the crate has to be big enough for their size and potential growth.

awo

Lorrie:
I used crates for the 2 dogs I have now, a Cocker and a Saint.  Prior to using it for the Cocker, I had never used it either.  Now I won't attempt training another puppy without it. 

Although we did have a very large crate for our Saint, he outgrew it at about 6 months.  But we also have a kennel for him in the yard where he stays when we go to work.  He does not go to the bathroom in his kennel.  Ever.  He waits until we get home and let him out of the kennel and I think it is because he thinks of his kennel as a large crate.  And his kennel is plenty big, he could potty there if he wanted to, but he doesn't.  Also, the Saint never went to the bathroom in the house, not once, not when he was being house trained and not since.   ;D

lisa2270:
I'm a big believer in crate training too.  The potty training ease, plus the added peace of mind knowing that they're safe is worth the investment of a good crate.  I'm a worry-wort when puppies are small...the fact that you know they're not getting into stuff until their a little more mature & obedience trained.  It's very much worth it.

Jen:
Because the breeder of our Great Pyrenees had a long fishing trip in alaska we were unable to get our puppy until he was 3 months old.  Keeping that in  mind; when we did get him he did something remarkable the fisrt day....He walked up to the front door rattled the window treatment a little bit and waited, so as well trained fur parents we let him out and that was that never needed to potty train witha crate.  Now destroying the house when we went out is a totally different story!  He had his own idea on the interior design of our home!  So we did what any big dog loving parents would do....we built a new house which included a custom built doggie apt including doggie kitchen, living room with couch,air conditioning, heat a window over looking the entry path, and a door (just his size)leading out to a fenced in yard.  He chews his couch regularly but he know the difference between his couch and my couch, we have never had a chewing problem since.  Hhe only goes in his apartment when we are out.  WHen we are home he has full house access and he is a pyr-fect gentlemen.  I hate the look of a caged animal in my home.  Oh did I mention when we are home we park our cars in his apartment ;)

Jen

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