I was visiting some forums on dogs and one of the topics that was widely discussed was whether it was appropriate to put their dogs in a crate while the owners were away for work or running some errands, etc….
Before I go any further, let us have a common understanding of a crate.
A crate is a form of enclosure to confine your dog within your house or home. There are all types of crate; wire mesh crate, heavy duty plastic crate, collapsible plastic crates, and so on…..
A crate is a home for most dogs when used properly. I have used different type of crates for my dogs and I am showing you a few photos below for better illustration.
I believe a crate is definitely essential when you have your puppy as it would give it a sense of security. You may put a towel for its comfort. Importantly, the crate must be big enough for the puppy to sit up and move around inside it. The one that I bought with the puppy was those used to fly in the puppies from Australia to Singapore; I bought a second-hand one from the pet farm.
Jack’s first night at home. The top half of this large crate can be removed and there is a metallic gate too.
One of the questions in the forum was how long to put a puppy or dog in a crate?
Well, it is definitely not healthy to put a dog in a crate the whole day though I have seen such an occurrence around my neighbourhood. For a puppy, I would put it into the crate at night for its own security instead of having it roaming around in the garden or house at night. For an adult dog, I would not put it in a crate unless I have to bring it indoors.
At the moment, Jack my beagle, is left on its own in the car porch and he has a crate for his own use. He would sleep around the car porch and he may go into his crate in the middle of the night. He is very much left on its own.
Ruby my corgi, used to be left out in the car porch too but she barks a lot especially when it rains and there is thunder and she would run in the rain too. My neighbour complained so I have to put her in her crate and bring her into our backyard.
Here we have Ruby sleeping on her back in her crate, the same one that we bought when Jack was a puppy? Surprisingly, Ruby is happy sleeping in her crate and will go to it every night with very little coaxing. I just videoed it last night and will be posting it soon.
Ruby like to jump up onto people and since we respect that not all our visitors are comfortable with dogs, we normally put Ruby into the metallic crate as shown here.
Here she is again… dozed off again….ha..ha…. BTW, I found out from the Corgi community that it seems to be a Corgi thing, sleeping on their backs…!
Here we have Jack sleeping in his own big crate and also using Ruby’s crate too for a nap…..Luckily, Ruby does not mind sharing her crate with Jack during the day.
I think this crate is a bit too big to Jack’s liking as he seems to prefer Ruby’s crate since he grew up with that crate, from puppy to adulthood.
Yup, Jack still likes his old crate and luckily, both dogs are sharing it without any fuss….
Anyway, in short, I believe that you must get the right size crate for your dog; ie enough room for the dog to sit up and move around the crate. Housebreaking a dog using a crate must be done properly. If done properly, the dog will love its crate and use it as its home.
Have a good weekend!
David
