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Poll: Do you crate your BC?


Do you crate your BC?  

98 members have voted

  1. 1. When do you crate your BC?

    • Rarely
      34
    • During the day, when I'm at work
      27
    • During the night, when I go to bed
      16
    • Both while I'm at work and while I sleep
      22


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My girl is almost 9yo and does not need to be crated to keep her safe and hasn't for about 8 years. :rolleyes: My puppy (1 yo mix) is crated during the day to prevent accidents and keep her safe.

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I selected "rarely". Really I crate him while I work, but I work rarely, lol, he's crated one day a week for 8 hours and then while I run errands for an hour here or there. I do crate my BC but not my other dogs because he's a major chewer, but only when I'm not around (see chewing thread). It's for his own safety, I really fear that he will give himself a blockage with the stuff he eats. He's fine at night and sleeps in bed with me, and has the run of the house when I'm home, though he chooses to stay near me.

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Dazzle was crate trained as a pup - and while she was a pup she would always spend the nights and the days when we were not home in the crate. Nowadays she is trustworthy and isn't locked in a crate during the days or nights - but she does still always sleep in her crate (only comes out for early morning snuggles) and voluntarily stays in there while we are gone.

 

Definitely a "both" for the puppy to 2 year old stage - now it is still a both, just without a locked door if that counts :rolleyes:.

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everyone but Happy is crated when we are not home. Happy is rarly crated anymore lol, when the other dogs head to their crates Happy jumps on the couch and puts her head on the arm rest, she doesnt leave that spot till we get home :rolleyes: Perky, Ripley and Electra are also safe to be left loose in the house when we are not home, however Happy and Perky dont get along and neither do Ripley and Electra so we feel its safer to only allow 1 loose dog.

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Tiga has never been crated, not even when he was a puppy. The only thing we have to watch is to make sure there is no cardboard left out when he's left along because he is obsessed with it. Other then that, he's had free range of the house for most of his life. When he was a puppy and he was left alone, he was put in our bedroom with the door closed.

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I'm very spoiled. When I got Lucia at 8months old, she was crate trained. I didn't have a crate at the time and would just leave her in my bedroom with all the chewables removed. It didn't take long for her to get full run of the house. She's not a chewer and she doesn't have accidents. I can leave food on the counter and the garbage out in the open and it would never get touched :D

 

A friend gave me a soft crate that I could use for agility trials. When I set it up in the house, Lucia dove right into it. Now I leave it up all the time and keep her bed in there. It's HER SPACE. So even though you may not need a crate, having one may make your dog pretty happy :rolleyes:

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Jackson and Skip have never been crated. They have full run of the house and backyard(doggie door). While I am gone, they don't eat or drink until I come home. I never have figured out why, but am thinking they are saving it in case I don't get back for a good long while! :D They never get in the garbage can, and only Jackson chewed when he was a puppy. But, he did that whether we were here or gone! Skip never chewed stuff. He did, however, like to take any clothes I threw on the floor and drag them outside. Don't know why, unless my dear, departed mama had something to do with it! :rolleyes:

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My goodness the lot of you are so lucky. If I left the house up to the dogs to remodel, I'd come home to a disaster!

 

I crate Ido whenever I am gone/asleep because a) I can't have her eating things that will make her ill. Anything outside her special diet will upset the balance we have worked so hard for. and :D the dog does not know how to ask to go outside. We've tried bells, ropes, words, nothing. The only descernable trigger is pacing, and she does that anyway when we don't throw her ball. :rolleyes:

 

Then there is Monkey, who even wets her crate on a regular basis. :D I am currently fighting this battle. All medical reasons have been marked off. Its a behavioral issue we're desperately trying to work past.

 

And Rune, well...I've no doubt Rune would be wonderful, apart from her obsession with the cat. She must stare at the cat, and if I am not there to tell her off, she'll be all up around the cat poking her with her nose, trying to get her to go the way she wants, and thats not fair o the cat.

 

And the havoc they'd all cause together is unimaginable! LoL. I've got my fingers crossed tha maybe one day, when they're all a bit older, this will not be the case.

 

But, since all my dogs are crated at bedtime and while we are at work, we typically spend 2-3 hours a day out at a local park, or inside training, or I'll drive them with me somewhere fun like petsmart.

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I crated Yoshi a lot when I first got him because he wasn't house trained and also underwent heartworm treatment (therefore needing to be kept quiet for a month). I don't crate him at all now, except when I vacuum. He has separation anxiety and I learned that crating or confining him in any way makes this worse. We have a whole routine we go through when I leave (to make this a positive experience for him) and he's been almost completely reliable in the house for the last nine months or so. About a month ago, he did figure out how to open the lazy susan and ate some of my tupperware. :rolleyes: So, now I have a baby gate covering that area. He's got this orange ball you can put treats in and loves to push this around with his nose all over the house.

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My dogs are all crate trained and are reliable in the house. They are crate trained for numerous reasons:

a. they can't get into trouble that way (i.e., get into the cat food or litter boxes, get into the trash, chew something they shouldn't, etc., if no one's around to keep an eye on things, and with three still at the adolescent stage of age 2 or under, it's best not to take chances)

b. those that don't get along don't have the opportunity for fighting when no one is around (I tried leaving one loose until I realized that she was picking fights through the crate door with her "archenemy" so now both are crated when I leave--with crates positioned so that they can't look directly at one another)

c. if the weather is particularly nasty and they come in particularly muddy (36 muddy paws!) they can go in crates to dry off instead of tracking mud all through the house

d. they need to be used to crates for when we travel to dog trials or to visit friends, because for their safety they travel crated in the van

e. I can keep the thunderphobes (and the rest of the house) safe during thunderstorms

f. as active working dogs, they sometimes have injuries that require crate rest per the vet's orders, and since they are crate trained and happy and comfortable in their crates, putting one on crate rest for whatever reason doesn't become a nightmare.

 

For the poll I chose "crated when at work," but since I work from home most of the time, this means they aren't crated all that often, but when no one is home, they do go in their crates, for some or all of the reasons listed above, which I think are important and should be considered when choosing whether to crate train or, later, crate a dog.

 

ETA: Back when I had just one or two dogs, they were crate trained, but were allowed loose in the house when I was gone. I think the greater number of dogs you have (at least in my personal case) the easier it is to ensure order (nine dogs could create A LOT of chaos together) and safety for all by crating them when no one's home....

 

J.

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Sophie isn't crate trained; the other two are. She's completely trustworthy in the house, but I am really sorry she's not crate trained (she is actually really afraid of the crate; it's a long story) for the reason that if she ever needs to be contained while at the vet's, being contained in a kennel is very stressful for her at a time when extra stress can be potentially life threatening. In addition, during a recovery at home, it might be safest and best for her to be kept quiet and contained, but she can't be. I learned this the hard way, when she proptosed her eye and had surgery to reduce it. She had stitches to keep the eye closed for protection and wore an elizabethan collar (conehead lampshade thingy), but soon figured out that she could scratch her itchy eye as it was healing by finding a corner of furniture to fit inside the cone. Had she been crated, as was recommended by the vet, she would have been much safer (and I would have gotten a lot more sleep) during her recovery.

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Almost ditto what Julie says. With 7 dogs, allowing them run of the house while we're gone is just asking for trouble. They are kenneled during good weather outside under covered runs, or crated indoors while Im gone anytime. ( those that dont get to go with me) Even if Ive just walked out into the yard for a bit and left them loose in the house I know I will come back to complete chaos. What the collies dont like is if they think Im going out to the sheep, (and if Im outside with out them thats always what they think) so they start tearing down blinds to see out the windows, knocking stuff down to get to windows, fighting to be first and only one at the windows, and if my GSD is in there too, he will just clear a path and take out the window. Just last week, while the weather was so nice, I had all the windows open in the house, left him, the Std. Poodle and 2 collies loose in the house while I went out to the shop to talk to my husband. When I came back out of the shop, (in there maybe 10 minuets) there was a GSD sized hole in my kitchen window screen, him, 2 collies and a poodle running around in the yard. Luckily, the window was open, he's taken out the glass windows as well, hence his crate is the horse trailer. They all love their crates, and go stand in front of their own when they know its time for me to go. I just say "crate up kids!" and they go to them and wait to be let in. Its part of their daily routine for working dogs and working mom. Leave them alone in my house when Im gone?? Not if I want a house to come back home too. When Ive been down to one or two dogs, (which has been so long I can hardly remember,) they have had run of the house when Ive left them, but seven of them?? :rolleyes: Never.

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Sammie has never been crated as a general rule. We didn't really know about crate training when we first got him. He knows that the crate is a good place, and he has been crated for very short periods of time, but generally I don't crate him.

 

Maddie is rarely crated. She was crated both at night and when we weren't home for the first month and a half after we adopted her. At that point, we began to leave her out at night, but she was crated while we were gone for the first year that we had her. Since then she has been loose at all times. I crate her while walking Agility courses and at trails. That's about it.

 

Speedy was crated at night and when we weren't home though puppyhood. At about 10 months old he got night privileges and when he was almost 3, he started being left loose at all times. I crate him at competitions now. That's about it.

 

Dean has always had night privileges. I've crated him while at work until very recently. For a couple of weeks I've been leaving him shut up in the bedroom and he has done well with that.

 

I am heistant to give him total free reign with the other dogs, though.

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Petey was crated during the day while my parents were at work and while my sister and I were at school, but we slowly gave him more range of the house by using baby gates. This was all just due to house training and preventing accidents. He's reliable unless we happen to forget to put the garbage high up.

 

As for while we sleep.. We definitely tried that for the first night but my family could not get past his SCREAMING. So he found his way into our beds the second night and that is where he remains :rolleyes:

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Add another vote for never. Niki has full run of the house and fenced yard. I do work mainly from home, so I'm around most of the time, but I've never had major problems with her or any of my previous dogs. About the worst thing that happens is if I forget and leave leather work gloves on the ground, I may find them chewed up, but that's more my fault than hers.

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There isn't an option for Never, so I can't vote :D

Yeah, what she said.

 

I don't really have room in my house for a crate and I have a cat who would torture the dog incessantly through the crate even if I could find a spot for one.

He's evil, that kitty cat. :rolleyes:

 

I'm home most of the time, but when I do have outside work, Finn is completely trustworthy in the house.

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Poke and Ceana are almost crate trained. They spend time in their crates whenever we are gone. I say almost because, well, we are still working on enjoying the crates. We went to the pool this morning (just out back and unfortunetly the stupid complex won't let us bring our dogs in the gated area.) Poke howled like a wolf, it was sad but amusing, for about 15 minutes until he settled in and relaxed. Ceana gaurds her crate like it is the best thing in the world. Either way, I have the peace of mind knowing I will not come home to any distruction or injuries- that is priceless.

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Mine are all crate trained, Pup was crated a lot for the first year (or x-penned).

All are crated:

1) when traveling (except #1, in a seat belt harness/front seat)

2) at agility trials

3) whenever else is necessary! Like sometimes when friends are staying with their dogs - crates are just a bit more secure for separation, though this isn't often necessary.

 

diane

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I always crate train my puppies, as housetraining is worlds upon worlds easier than it ever was when we didn't use crates. I can also be sure that my pup isn't getting into anything dangerous or just making a mess. Quynn was always crated at night as a puppy, but he often sleeps with me now, while on other nights he simply prefers to sleep in his crate. I do still crate him while we're out and I'm not able to bring him(half the time I just bring him along) for the same reasons others have mentioned - so that I know he's safe. He HAS un-zipped his crate while we've been out, but he goes straight for his toy box, so the only mess we've come home to is dog toys strewn all over. :rolleyes:

 

My dogs are ALWAYS crated when traveling and are crated between walks, socialization and agility runs at trials.

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Daisy was crate trained until I could trust her to be in the hallway with a baby gate (ENTIRE house is carpet :rolleyes: ). We the slowly began letting roam free while we were gone, starting with a quick trip to the store and now we can go out of town for the day and she's fine. This took about a year and a half, but well worth the patience.

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I didn't answer the poll because none of the answers really apply. I always crate train puppies and crate them at night time and if I have to leave the house, but once they're house trained and past their chewing stage they graduate out of the crate and then they're never crated. I'll give them short trial periods out of the crate and gradually increase the time they're left unattended in the house. Eventually I don't use the crate at all and my dogs have always been trustworthy in the house for whatever time they're left. Right now of my 7 dogs, 6 can be left lose and one 4 1/2 month puppy gets crated.

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We got Storm when he was 6 months. We crated him for the first month, and he literally destroyed his crate, bent it to heck, and chewed everything close to it. We eventually moved it to the middle of the room, and he would jump around so much, and shimmy it over to the wall or blinds, and even chew that! Finally, one day, we came home to see he had escaped. He had the house to himself for the whole day. All he did was played with HIS toys! So, a few days later, we tried leaving him alone in the house. Again, he just played with HIS toys, and slept. Now, when we go to bed, he sleeps in the bedroom, if he can find room he will sleep on the bed, otherwise its the floor. When we go to work, we leave him out as well. He's been super good, playing with only his toys, and napping during the day. This is very rare, but the other day he was left alone for 9 hours alone in the house. He didnt even pee on the floor. Storm is 8 months old, and his behaviour is better than we could ever ask for. We just make sure to give him all attention when we are home, and he seems to love it. Its almost like he is trying to please us, and trying to make us happy.. and it sure is working! The more responsibilities we give him, the better he is to us in return.

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