How long is your dog crated for?

ORIGINAL: Firestorm

What is wrong with asking others why they do it? And if they suggest to others? I am just stating that I do not find that to be something I need to nor want to do. I know people who keep there dogs crated for 20-22 hours total a day. I don't think that people would want to live that way. Each person can choose what they wish to do with their dog. I am agreeing to disagree.

Nothing at all wrong with asking. I think I was just reacting to the way your post was worded, and maybe didn't read it so much as a question, but more of an accusation - so I am very sorry. I misunderstood.

I personally typically don't recommend it to others, unless they are having behavioral or logistical problems. Unless they SPECIFICALLY ask me. I would never, for example, even begin to suggest that the fact that one who leaves their dogs out loose is wrong, bad, or unacceptable... nor would I chastise them for doing so. I will tell you what I do and why though, since you asked.

Ginger: crated most days during the day. Some times not. Some times at night. Sometimes not. She is 100% reliable in the house. However, she has arthritis, and sometimes it is necessary for inflamation sake to keep her from jumping up and down off the furniture all day. Sometimes it is necessary to crate her because she gets a little big for her britches and needs a reminder that I control all good things, including where she sleeps.

June: crated always when we are gone. Most nights lately has run of house. She cannot be out when we are gone as she will chew her tail. She was a kennel dog, and appears to get quite stressed out of the crate when we're gone. She also is severely thunderphobic, and MUST be in a crate if there is a threat of storms: up to 2 days before, and usually for hours after. She also takes refuge in open crates as she sees the need to.

Bree: crated when we are gone AND at night. If she is left uncrated she will eat things, and just create general havoc. She is not but just over 2 years old, and has not settled down yet.

Zippy: crated during the day until I know him better. He's only been with us a few months. He sleeps at night beside me on a dog bed on the floor. Sometimes during the afternoons I will leave him out.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, they are not all four left uncrated while I am gone to prevent fighting. Not that they are huge scrappers, but I'm not taking any chances.

I have never crated my dogs, but I have absolutely no problem if other folks do. I have one dog who goes with me virtually everywhere, so there is no need for a crate.

However, read on....

Sofia has a twin sister who is crate-trained (she lives in another state with my son) because she was going nuts and tearing things apart when he was gone at work. Because I'd never crated our dogs before, he'd called me crying in despair, saying he would have to get rid of Athena and could I come and get her and bring her up to Alaska to live with Sofia!

Using a crate was the first thing I told him! Of course he didn't know about that since we'd never done it, and it totally saved the day for him and Sofia's sister. Now she has her "den" (the crate) and happily goes there. It's her private place away from the other pup they got to help keep her company (that was a good idea, too).

I was going to post in here just to give the experience of a person who doesn't crate, just to add some balance, but I think it is interesting to see how two identical dogs can have different needs, crate-wise, with different owners. For Athena, crating is absolutely the best thing. For Sofia, it's not needed. BTW, I do have a crate for her if it is ever needed for transport. It's in the barn, there is NO room in my tiny place.

Everyone needs to do what is best for them and their dogs and their lifestyle.   i am learning all sorts of things on this forum, some I agree would be right to me and some are not.  I like the fact that we all can throw our two cents in.  It seems like everyone on here loves their animals and wants and does the best that they can.[]

ORIGINAL: Firestorm

Everyone needs to do what is best for them and their dogs and their lifestyle. i am learning all sorts of things on this forum, some I agree would be right to me and some are not. I like the fact that we all can throw our two cents in. It seems like everyone on here loves their animals and wants and does the best that they can.[]

On that, my friend, we wholeheartedly agree. See there? [] Firestorm, you'll do.

I crate train my dogs until they are reliable in the house. My 9 year old Rottie and 5 year old Boston Terrier get free run of the house but Shelby, who will be 1 in a few weeks, is crated when no one is home. She's house broken but she loves to chew and I'm afraid if I leave her loose, we'd come back to nothing but the foundation of the house. [] She's rarely crated though. Someone is always home and the longest she'd be crated is maybe an hour.

LOL Dogslyfe!  Just learning more.  I will try to word more carefully!  []

 Crating seems to be as contentious an issue here as raw feeding/brands of kibble is.  The OP asked how long people crated for and those are the answers that were given.  Mudpuppy and Firestorm I understand that you might think the amount of time I crate my dogs is cruel and you're entitled to your opinion.  I've got my reasons and crating works for me and my dogs.

I don't feel the need to defend myself but here I go...I work a full-time job about 40 minutes from home and I also live alone, so there's nothing I can do about the hours I'm gone during the day (and I feel a petsitter to the tune of $300+ a month is unnecessary and frankly I can think of other things to spend that money on).  One dog would probably be fine loose all day (and I did leave him loose for awhile) except that he sleeps on the furniture when left out and dogs are not allowed on the furniture in my house.  He also goes berserk at the sound of power equipment and in a frenzy ripped apart insulation in my basement during my leaving him loose experiment (during the summer he'd probably launch himself out a window).  Another dog totally hates the first dog and to leave them alone in the house would probably result in much bloodshed and quite possibly a dead dog, not to mention that she would get into everything.  Another dog was a kennel dog until I got her in January and she's much happier in her crate and even when she's loose I'll find her in there.  The last dog would probably be fine too but at the sign of any trouble would act as cheerleader to whichever dog was the troublemaker, thereby causing even more chaos.

My dogs are all very happy, healthy, well-exercised, and well trained and safer in their crates when not supervised.  All they do is sleep anyway when they are crated.  I guess a having dog crated 17 hours a day that was not paid attention to, exercised, trained, or even given a second thought during the 7 uncrated hours could be called cruel but that's certainly not the case with any of mine.

I personally would be quite happy to be left home all day to sleep with no one to bother me...

Unacceptable to crate dogs over 4 hours a day? 
 
That is just silly....
 
Would I like to live like my dogs do? 
 
First of all...I realize my dogs are not people. The number one cause of problem behaviors is anthromorphism...the humanization or personification of dogs.  Dogs should be treated like DOGS, not little people.
 
Second...I would love to live like my dogs.  Exercise hard, and sleep all day.  It would be a dream come true!
 
Third...those of you that think keeping a dog in a pen or a room is different than crating...well...you are kidding yourselves.

I am curious...

Those of you that are critical of the way I raise my dogs...

Does the amount of exercise you provide your dog even come close to the amount I provide mine?  I mean real exercise.  Not free time in the back yard...

No zoo or laboratory would ever be allowed to confine an animal in such a small space for such a long period of time without being shut down for animal cruelty.

So, you've worked in a zoo and a lab then? [sm=smack.gif]

if your dog is in a crate for longer than four hours a day every day this is unacceptable;

Well, unacceptable to YOU. [sm=wink.gif]

My dog isn't crated or confined when left alone, but I just think it's a fact of life in the 21st century that most people work away from home during the day and not all dogs can be left alone with free reign.

I know alot of people who take their dogs to Doggie day care while working. 
 
Mic- we all do the best for our animals!  And we all have different Ideas.
 
Not all of us are a PETA like in thoughts!

Very interesting thread. I was introduced to crate training by people on this board when Ash was about 8 months old. I didn't even know how to go about it, but I got a crate and went from there.
 
Ash is now a little over a year old and within the last month she has started going in her crate willingly. It seemed to take forever, but I can't hide the smile I get when she walks in there and plops herself down to sleep. Everything that I had read said that you should never leave a dog crated for more than 4-5 hours. This doesn't work for me at all since I work so far away from home so I have been very nervous about leaving her in the crate at all. I know it would ease my mind if I knew she was in the crate, but because everything I had read said not to do that, I've just been letting her free roam if it's longer than 4-5 hours. Also, she used to bark like crazy in the crate and I live in an apartment. She can't do that.
 
I would like to adopt Mic's way of thinking about this. It makes me nervous to think Ash would be in a crate for about 10 hours a day, but only because everything I've read has said not to do that. I'm just not sure if she would be o.k. She doesn't seem to bark anymore when I leave her. I hear her bark once and then she's quiet. Like I said, she's liking the crate more and more. If I'm on the phone and being too noisy for her, she saunters into the crate to get away from me. []
 
I think I'll start trying to leave her in there more often and for longer periods of time. Not all at once, but gradually build up to it. 

Shakespeare and Sophia are usually in their "rooms" (crates) from about 7:30am to 4:00pm M-F  Weekends only if we go away for more than an hour.  At night Sophia sleeps on my wifes head, and Shakespeare usually jumps in the bathtub after Im not looking.  Shakespeares a bed hog or hed be upstairs with us also.
 
Before Sophia we put Shakespeare in the bathroom, but found it trashed everyday.  Once we got Sophia we also got Shakespeare a crate, and kept him out of the bathroom.  That first night was a pain! but now we tell them to go to their rooms and just a little convincing and both dogs are in their proper crate.

Harley is about 6 and has free roam of the house, although I can tell you that when I leave and come home, he hasn't left his spot on the couch.  He sleeps with us at night.  Izzy is 6 months and is crated from about 7:30am until about 5pm and then about 11pm until about 6:30am.  We tried having her sleep with us at night for about a month, but she wakes us up and moves around too much at night still.  On the weekend when we are home, they are out and my DH has Tuesdays off so they are both out then too.  Izzy has a litter box in her crate since she is small and we can't come home at lunch to let her out.  My husband sometimes has problems with it, but we did the same thing with Harley, except that he didn't have a litter box and I came home at lunch to let him out, and he is totally trustworthy.  When they are puppies and need to be supervised, they are much safer in their crate where they can only get into the trouble that you have rovided for them to get into then getting into whatever they want.  As I said though, Harley usually hasn't left his spot on the couch from when I left...he isn't a puppy anymore and is past all those bad puppy habits, lke getting into the bathroom trash and shreddign tissue all over the house, or pulling kitty poops out of the cat box and leaving kitty litter under the dining room table for us to find later. 
 
Harley got free reign at about a year or maybe a little more.  I suspect it will be that long if not a little longer with Izzy since she is into way more stuff that he was, although, she has had puppy classes and is doing really well with "leave it" and some of the other commands.  I find myself saying them less and less. 

The one point I make to my DH when he resists, is that they just sleep when we are gone anyway, so why does it matter if it is in her crate or on the couch???  It just enforces the fact that we are the ones in control, and not her.  (We have a min pin who has a mind of her own)  When she gets old enough and can obey the rules, she can stay out during the day too!
Anyway, I am rambling now!