How long is your dog crated for?

Well, here's my story.
I always thought that the crate was a "safe-haven" where a dog could retreat to when they dont' want to be bothered with the rest of the pack, or just a place to rest.

When daisy was living at my parent's house, she was crated durring the day. I think it was from 8 in the morning until about 3 in the afternoon. We got her a crate the size fit for a lab, so she is very comfy in there, no accidents either.
Now, Daisy lives with me at school. When I first brought her there, I crated her. Then, once when I forgot to crate her, I came home and everything was left intact. This may have been because we thought that Oscar taught her something- I must give him credit though, she does ask to go out now.
Around christmas-time was when Daisy started to get really bad when we left the house. She would tear up the couch cushions and jump on the chair of the kitchen table (if we forgot to put them back in) and grab food. I swear I thought the dog was going to die 3 times this past year from eating chocolate and feminine products from the bathroom. She was getting worse and worse.
So now we're crating her before we leave for class, and she's doing awesome! I understand totally what ashland is saying that I smile when she goes in there on her own. She's crated for maybe 3-4 hours at the very most. With 3 people living in the house, somebody has to be home sometime.
Daisy still kicks up a fuss when she goes inside though. She cries and whines and whimpers, and barks and scratches on the bars of the cage. She's beginning to learn though that she will only come out if she's quiet.
 
I really didn't know that crating was such a controvercial issue. I've always crated my dogs, but then again, it seems that the dogs that I have/had were always destructive. Hmmm...[8|]

I grew up the daughter of a firefighter.  I saw the anguish on my fathers face when he had to use the fire ax on a dog to save the children.  Daddy grew up on a farm and had an abiding love and respect for animals.....except the *danged* chickens...he hated chickens.
 
I haven't been able to find a job where we are now...when we move hopefully I'll be employable.  When that happens, as with now when I'm out, my dogs will be crated.  I'll come home at lunchtime so that they have a break.
 
For me, crating a dog is a no brainer.  They are safe in their crates and in case of fire, can be pulled to safety with no danger to a firefighter, crate and all.  At nite, about half of them CHOOSE to go to their crates to sleep.  For me it isn't a matter of trusting them not to get into stuff or having accidents.  For me it's a matter of their own safety.  But, I can't imagine what my house would look like if I left all six loose while I went out for the day!  Yikes!

my husband never wanted to crate a dog. Our previous 2 dogs were pretty good, even at a young age, being left alone.
He didn't stop to think when we got Sadie it was summer and my oldest son was home on school vacation so there was usually someone here.
Molly was destructive as hell left alone.
The first 3 months of having her my husband was home a lot so Molly got to hike, go snowshoeing nearly everyday.
When the DH went back to work Molly was not happy and took it out on my curtains, venetian blinds....anything she could reach came crashing down.
Once the windows were void of any cover she started on the room-size rug in the entry room and started teearing into that.
I had enough and started to crate her not only to protect my belongings BUT TO PROTECT HER!!!!
She had, one day, knocked a glass off the counter trying to get at the cat food. Someone stepped on it as there was blood on the floor but I couldn't find injuries on any of the pets.
Now she's crated when no one is here (she goes with us all the time if we aren't working). I have curtains back on my windows, the atrium door will be fixed (she pulled the wood slates off it). And SHE'S SAFE. I was so scared she'd swallow some of the rug and end up in surgery I overruled DH (which I quite often do) and got a crate.
She's safe, my house is safe - the cats are thrilled LOL

Max is crated on Mondays and Wednesdays from about 6:30 until 12:45, and on Fridays until 11:45. Wednesday afternoons he is crated again from about 2:45 to 5:15. Tuesday afternoons he is crated for for about 4-5 hours. Usually when I come home on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we go out for about a half hour. Sometimes he gets crated again at night for a half hour or so. Right now on Tuesdays I have to hurry home and get him, then I take him out and we're off to his class.
Saturdays and Sundays I work, so Max gets crated for 3-4 hours.
Millie has never had a crate. I'd prefer it for the reasons that Glenda has mentioned, but i'm not going to bother for right now. The dog we had before would go nuts in the crate and couldn't be put in one. She even somehow got out of the bottom of a wire crate she hated it so much.

Boss isn't crated anymore, but that is only after he proved himself to be trustworthy. I gave him free reign once and started crating him again when he chewed up many things.
 
I know I'll probably take flack for this since Gracie is so young.. but she is crated from 9:45 to 6:15 every weekday. Sometimes I can get away and come home at lunch, but not always. If I'm going to be longer at work I do ask my mom to come let them out to go potty, but she can't do that every day either.
 
They both have run of the house every night and they both sleep in bed with me. I get up around 7 every morning now that Gracie came so I have time in the mornings to let them play and get some running in outside.
 
And to answer your question Mic... I can honestly say that my dogs do NOT get the amount of exercise that your dogs do. Because of my full time work and school, and the fact that some days my illness keeps me from walking them, they get most of their exercise in my back yard. I go out and toss the ball for them to chase and they run like crazy. They also run and play hard together, but I know it doesn't add up to what you do with your dogs. It does work for us for now though. I hope to be done with my school in the next year and hope to do more with them.

Sam is crated for about 10 hours out of 24, but that is what he sleeps.

Shiloh loves his "HOUSE"  that's just HIS space to get away from the other dogs or what ever bugs him.  After we clip his nails he will stay in there for an hour, mad at us.  Tank on the other hand, we tell him to "get in your house..your wet" and there he goes.  Other than that they have free run of the house.  Molly has never been crate trained.  She is the Princess of the family and sleeps on her blanket all day.

Since I am homeschooled my dogs do not have to stay crated for any period of time regularly, which I am glad of. I wouldn't call my older one (she's only 3 though) Cassidy a house dog, since she loves to be outside a lot and I have no objection to that. We live in the country on 26 acres and she runs free out there whenever she wants, and has been good about not getting into trouble, running off, or anything like that. When she was a puppy we did not have a crate, but a small pen that was hers, but still she was able to run outside. Maybe this doesn't sound safe to some of you, but she is very good about it, like a farm dog! She's able to come inside whenever she wants( during the day she likes to spend most of her time outside) and always sleeps inside at night, in my room on her dog bed. So we never needed a crate for her ( while we were gone she was outside) and I didn't have one until last fall when I got one, just so she could have her own space in the house without being bothered. Recently though we have been keeping her in the house when we are gone ( not for long times, several hours is all) otherwise she will come along with us. For excercise I play fetch with her quite a bit, and she runs really fast, she likes that. She plays with the other dogs, chases sparrows, runs into the woods to chases squirells, or just runs around with us. ( Wow I am really sorry that's so long!)

With my 4-month puppy Mirelle, it's different. She's got a crate in my room she sleeps in at night, and during the day has one upstairs where she can go if she wants to. I haven't been keeping her in the crate much when we are home though, but when we are gone she stays in there of course. The longest we've been gone ( didn't mean to be away that long though! ) was 6 hours, otherwise it's more like 3 or 4, or less. Since I'm raising her to be a service dog, she is not allowed off leash at all, and so I tie her out in the yard, or she runs and plays with Cassidy-- with her leash on- and I'll walk/run with her a little,  but I obvoulsy can't go for walks  with her in the neighborhood like a lot of people.

 So I'm not opposed to using crates at all ( it would be very very difficult to have a puppy without one!) but I think it is ideal that mine don't have to be crated during the day, especially Cassidy, since it's good for her to be able to excersise a lot outside instead of being inside. She would certainly not be very happy in the house  all the time ( even after a lot of excercise when she's tired, she'd rather go lie in the grass instead of stay inside)  and is still getting used to her crate. So I don't think that she would do well with the normal schedule of a surburban dog. She's not hyperactice, but loves being outside ( I'm the same way, I geuss, I love the fresh air and everything [])

 Wow, I really did not mean to write this long. Sorry! [&o]

My female dog is claustrophobic (sp) She loved her crate but the
door had to remain open. (I do have crates by my bed with doors open.)
My male was crate trained but never in it for more than 1-2 hours while
he was in training.
When the dogs are very young  ups I sectioned off the service
pourch for them or bathroom inside the house.
When they got old enough they were kept outside in the dog run,
until they got big enough to have the back yard which was dog safe..
Not going to fib, their was back yard destruction until they grew out of it.
My dogs were house trustworthy way before they were backyard
trustworthy. 
I think crating is a wonderful idea, but to each his or her own when it
comes to a person's life style.
My dogs do not like the crate but I never fully crate trained them.
I do think it is important, for safety reasons that a dog does feel
comfortable in a crate incase an emergency situation etc.
(that's were I am at fault) [sm=uhoh.gif]
I personally would not crate my dogs more than 7 hours but that is just
my "personal" preference even though dogs sleep most of the time.
 
I have watched my dogs on my days off and they sleep most of the time,
but they still enjoy watching birds, listening to the neighbors  and chasing squirrels etc. through out the day.
 

Chase used to be crated at night and when we left him alone (for up to 6 hours).  He's no longer crated, except for a couple of hours at a time when we watch a movie in the living room and he chews on a raw bone.  I make sure to crate him for at least couple of hours per week so that he is comfortable in his crate if there is ever an emergency (like a natural disaster that requires us to stay in a shelter) or an illness that requires him to stay immobile.

We only have one crate--Smokey's.  He gets crated when we leave the house because he WILL destroy something if left unconfined, due to his separation anxiety.  The longest he has ever been crated was 8 hrs, and that was only a couple times.
When someone is around the house (which is usually), the crate door stays open and most of them take turns sleeping in it.
Bandit is the only one who absolutely refuses a crate.  He must have claustrophobia.  At 5 months old he literally chewed his way out of a chainlink kennel at his previous owner's home. (that was what prompted us to adopt him)
We have a large safely fenced  yard, and I wish on nice days I could just let them stay out if we aren't home.  I don't dare, though. The thought of them outside alone causes too many "what if" thoughts for me!
 

We have four dogs and seven crates... There are two small ones in the living room. Four size appropriate ones in the bedroom and one largish one in my work area...

I stay at home most of the time (not working right now) And I thought I would be all dog trainer all day... I was so used to running them HARD in the morning and really tireing them out for the day so I could work that I kept up with that! I love morning bike or skateboard rides...

I was shocked to find out during the day... my dogs are boring. They sleep ALL DAY! And if I try to wake them up to do training or go somewhere I get ugly withering looks and whoever I was pestering goes to the crate and faces the back so their butt faces out... [sm=blush.gif]

They may only be crated a few hours a day but they sleep like 18 hours... And a lot of times go inot their crates TO SLEEP!

yes, I've worked in a lab. I am familiar with animal housing requirements. A crate is not up to code for housing a dog for many hours a day. Even if the dog is exercised hard for the few hours he's allowed out.
I'm not saying it's bad to confine a dog, or restrict access to parts of the house-- often a very good idea. Confining an untrained dog is necessary. But why must you use a tiny crate for your hours of confinement? You don't. There are other options. More humane options. No one used crates until relatively recently. Crates are, I believe, still rarely used anywhere in the world except the U.S.
 
Those of you who claim your dogs just sleep anyway, why not crate? well, I videotaped my dogs one day while I was away for ten hours. Mostly they slept. But there was a surprising amount of activity-- moving from sleeping spot to sleeping spot; lots of gentle social interactions with each other; some chewing on bones; several trips to the water bowl; wandering around the house looking out the windows. They did not remain totally still for more than a couple hours at a time. They could have done most of these activities if confined in a room or x-pen, but certainly not if confined in a crate. Crating your dog is equivalent to chaining you to your bed. Confining your dog is like locking your bedroom door. Which would you prefer?  Which would you be allowed to do with your children? Think people. Don't just go with the current "fad" of crating dogs. It's a bad idea.
 

The entire above post is ridiculous. 
 

  A crate is not up to code for housing a dog for many hours a day.

 
Actually a properly sized crate is up to code.
 

No one used crates until relatively recently.

 
People have used crates (of different sorts) for hundreds of years.
 

  Crates are, I believe, still rarely used anywhere in the world except the U.S.

 
I grew up in Belgium and crates were frequently used.
 

moving from sleeping spot to sleeping spot; .... some chewing on bones; several trips to the water bowl;

 
My dogs do all of these things in there crates.
 

They could have done most of these activities if confined in a room or x-pen, but certainly not if confined in a crate.

 
Crating and confine to a room or xpen is the same thing.
 

Crating your dog is equivalent to chaining you to your bed.

 
Chaining the dog to the bed is dangerous.  The dog could hang itself, chew up the bed, destroy the matres.  It isn't the same at all.
 
 

Which would you be allowed to do with your children?

 
Do not personify your pets it is number one cause of behavior problems.  Dogs are dogs not kids!
 

It's a bad idea.

 
Crating is a crucial part of a dogs development and should be practiced by everyone.

But why must you use a tiny crate for your hours of confinement?

 
Who said our dogs crates were tiny?? Both of my dogs have huge crates. They take up one half of the room they are in. Many times at night when I am home they will both go in one and play together, so I would say they are pretty darn big considering one is a 60 pound pittie and the other is a rapidly growing shepard/husky puppy. At 4 months she is about 30 pounds. So that's 90 pounds of dog flopping around in their crate playing and having fun.
 
 No, I don't confine them together, but surprisingly they choose to go in their crates on their own to play or have special treats.