Crating?

To me, it's simple. Crates/or room confinement (keeping a dog in one room) should only be used when essential for:
- Puppies....pretty self-explanatory, heh.
- Dogs with separation anxiety who would exhibit destructive behavior otherwise
- Dogs who are aggressive to other dogs in the household (crated/confined when not supervised)
I'm sure there are plenty more, but I'm tired...

Crates should not be used:
- Because someone is tired of dealing with the dog... I mean I don't see anything wrong with putting a fully exercised pup in there for a short time to give yourself a break, but it should not be a constant thing.
- As punishment. Good things should be associated with the crate.
- For hours on end while someone is home to let it out. That is just cruel.

Edited for typo...see said I was tired!

I fall somewhere in the middle. I crated Schmee at night and while I was away when we were potty training. Now that she's good with potty training, I crate her at night (so she will stay off our bed) and keep her in the kitchen with a baby gate across the door when I'm away. She's a chewer, and has some separation anxiety. If I even leave for a moment and she's not in the kitchen, she whines.

But I don't know if that's because she knows what to expect when she's in the kitchen.

I think crating is wondreful as long as its not abused. I crate Killian everyday while I am at work. Anywhere from 6-9 hours, with none or one potty break quickly throughout the day. His crate is in the living room, he watches animla planet and is perfectly happy. He gets plenty of exercise so I think he is fine with it. He always gets a treat when getting in or out of it too.

Being a person who shows, and thus travels and spends time in unfamiliar places that hold many stimuli, the value of a crate extends beyond the home. I am definitely not anti crate, any more than I am anti pinch collar or e collar...providing the owners uses the device PROPERLY and after due instruction and research.

I crate Casey while I am at work, or when no one is going to be home for a few hours. The rest of the time he is loose, and allowed wherever he wants - which 1/2 of the the time ends up being right in his crate!
We get up in the morning, go outside to potty, and as soon as I open the door for him to come back inside - he RUNS straight into his crate, lays down, and looks at me like 'shouldn't you be leaving now? I am trying to sleep.'
If you train a dog properly - lots of rewards for going into the crate, not as a time out space, etc - it becomes a wonderful den for the dog. It makes them feel safe (ie - during storms, Casey naps in his crate), it gives them a place to escape from other animals, kids, etc (again - a nice place to nap).
I think Casey would be very upset if I took his crate away. He spends a lot of time in there - on his own free will.

I'm somewhere in the middle also.
I only use it to keep her out of trouble when I'm not home- if she's left out, she destroys things (e.g. couches, carpet, walls, remotes, cushions, digital cameras). I would leave her free during the day if I could. 
She doesn't seem to mind the crate too much and will go into her crate happily when asked, but doesnt go in it otherwise.

Now that CoCo is older, her crate is barely used anymore.
 
However, I'm all about the crate when the above posters stated, it's not abused.
 
When we were potty training, the crate helped tremendously, as when she was younger and going through her "I will chew anything, including the wall, if I can get my teeth on it" phase.
 
I admit though....sometimes I did crate her when she became too much for me to handle at times.  I never used it as punishment per say...but sometimes when she kept acting up, to keep me from going postal on her.... lol
 
But everytime she got put in her crate, I did it with the least amount of drama as possible and with a kong filled with something.  She still cries and whines when I put her there..but after a few minutes, she settles down and usually goes to sleep.
 
Now, usually almost always someone is home with her...or if we leave for a short time, she gets full run of the first floor (second floor is gated since she can't go "down" the stairs.... going up is no problem...going down...is a problem.)  But if we're going to be gone for awhile, she gets crated.
 
If we go somewhere for a day or two, I bring her crate cause I dont know how she'll react in a different house if no one's there... so for her safety and there house's sake... we crate.
 
 

I think it is easier for little dogs to be crated than for larger dogs. Ole is 48 lbs. He has the largest size crate available, but he can't bop around it like a little dog would be able to do.

He can tolerate up to 5 hours in the crate during the day but that's it. Since I work longer than that, I take him with me to work. Today I took both the dogs because it was always Sofia's "job" to go to work with me and I hated leaving her home alone. It was stressful for her, even though she's SO GOOD and never gets into anything, ever!

Ole is crated at night because he is a puppy scamp and WILL get into things while I'm asleep. He's SMART. He knows about watching for his chance to get into something!

He will totally jump into his crate and be VERY happy when I toss a fully-loaded Kong in there. With just a chew bone he'll bark after I leave, but with a Kong he's happy for HOURS.

One day he'll be educated enough to know NOT to get into stuff (ahem, like razor blades) when I'm out. Until then, there will be crated times, and times when he goes with me.

I think crates are invaluable for puppies and when dogs like to get into things when no one's watching.  They're also very handy for dogs with separation anxiety.  And some dogs just like to den.  Legend hasn't needed a crate since he was well under a year, but I'll likely be getting him a crate, as he's wanting to den lately and I think he'd enjoy having his own spot again.
 

i've crate trained puppies before. they're very handy. i also had to crate Kaydee while she was paralyzed so she wouldnt just drag herself around and cut her legs to pieces. i didnt mind her being out, but not unless i was with her. she never complained about it and seemed just as content to be in there as anywhere else.

my husband's first impressions of crating a dog were not good. his mental image consisted of poor cute puppy locked in a box... when i explained its sometimes a good thing and the dogs often go to their crates themselves he didnt believe me. despite my telling him that the JRT i had loved hers and would try to stand guard over it if any of the other dogs went near it - eventually had to move that crate to a room all by itself.. she was a brat!
but when he saw Kaydee just chilling out in her crate he came around a little. but... honestly... i believe if the dog doesnt need it then you dont have to use it.

but like anything else... it has to be learned before you attempt it. i dont remember the guys name, but some dog trainer on Animal Planet.... his dog was named Duke... once did a segment on crate training a puppy.. i followed his advice and it worked for me. although i tacked on my own phrases... if i said "Go to bed" the dogs would all go to their designated places all by themselves. didnt have to shut doors, or lock them up either.

I am a huge fan of crate training and I will always crate train my dogs. They love their crates and I'll often find them in there when they don't want to deal with something (too much company, storms, etc.) and just want to relax. Even my puppy loves her crate already and she's only been here about 5 days. As long as used properly and with good intentions, crate training is wonderful.
 
Of course there are always people out there who abuse the whole idea of a crate and don't use it properly at all, but for the most part, I think its when of the best thnigs you can do for your dog.

My husband used to anti-crate, which caused a lot of wrecked stuff. After that, he learned to see the value of the crate. Now, we crate Tojo while we're gone and Loki stays locked in a room. They're hardly ever home alone, though.

Reasons for needing to use a crate:
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I'm anti crate,unless the door is removed and the dog has free access in and out.

In 20 odd years of owning dogs i have never had to use one,except for a couple of weeks at night when new pups arrived,and this is only if i absolutely positively had to.

I think crating for anything over 2 hours max is plain wrong!Dogs need to move around if they have/want to,pups especially need to stretch and move around freely,and making any dogs especially a puppy hold his bladder for more than an hour or two is unnaceptable IMHO.Sure some dogs dont have to toilet often,but they shouldnt be made to have to hold it in.Then you get people who say
"oh but my dogs sleep the whole time i'm away anyway",then why bother crating them then?????

I've heard of people who crate their dogs for 7-8-9 hours during the day and then again all night [:@] [sm=censored.gif] [sm=eek.gif]

My dogs have run of the house when i'm out,sometimes they sit on their window seat and look out the front window,other times they might snooze on the lounge,and if they feel like it go out the back and sunbathe.

I dont know if i've just been plain lucky or i've done something right all of these years,but i've never had any damage done by a dog,i've never had the need to lock one up in a cage.Ofcourse there were times when i plain couldnt own a dog,like when i was working full time,but i waited till the time was right for a dog to enter my life.I needed to work,but i didnt need to have a dog,as much as i hated being dog free it just wouldnt have been fair..

I really dont want this thread going in the same direction as the off leash one,but i just wanted to let you know that many,many people are able to raise dogs without having to resort to putting them in a cage.

Too many people think owning a crate is the norm and should come with every dog,when infact they should be used as a last resort method after every other avenue has been exhausted.

You hear of people who crate because their dogs would fight if left alone,or chew the house down and all manner of excuses.But if they were to be totally honest and unselfish they would put the dogs needs first and make the situation easier on the dogs instead of putting a bandaid on the problem by crating them for hours on end.

If a dog destroy's the house when an owner is gone,putting them in a cage is not going to solve the problem of WHY the dog is being destructive,it would no doubt make them even more anxious.If 2 dogs fight when left unnattended does putting them in a cage make them all of a sudden love eachother.??

Before my dogs were housetrained i left them in the tiled kitchen and dining room area(we ripped up the carpets in this house specifically for this reason),so if there were messess when i got home they were easy peasy to clean up.

Liesje,ironically crates and leashes are 2 of my most passionate subjects and we have managed to discuss both in one day []

I think for me, in a nutshell anything that stifles a dog or impairs it in any way or causes it pain i am pretty much against,such as crating,shock/prong collars,de-clawing for cats,de-barking etc etc Especially when it is purely only for the best interests of the owner,not the dog! [:@]