to those who'd leave their dog(s) in a crate all day

[birdseye]

Why? If you can't or won't have a kennel & run, why would you even have a dog? Keeping an animal in a cage oops crate for hours at a time, just plain wrong

 

[Elktrack]

 

[SFC B]

I will say that, depending on where you live and weather, sometimes the kennel/run is not an option. For instance, we have a terrier and he does not have a sufficient coat to be out long term in very cold weather, even with the house in the kennel. I am home most of the time now that I have retired and can say directly that his mid morning to afternoon routine is overwhelmingly sleep. He likes his kennel and will run to it when it is bed time. Most dogs find comfort in smaller "den" type areas. There are many reasons to have dogs, dogs serve many roles and how they live varies greatly. Here is another example....turning a chihuahua out into a kennel in 20f weather is cruel, a Husky in the same conditions is in heaven. Working dogs (especially strings of hounds) and an entire other layer.

 

[Gellar]

I had a lab pup in my college dorm room for about a month at the end of the Spring semester. I’d take him out early to walk and do his business before anyone else was awake. It was working flawlessly until the cleaning lady asked me if I had a dog. I was honest with her. She just wanted to take it for walks on her breaks. Worked even better after that!

 

[thomas89]

+1 on crates here. For their own safety and my own sanity, my dogs will always be crate trained.

 

[CRJR45]

Why? If you can't or won't have a kennel & run, why would you even have a dog? Keeping an animal in a cage oops crate for hours at a time, just plain wrong

Tell the truth, do you drive a Subaru?

 

[cgasner1]

Tell the truth, do you drive a Subaru?

Yes I do and my Great Dane loves her kennel I built for her it’s like 4x8 with a bunch of blankets have to about drag her out of it

 

[CRJR45]

Yes I do and my Great Dane loves her kennel I built for her it’s like 4x8 with a bunch of blankets have to about drag her out of it

And I’m sure yours is a very manly Subaru!
My Weimaramer loved his crate at first , but about nine months he started having an anxiety attack and didn’t like it anymore.
After that, we left him in the back mudroom. Eventually, he outgrew it.
Tore the shit out of the mudroom though.

 

[bonedogg]

kennel trained is the best!

 

[Khunter]

Personally, I would not have a dog as a pet if I had to crate it all day. Just seems pointless and less than ideal for the animal. Live where a dog can reasonably thrive or get a darn cat or a bird or a reptile. flame away crate crowd.

 

[Steelsearchin]

Crated dogs can't get in trouble. Nothing good comes from an unsupervised pup.

 

[Hunting Wife]

Not everyone has a situation where they can have a kennel, or the weather conditions to leave a dog in a one. I also imagine being in a loving home where you are in a crate until someone comes home from work is better than being euthanized at a shelter because someone is afraid to crate train you. But maybe that’s just me

 

[Big Sky Guy]

The Greys have us all crate, I mean home, trained. We go to work and always come back to our structures. If we stay out of our homes (crates) long enough we get into trouble and end up starting wars and setting off A Bombs and such.

It’s really a matter of perspective.

If you can’t have your dog with you all day why do you keep it in a cage, oops I mean kennel and run, THAT’s just plain wrong.

 

[mtmiller]

I always have the kennel in the back of the pickup, but Slash doesn’t see it often.

And yes, that is a Mike’s. Never had one before and not terrible. Hopefully it helps me sleep in the back seat tonight.

 

[brymoore]

I prefer not to crate but must do it sometimes. My dogs are house dogs but must mature to the point they can be left alone at the house without me coming home to urine, feces and destroyed house. In the many pups I’ve trained it usually takes a year.

For the most part, someone is still around the house working the past few years. Pups are kenneled for 4-6 hour town trips occasionally. A full day once or twice a month. It might change in January to one or two days a week kenneled for 8 -10 hours. However, oldest pup is probably good without kennel, youngest acts like he needs a year.

I’ve done this to a bunch of pups as they grow up at the house. No issues. They eventually grow up to sleep around the house when we’re gone. I used to crate the pups at night to sleep which also works fine once trained. My wife has completely ruined it the last few pups by wanting to snuggle them in bed. Dogs in bed at night drives me crazy.

Anyways, my pups run into the kennels wagging tails when I give them Kennel command.

Note - I used to have an outdoor kennel run. About 7 dogs ago we stopped using it and moved all our dogs into the house. I prefer the closer bond of a house dog.


Current pups situation.

 

[Sask hunter]

Started out with mine in a crate for about 1.5 years while I was gone to work. I do come home at lunch almost every day so he gets breaks. After about 1.5 years started leaving him out. Within the last 6 months (he is now almost 8) he has gotten too smart when it comes to getting into food and trouble. Kept adding child locks to stuff but he keeps getting into trouble. So he now gets Locked in the bedroom. Once forgot to lock the fridge he ate about a pound of cheese and 2-3 pounds of summer sausage. Ate part of a can of hot chocolate mix off the counter once. Never even thought to put it away he never touched it before. Broke into the fridge another time and ate 2 pounds of jerky. Opened the pantry and destroyed a bag of flour. Got sick of coming home and cleaning up disasters he created while I was gone. We do have a fenced yard so in the spring, summer and fall I do leave him outside unless it’s too hot