Dog crates/cages

A pen is so much larger than a crate. You can get food and drink bowls in there and a large dog mattress. So much more room than a cage. It is somewhere safe to keep your dog whilst you are out until they can be trusted not to wreck the house whilst you are gone.

I’ve used crates with my last two dogs. Although we never leave our current one ( basically we never go anywhere anyway and she’s a bit of a lockdown dog) but our previous dog was put into kennels when we went on holiday and her crate was her home from home. Whippets feel the cold and, in a crate they can snuggle under their bedding. Never use them as punishment and if they show any sign of distress won’t use one. Only used to close the door when current dog was a puppy because she used to steal and eat virtually anything. Then one day took the crate to my partners, shut the door and she freaked out so never shut the door again. They might look like a prison to a human but they’re as close to a den as any dog will ever get. It’s in the kitchen and she lives on the sofa but if I’m working in the garden she’ll often take herself into her crate. Her breeder had several crates for the puppies to sleep in. Doors were left open. They had a solid roof and their mum used to sleep on the roof to get a bit of respite from them when they got a bit older. I’ve also got a massive one in the shed that I can bring into the house if she needs to be confined for a while. If a dog gets injured (eg cruciate ligament damage etc)and they have to be prevented from running around it’s good that they can be used to being confined for their own safety.

My daughters dog loved her crate. She was an excitable dog and had a crate in the back of the car for journeys but liked it so much that they got her one for indoors.

It was where she went when she needed peace and quiet and was her signal that she didn’t want to play or be petted. She even learned to pull her door to with her paw.

She was a funny little dog with a mind of her own🙂

Ours love theirs too. There have been times when we've gone out and not secured them and they're still in there when we get back, even though they could have got out if they'd wanted too.

I'm not a huge fan of dog crates/cages, but they do serve a purpose as mentioned above.
Our boy had one when he was little, but by 5 months he had grown like a horse and no longer fitted in it. He wasn't over keen on it, and rarely did we shut the door. It is now taken apart and we place the sections, like gates, across the door frames of rooms we don't want him to go into.

The cat, however, was desperate to go in it and settle down. 😆

Here

We use a dog crate for our two cats when we take them in the car. They snuggle up together and go to sleep a soon as we start the car engine. If they are loose they jump around and miaow and they are dangerous for whoever is driving.

We've always used crates with our pups, the breeder of our first one recommended it and all of our border terriers have taken to using them straight away. They're not for shutting a dog away, they're meant to be a safe place for the pup to go to rest and sleep by choice! We always use one in the car and if we stay away with the dog. They're part of good training not instead of it. They must be big enough for the dog to turn round, stand up and have some freedom, my DD has a Hungarian Vizla, his is huge!

I am not a dog person and get incensed by loose dogs in cars. What can people be thinking of?! I worked for a trauma service and saw injuries caused by loose animals in cars.

So, yes to crates in cars.

But the keeping of dogs is already a denial of their true natures as pack animals - keeping them in crates in the home just compounds that. It all seems crazy to me, and immoral to boot.

In Sweden and Finland it's illegal to use a crate unless it's for specific things like travelling, however, I wouldn't want to use a crate to travel a dog unless it went into the crate by choice in the home environment. It seems you can use a crate in both countries as long as it doesn't have a door so it is open, everyone I know who uses crates has the door open anyway most of the time so the dog can come and go as it pleases. Seems a bit cockeyed to me as you'd need two crates!

Crates are fine if left open and are a space for a dog to retreat to if needed. The problem is people shutting their dogs inside them. I’d say anything over an hour a day in one amounts to cruelty. There are some that shut their dogs in them overnight or all day. That’s a terrible thing to do to an animal.

Luckygirl3 Dogs have to be restrained in cars.
My daughter has a harness for her partner's dog. It links onto the seat belt/isofix (I think actually the isofix). It has been crash tested but ridiculously they ot test them up to 30mph!

Your dog must be suitably restrained so they cannot disturb the driver of the car. This requires you to put them in a dog crate, pet carrier, or dog harness or use a dog guard in the rear of the vehicle.

Driving with pets is covered under Rule 57 of The Highway Code that states: “When in a vehicle make sure dogs or other animals are suitably restrained so they cannot distract you while you are driving or injure you, or themselves if you stop quickly.”

You could be prosecuted for driving without due care and attention if your dog isn’t properly secured

We know someone with a small (miniature?) Pomeranian which they carry in a front facing baby carriers, including when they’re driving. I hope they get stopped.

Unfortunately loose dogs in vehicles are the norm round here as I live in a farming area where dogs are hopping about in tractor cabs and on quad bikes all the time.

Jaxjacky

We know someone with a small (miniature?) Pomeranian which they carry in a front facing baby carriers, including when they’re driving. I hope they get stopped.

They do not need to get stopped - you need to report them. Someone else's' safety could be in your hands.

Maybe it’s just me but I never liked to see any animal caged or crated.

When I was a child most families had a rabbit or guinea pig in a small hutch. Thank goodness most pet lovers now realise that is cruel. Same as caged birds. I hate seeing birds in tiny cages hung outside flats when we go abroad.

Maybe in years to come people will consider dog cages or crate cruel. We managed without them all our lives.

I used crates for my last 2 puppies . They honestly loved them. Even now at 9 and 7 years old if I get the crate out of the shed they both rush to try and get in together but they are too big now
They aren't cruel when used correctly, it's a space of their own and when you have a puppy and you need to leave them for a while, e.g. cooking they're safe

My brother and son both have young dogs, both rescue spaniel types, they’ve never used a cage, just spent time training them so they can be left. Like in the olden days!

I feel limited use of crates is very useful, especially in the very early days, big enough for a water bowl, a bed, a blanket and a toy.

We used them for both our spaniels, at night for the first couple of weeks, then limited use, usually with the door open.

We used it in the boot of our hatchback until they were fully grown after which time they used seat belt restraints.

Jaxjacky

My brother and son both have young dogs, both rescue spaniel types, they’ve never used a cage, just spent time training them so they can be left. Like in the olden days!

Precisely! We often see horrific photos released by RSPCA of dogs from puppy farms crammed into crates and the idea of putting any pet into one makes me shudder.

We trained our dogs to be part of the family and if you put a dog in a crate or cage you are doing it to suit your lifestyle not the dog’s.

I once put a post on here about a springer spaniel we had when I was a teenager. She came from working stock and preferred sleeping in a cooler place. I called it an outhouse and was well and truly told off for that! She had a big basket, blankets etc but chose to sleep on the cooler lino even in winter. The “outhouse” was an unheated room we called the wash house next to the unheated toilet we all used like thousands of families did in the 60s.

Funny how many considered that cruel yet think nothing of putting their pet in a metal crate! 🤣🤣

So is putting a toddler in a play pen cruel then?

A crate should only be used for safety reasons for the puppy/dog . I've had many dogs in my lifetime and never used a crate until I got my last 2 puppies , 2 years apart .
When I bought my oldest girl home at 8 weeks I already had a crate in the kitchen with a lovely bed in it. My puppy took to it right away . I used to leave the door open and she would go in on her own without being told, she loved to sleep in there. I had a blanket over the top so she felt in a safe place.
When my second girl came to me she was 9 weeks and she loved it too. I always used to find the older girl and the puppy curled up together in the crate , no doubts they both felt safe in there . Crates are a safe haven to a dog that has been gotten used to them in a kind way . My mind was at rest when I was busy with other things knowing they couldn't come to any harm . Until you've tried one you'll never know how good a crate is . My girls are now 9 and 7 years old, I've still got the crate in the shed and when I have to get it out both dogs rush to get in it together, it's hilarious, they're both much to big but they still love their crate. If it was cruel they would never do that . Used in the right way crates are brilliant for both dog and owner .

Unlike many domesticated animals dogs actually chose to live with us. It was a symbiotic relationship. We are now their pack and they seem to be quite happy for a crate to be their den.My daughters dog, who has access to all of the house, is often to be found under the sideboard. When I’m dog sitting I sometimes worry that I’ve lost her. It isn’t that she’s nervous, she just likes hidey holes. She no longer has a crate but it wouldn’t surprise me that, if she still had one, she’d use it.