What are we in for?

Pawz4me wrote:

WyoTraveler wrote:
TV works. Our dog watches animal planet. Dog toys work. Our dog doesn't seem to mind being left alone. We never put our dog in jail i.e. crate. Maybe that is the reason your dog barks. Our dog was crate trained when we got him. Breeders big selling point. :h. Once we threw away the crate and made him part of the family training was real easy. JMHO crates are for breeders and dog show people transporting dogs that aren't part of their family. BTW when Jake (our ACD)isn't watching animal planet he lays on the dash board and watches the people walk by.

Every dog needs at a minimum to know how to tolerate being crated. 'Cause life happens and sometimes dogs have to be crated (either at the vet's or at home) due to injury or illness.

I'm helping a lady on another board deal with this. Her Doxie has a serious back problem and needs to be on strict rest for the next six weeks or so in order to have a chance to avoid euthanasia. The dog is six years old and isn't familiar with being crated. It's a bad situation. The owner's failure to crate train the dog may cost him his life.

Exactly. I've always crate trained my dogs. It is a huge help when they have some problem that requires them being confined. Makes life easier for the owners, and the pup. What really stood out in my mind was one time Cowboy had a bad vestibular attack. He was crated at the Emergency vet. They allowed us to walk back and see him before we left. Some of the dogs in there were so stressed at being confined, I really felt bad for them. When we left, I told my husband I was glad that our boy was used to being crated. He was calm. Being wound up would have only exacerbated things for him.

Crates should never be used as punishment or for hours on end, day after day... but it is a definite plus for a dog to be comfortable with it.