Another thread dealt with crating dogs and dog sitters.
I knew of one person who crated her dog when I was a kid.
When did crating your dog become the norm and when did it become so prevalent?
To me, you get a dog and you deal with everything that comes with it, barfs, hair, occasional accident and unauthorized use of the couch while the master is out. And those who cant deal with it didn’t get dogs. [and I guess dogs that were incontinent were PTS]
What changed?
I have used a crate to housebreak every dog I ever had so at least 40 years in my case.
I found this thread, http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?415536-Crating-throughout-the-work-day-(8-10-hours),
through the “similar threads” suggestions at the bottom of the screen.
So I. Will just read that, no need to continue with this thread.
nothing is wrong with crate training. it keeps the dog safe when you can’t. my dogs have all been crate trained and they are all excellent at going into their crates when i ask them to. it’s not used as a punishment. btw- none of my dogs have ever really ruined anything we own except maybe one pair of laces on one shoe. We do allow our dogs on the furniture. we do clean up barf when they puke. just bc we crate train, does not mean our dogs are never out of their crates.
Before crate training, they were kenneled or tied to a tree.
I think it’s a cross over (the crate training) from exhibitors and competitors. You go to places like that, you HAVE to have the dog trained.
My parents just left theiir first dog outside in southern summers while they were gone. My grandparents just tied the dog to a tree or let it run (rural area). I think I’m pretty happy with crating+training until the dog is trustworthy to not chew stuff 
That’s not true. We never crate trained family pet inside house dogs and we didn’t tie them to trees. No kennels either. We housetrained them and they had run of the house.
Perhaps crating keeps a dog safer but that’s sort of like the thinking that keeping a horse in a stall keeps them safer too. In any case, it’s not for me.
Edited to add an answer to the topic title question, I recall first hearing about people trying crate training in the late 80’s/1990ish. We actually tried it with a new puppy my family got around that time when it was the hot new thing. New puppy cried so badly my parents said nuts to this, ditched the crate and we all lived happily ever after. I still don’t crate train. It’s not hard to housetrain a dog without crating. People have been doing it for a long time.
I also find “crating” the family pet very odd, personally. If others do it, no big deal to me, but I don’t like it much. Feels like a cop out somehow, but I don’t have show dogs, ours live indoors, go out into a fenced yard/farm or on leashes if off property. To each their own…but my kinda-friend who crates her Lab 10 hours during the day, out to pee and poop and then into the crate again is totally whack.
I believe all dogs should be trained to accept being crated. Not that they all should be, but that they should accept it and not panic/stress if they are.
If they ever have to be hospitalized they make better patients and heal faster. Plus the last thing you want is to have a panicked dog that needs to be crated/kenneled for 6+ weeks post surgery.
My dogs are crate trained, but have the run of the kitchen while we’re gone. My sisters dog stays in his crate because he will ALWAYS find something to get into, food, garbage, medications, etc. He’s 11 years old. Dang beagle.
My sisters dog stays in his crate because he will ALWAYS find something to get into, food, garbage, medications, etc. He’s 11 years old. Dang beagle.
This right here ^^
In my house, it has NOTHING to do with pee, poop, puke or hair. It has to do with a beagle that will not hear my voice in her head saying “leave it” when she finds the 5,247th inedible item to eat when we aren’t at home. If one of us is home, they are out. They sleep with us, in our bed. They get lots of outside playtime and attention.
My first dog was not crated, and she was ok, but she was never the mischief maker that Ellie is. Merlin would probably be ok, but he actually LIKES his crate. As puppies at the barn, once they moved out of the house into a stall, they were trained that stall time is quiet time while their mom got a break from them. They fussed for a minute, then all went to sleep. Now, half the time he will sleep sprawled out in the crate with the door open.
Both of their crates are a size larger than what they “need” to allow them to really stretch out or move around. Their crates face each other. It’s also been invaluable for traveling with them, which we do frequently, as it gives them a familiar spot in a strange place.
[QUOTE=Horsegal984;7602674]
I believe all dogs should be trained to accept being crated. Not that they all should be, but that they should accept it and not panic/stress if they are.
If they ever have to be hospitalized they make better patients and heal faster. Plus the last thing you want is to have a panicked dog that needs to be crated/kenneled for 6+ weeks post surgery.
My dogs are crate trained, but have the run of the kitchen while we’re gone. My sisters dog stays in his crate because he will ALWAYS find something to get into, food, garbage, medications, etc. He’s 11 years old. Dang beagle.[/QUOTE]
I agree; we have crate trained all our dogs and crated them to varying degrees over the years depending on the dog, our work schedules, traveling, etc. We don’t use crates in the house on a daily basis, but always do in the car, so traveling is easier and safer…and my dogs will always go in a crate when needed. When I worked full time our puppies/young dogs were always crated while we were out to help with potty training. They often preferred to go back in their crate when they felt like napping and would hang out in their crates voluntarily.
I don’t know why some people think crates are such a bad thing. Like anything - they are a tool. When used appropriately, they are great. When used as a shortcut to training, or dogs live most of their lives in a crate…that’s bad.
I do dog boarding in my home and do have crates available as well as a room that is dog proofed with dog beds and comforters on the floor but it makes my job a lot easier if they can just be loose like part of the family. They are all loose when we are home but when we leave or go to bed I do whatever is best for the dog. Last night I had a dog that isn’t ready for the run of the house but would have barked all night in the crate so he slept in the dog bed right next to my bed while attached to a leash that is tied to my night stand. He was safe and happy because he wasn’t alone and we got to sleep because he didn’t bark all night.
I think the increased emphasis on crate training is an effort to help people manage their dogs and survive doggy adolescence! :yes:
When I first worked supervising animal shelters, many, many dogs were turned in because they were “destructive when left alone” and “not housebroken when left alone” etc, etc. In many more houses than when I was a kid (when dinosaurs roamed the earth) everybody is gone during the work/school day. Without some form of crate training or other confinement, too many people would be unable to manage their dog’s behavior adequately. Obviously this still happens, but it has decreased in my area.
I would say it was in the 90’s that I saw a real change in people’s attitude about “caging” their dogs. When they stopped seeing it as a negative or failure, they were able to develop a routine that kept everyone safe and happy. True, some kind of go overboard and never try to transition to non-crate life for dogs that could likely handle it. However, some dogs really do appreciate the security of confinement in a “den” when they are alone (my Aussie was one!)
So I do hate to see dogs confined more than necessary. And I do wonder why some people get a dog when they do not spend any time with it. But I think accepting the general idea of crating to prevent destruction or in stressful times has saved many doggie lives.
We use a crate for our puppy but I see it as a short-term “solution”.
There are times when we can’t watch him and we can’t take him with us. He’s happy in his crate. And he sleeps in his crate at night.
We are always working towards the day when he will not be in a crate at all. Our last Golden didn’t like that crate and so at 4 months of age she had the run of the house. Day or night; whether we were home or not. BUT she never chewed anything that wasn’t hers and wasn’t a danger to herself when unsupervised.
This puppy has a lot more confidence and will be in his crate for a while yet. I’ve started to leave him loose for things like showers, quick trips outside…just to see what he does. Basically, nothing. We will stretch those outings to a cup of tea outside and set up the video camera to see what he does when he’s alone. Most dogs just sleep and wait to die because they know you’re never coming back. Ever. :no:
My farm dogs live 24/7 outside. That said, they are large breeds with huge, fuzzy coats and have a communal tool shed filled with rugs and dog beds, inside a large kennel they get closed in only at night. The rest of the time they have the run of the whole yard via Invisible Fence.
Vet said it’s the best thing I ever did for them–they live as a “pack,” with constant doggy social life and therefore no loneliness or abandonment issues. They have a “job,” guarding the house and yard, which they take very seriously.
Once they sorted out their pack pecking order, they know exactly who they are and that I am their Mama She-wolf without question.
The only “issue” we’ve ever had is digging unwanted holes. :winkgrin:
BTW all were crate-trained as pups and socialized everywhere, and will walk at heel on a slack leash in public.
Unfortunately, I see rude, untrained, ungovernable, and obnoxiously behaved dogs go by here ALL the time. I think busy families without enough time to put into really being with and training a dog maybe should think about a cat instead. Dogs are social animals, and to live in isolation, in a crate or out, for the lion’s share of the day I feel must make them terribly unhappy. Then what do the people do when they come home? Shove him out in the dark by himself to do his business–and bark frantically to be let back in. 
I’ve crated every dog I’ve owned until I know they can be trusted by themselves. That’s for their own safety as well. Even after I stopped crating my last collie, we left the door open and she slept in her crate every night. Her choice.
We sold our house and moved to KY, didn’t take the old crate with us. A new dog found us, we bought a new crate…she would fight him for it. Not really fight, but herd him away.
ETA: She could open drawers. We removed the knobs, she could still open drawers. She could also open the refrigerator.
[QUOTE=LauraKY;7602862]
I’ve crated every dog I’ve owned until I know they can be trusted by themselves. That’s for their own safety as well. Even after I stopped crating my last collie, we left the door open and she slept in her crate every night. Her choice.
We sold our house and moved to KY, didn’t take the old crate with us. A new dog found us, we bought a new crate…she would fight him for it. Not really fight, but herd him away.
ETA: She could open drawers. We removed the knobs, she could still open drawers. She could also open the refrigerator.[/QUOTE]
LOL, Border Collies are very possessive of their space. They want a kingdom to call their own:)
I doubt that the op finds crate “training” to be the odd thing. I think she’s talking about the extensive use of crates with dogs. I think that crates are used far too much with dogs and didn’t know about such extensive over use in the past. Too many people crate their dogs when they are at work, come home, and then crate them when they are asleep. It’s actually quite troubling to me.
[QUOTE=Coyoteco;7602887]
Too many people crate their dogs when they are at work, come home, and then crate them when they are asleep.[/QUOTE]
I don’t understand why anyone would do this.
I crate my dogs when I am out of the house, but when I am in the house, they are WITH ME.
Doh!
I just remembered, there were no leash laws (or no one paid attention to them) and there were absolutely no scooper poop laws.
Roaming neighborhood dogs were the norm.
I haven’t seen a loose dog in my neighborhood in the last twenty years!
So there was a sea change.
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