If it works for you, good. I find no reason to do so.
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“Crate training” is not the excuse or reason for not training and/or exercising a dog. That’s just being a bad owner. Bad owners come in all shapes and sizes, neglect animals in many ways, and abuse all kinds of equipment
In general, dogs love crates - they are the dog’s “den.” But obviously no dog, domestic or wild, wants to be confined to a “den” for the majority of the day. That’s just neglect/abuse.
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45+ years ago, no one in our dog club would have been found dead training with treats, because, you see, those that do then can’t get their dog to pay attention without treats.
Of course, that was not quite so, but when you are doing fine one way, why change?
Then clicker training, operant conditioning came by and more and more were learning to use treats to train in a way that you could train even a fish to do something and the rest is history.
Practically everyone today trains some with treats where appropriate.
Similar with crates, they are wonderful for dogs in so many ways and places, our dogs loved theirs, it was their quiet, safe place to run to and stay there when the world became too tiresome.
It was also where they stayed when competing at the show grounds or in motels, at the vets, while grooming or boarding, one more tool to manage, why not train for and use it?
So what if a dog may never need to be crated, but if it ever does, it will be one more skill it has that may just keep it happy, not stressed over crating.
Crating is just one more way to manage, no need to be firmly against it just because someone doesn’t use it, when they can look around and see happy millions of others that do.
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What do you do if your dog has to be crated/caged at some kind of vet ICU?
Not doubting that you don’t need a crate-trained dog at home, as you run things. But what about extraordinary circumstances?
I only ask because I think about this as an extension of teaching horses to tie: Sometime, somewhere you probably will need that skill installed.
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By and large, I am with Pezk - (the minority here). I see the advantages, but have never used one routinely. Our dogs will go in one, quite happy to do so, but actually, only because someone gave us one and we store her toys in there.
I’m not a real dog trainer - I must try and count the number of dogs our family has had some day and they have all been
well mannered, pleasant and fit the rhythms of the house. We take them almost everywhere. I’m not adamant either way.
I will confess that I use one twice a day so my slow eater can finish his food without the “vacuum” eating it for him 
Aside from that, neither is crated regularly. I do have the “eating” crate under my desk and often if the door is open, I’ll look down and see both boys tucked cozily inside
I get not wanting to use one regularly. I get that they can be an excuse for poor training (although how is slow eating a training issue?). However, I also know that if either needs to be crated… workers going in an out of the house and yard, at the vet, medical issue recovery… I know that both my boys would be fine in a crate. Maybe not happy but fine. I wouldn’t be happy either as a BT bark in a home with a tile floor is quite the mind bending experience
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I’m with you.
I don’t crate train my puppies, I do as you describe with the addition of a leash tether when infants and a dog door they learn quick access to, and that method works perfectly for me.
Most recent pup gets crated at dog club during classes when I am walking the course and I have never had an issue. He goes happily in, waits until I come back, comes happily out. He didn’t need training for that.
As predicted, the pro-craters get very defensive when confronted with people like us. Insisting in ALL CAPS that their dogs LOVE their crates. Always makes me think they secretly feel a little guilty storing their dogs in boxes<–Just a little joke. To each his own.
Ps. yes my house has suffered some damage. Cest la vie, it’s part of having house pets. Sort of like having children. Or a husband. But dogs bring me more joy then either could
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That doesn’t make sense.
On one hand you are saying you are with those that don’t crate, then you say you do use crates?
As for training to use a crate, well, some you have to teach to, others just use them naturally the first time they explore one, because it is natural for dogs to go find small spaces to investigate and make them their own and rest in them, if available.
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Nice to meet someone who is another odd man out. Ive also used the leash tether method esp if i have a very difficult dog to housebreak etc.
Yes damage is done but the car/truck gets dirty from being at the barn too. Its all part of living in the natural world. You clean up when you have to.
Very similiar to having children or a husband but the animals can be easlier to deal with- agreed
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So sorry–I was under the impression there was more to crate training then just putting the dog in the crate and walking away. I guess that’s my mistake.
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Just saw this - i only ever had 1 dog that had to stay for a few days at a vet ICU. She was so ill she didnt care. It was lucky she survived. In those situations it doesnt matter.
i did use to board a dog at my vets when we went away. That dog loved them and the place. Upset she was not.
So you DO crate train?
Like I already said–I was under the impression that there is more to crate training then just putting the dog in a crate and walking away. Seems I am incorrect and that is all “crate training” entails. Ergo I guess I just learned something–you just put the dog in a box and walk away. Viola–crate trained. That said, I do not own a crate, I use one of the club’s crates when at class. I have never used a crate to house train a dog.
I wonder why people get all worried about “what if’s” regarding if a dog has to be in ICU or temp boarding situation and never been crated. Those venues crate train too–they just put your dog in the crate and walk away–>dog becomes crate trained. What’s the problem?
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One lady I knew bred and showed standard daschunds - she lived in a posh house and her dogs were crated all the time it seemed. Coming from a country background it seemed bizarre to me and wrong. The over-use of the crate stayed with me so I guess that is partly why I’m not sold on it…my own young dog is good in a cage, not ‘trained’ as such,
but she also stays in the small area in the back of my s.u.v. if I decide to leave her there and is quite happy. She will also tie to anything so I can go and set up jumps, or go to the bathroom, no hassle, just waits. Guess I’m ambivalent.
Ask the vets/vet techs. Many dogs do not find it no big deal at all to be put in a crate and have someone walk away - they freak out.
Some dogs/puppies need no “training” to like a crate, and others find it anxiety producing and need to practice, especially if they are separated from their mother/littermates at the same time they are introduced to a crate. That’s a big change…from a warm puppy pile to a confined space, alone.
Many breeders start crate training their puppies before they leave for their families, so that they have already been exposed to crates with another puppy or two in them…then alone for short periods of time.
Most people that crate train find that they are a useful tool - just like you have seen at your agility class. Especially if you have multiple dogs that are worked separately, they are invaluable.
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Ok, but I am being told by the peanut gallery here that because I put my dog in a crate at class for a few minutes and leave him that I do in fact crate train and they got me in a discrepancy posted on the thread. Color me confused.
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putting your dog in a crate and calling it crate training would be like putting a leash on the dog and saying the dog knows how to walk on a leash. Doesnt sound plausible to me.
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That’s what I thought, pezk. Go figure.
I wonder why people get all worried about “what if’s” regarding if a dog has to be in ICU or temp boarding situation and never been crated. Those venues crate train too–they just put your dog in the crate and walk away–>dog becomes crate trained. What’s the problem?[/QUOTE]
If dog behaves with simply putting them in there and walking away… then yes.
Some dogs take lots of short, short sessions… yours is probably getting short sessions… I mean how long does it take you to walk a course? Is it a *** course or just a lil TL course?
Putting them in the crate, walking away, and them behaving in there [ie not rocking around in there, acting like it’s torture, or barking their heads off for you…] is training.
It might take more to train another dog to be good in the crate… and less for others.
- After your dog enters the crate, praise them, give them the treat, and close the door.
- Sit quietly near the crate for five to ten minutes, and then go into another room for a few minutes. Return, sit quietly again for a short time, and then let them out of the crate.
- Repeat this process several times a day, gradually increasing the length of time you leave them in the crate and the length of time you're out of sight.
Because you will not know how hard it will be to get them comfortable with being in there the length of time you need them to be until you try.
Some dogs ARE easy to train whether to a crate, or to a command.
The Beagle I had, Joey was a genius, he was SO easy to train.
The present Beagle? HA! The JRT? Oy Vey!
Do your dogs come running when you start your feeding regimen? They are trained that what you are doing leads to feeding time.
My dogs know that the JRT gets fed first [in her crate because she eats fast and steals everyone elses’ food] then the Lab gets fed in her room, and when I shut that door and say ‘Come Eat Beagies!’ the Beagle races in from where she was sitting in the family room, to the mud room to get her dinner.
They learned this because it’s how things get done every day.
I did not intentionally train them but they have learned the routine… so they are ‘trained’
