Hi Everyone, I am trying to figure out why we would need a create for Gaston. I do understand it would be useful for when we are not at home for him to stay in for short times, not destroying anything in the meantime (?). Leão used to stay in our kitchen when he was little, crateless, and yes he did do some damage there, so I guess that would be one reason crate. I also think they may come in handy for transporting him in the car but not that necessary I guess ? From what I have read on the forum, crates can be used for "potty training" as they won't pee and poop in them, but we do have an outside patio so I was thinking that I'd just train that giving him easy access to the outdoors. This worked for Leão. On the "den" that crates provides for dogs, do they really feel the need for that still, is not our/their home their den ? On the other hand, crates are not that big, from what I have been googling on the shops online, so how long will a crate be used for, a couple of months and that's it ? Can you please enlighten me with your views and experiences on your use of crates ? Thanks so much in advance! Carla and Gaston.
Hi! When I was getting Stanley I was against getting a crate. Not a chance I thought! But OH said no crate, no dog. And to be honest, in those puppy months it was a saviour. I never really used it for toilet training as such, we used to just keep an eye on him and take him out every 20 minutes and a couple of times through the night. What I liked was that I knew if I couldn't watch him, he was safe. He couldn't hurt himself on any way. Crate training was harder than I expected, but once it clicked he's always been fine with his crate. Sometimes, when he was in full crocodor mode I just needed a break so he'd be popped in and settle straight down to sleep. Or trying to out the shopping away, eat tea etc. It just eased up some of the pressure of those months. By the time he was about 9/10 months the door was open all the time and by 18 months it was completely gone. But I still have it - he stayed at my parents a couple of weeks ago and they used it and he still settled straight down. We got a 36" at first but he outgrew it by about 8 months. We ended up with a giant one, was supposed to be for a Great Dane, in the end and he still fits in it now. Every pup is different, I would always attempt to crate train now. Just for that little bit of reassurance and incase anything ever happens. For example, if Stanley broke his leg I know I could pop him in there and he wouldn't be stressed when he needed to rest. Good luck with your pup
It's useful for all the reasons you mention, though not essential. One of the benefits of a crate is if Gaston ever needs surgery and/or crate rest (though hopefully not!) he will already be used to his crate and is therefore less likely to become stressed if he has to be in one. A few years ago our collie-cross had cruciate ligament surgery and had to be on crate rest for a while. Thankfully she was used to her crate and she made a very good recovery, despite being eleven at the time. However, a friend's dog had a similar operation (by the same vet) a few weeks later and didn't have crate rest. Sadly she eventually had her leg amputated, but then managed very well on three legs. My younger lab, Tuppence, cut her leg badly when she was about a year old and also had to have crate rest. She's a lively dog but, being used to her crate, it wasn't too traumatic! I've also used crates for my dogs if we've been staying away from home and there have been more chewable temptations left lying around (by grandchildren!). I know that the dogs are safe if I have to leave them for a a while and won't hurt themselves or anything else. It's personal choice - mine still sleep in their crates at night and choose to use them sometimes during the day too. Sometimes I wish I had the space back, but I don't want to disrupt a useful routine.
I used the crate for creating a safe spot for our dogs. Our former dogs had been crated too! After 1 Year we decrated them, but not Finn. I decrated Finn since last Monday. He is 4 years old. He was destructive. And the last couple of years his safe place. He liked his crate very much. All of them did. When children are around or other dogs they could be in their safe spot or when they were so tired and didn’t want to go to sleep I put them in the crate and within minutes they slept!
It doesn't always go smoothly... Poppy was fine with her crate and was happy in there. Merlin hated it from day 1 and howled and yowled, especially at night. After SIX WEEKS of trying to get him to come to terms with the crate, he almost destroyed it and hurt himself in doing so. I took his bed out of the crate and put it next to Poppy's bed, and he slept soundly from that day on. Yes, it has been trickier being able to leave him on his own without a crate, but we got around that by using baby gates. I don't have anything against crates, if used properly, but some dogs just don't take to them...
I haven’t used a crate with any of the three puppies I’ve had. They’ve had their own beds ( though also allowed on the furniture and our bed). When leaving a puppy I made sure any dangerous things ( wires, sockets etc) were securely blocked off. I used stairgates in doorways. Molly and my first puppy, Jessie, weren’t left alone while small ( though Molly still managed to slightly gnaw a dining chair in an unguarded moment!) but my last dog was left for a few hours each day and did chew the settee. On the other hand I wouldn’t have wanted to leave him in a crate for that long. You can get panels these days to build a puppy pen of whatever size you want and I think if I ever have another puppy I might be tempted by that solution.
Our problem was that Merlin wanted to be right by Poppy, preferably touching her. Just having his crate in the same room as her didn't work - he needed to be able to snuggle up right close to her. Just having a bigger enclosed area wouldn't have solved the problem. Of course, the fact that he isn't crate trained means I live in fear of him hurting himself and needing to be restricted... And teaching him to be alone in the car for anything more than a couple of minutes is an ongoing task....
Thanks all for the useful advice. I actually wasn't aware an adult lab could be crated too, I was thinking the crate would only be used for a few of months (like 6 months at most) and then would become useless. Hindsight, don't fathom why I was thinking that. I see the point with the surgery or crate rest, (yes hopefully not, but still one never knows..)that's one I hadn't thought of. For when we need a break from crocopup seems really good too! If Gaston doesn't like it as Karens' Merlin didn't I'll just have to call it a day, but I guess it seems worthwhile trying based on all your useful feedback. Could you also please help me with the size, this is the one I'm looking at on amazon (in Portugal we have access to the Spanish Amazon, but albeit the language, I think you can at least see what it looks like). In terms of size it's XXL 122 x 76 x 81 cm Does this look like a good size for a lab ? It would never fit in my car though, only in my husbands van which is fine. Thanks again!
That sounds a good, generous size, but it will depend on how big Gaston grows! Both the crates that I use now are 90cm long x 60cm wide x 65cm high. Wispa's (yellow lab in photo) is rectangular box-shaped, but for Tuppence's the two shorted sides slope inwards so the top is slightly smaller than the base, a sort of trapezium shape if viewed from the long side. I used to use that one in the car for Wispa, with a slightly smaller one of the same design for Tuppence. One thing worth considering is having a crate with two opening doors, one on the short side and one on the long side. My original crates (which I inherited with other dogs!) only had one door, in the short side. It's much easier to access the crate through a door in the long side - particularly important for cleaning and/or a sick dog. It saves crawling into the crate! It's for that reason that I began to use Wispa's car crate for Tuppence, as when she cut her leg the box-shaped older crate that I used for her originally wasn't accessible enough. Just another thought about using a crate in the boot section of an estate car/hatchback: I found it very useful when mine were puppies, as I didn't have enough hands to open the tailgate and restrain the puppy - before it was trained to wait, rather than try to jump out for an exciting walk! There are special tail-gate guards which also provide the same protection.
I don't know if Zooplus deliver to you in Portugal, but this is the one I got - the biggest size. I used a divider when Willow was small: http://www.zooplus.es/shop/tienda_perros/casetas_perros/jaulas_para_perros/jaulas_clasicas/219795 With Luna, I bought a couple of different sized Ellie-Bo crates, one for in her puppy pen and a smaller one for the bedroom for night time - when it became clear that leaving her with free run of the pen at night wasn't going to work! For her, the crate was a far better option than the pen for nights, because Luna would toilet anywhere in the pen, then roll in it and shout about it. In the crate, she wouldn't go, I just set my alarm to take her out a couple of times overnight until she physically matured. I had to get up less than when she was loose in the pen - and there was no nighttime clean-up to worry about. She is a little freak, though, and most puppies wouldn't want to roll around in their own mess I wouldn't use a crate that large in a vehicle; it's too dangerous. The smaller the space (within reason) the better in case of an accident, as there is less distance for your puppy to travel before hitting the sides of the crate. If you want your dog in a crate in your vehicle, a specific car crate like a TransK9 one is the safest option. Other options, depending on your car, are crash-tested dog guards with dividers or a crash-tested harness. The TransK9 crate would be the safest - I don't use one because I don't have enough space in my car with three dogs, so I use a crash-tested guard with divider and my car is 5* rated in crash tests, too. There's a lot to think about when you have dogs!
Cooper and Tilly were both crated in the bedroom at night for the first few months. They spent the days in a puppy pen in the kitchen, and we let them have the run of the kitchen when we could watch them, and put them in the pen when we couldn't. (we still have a pet gate to the kitchen, but it is very rarely used. Coopers (huge) Crate is in the kitchen with a blanket over it and she sleeps it is sometimes. We never close the door though. Their wire crates were too big to go into any of our cars, except our Suburban, and I never had any reason to crate them in the car. We do have a pet divider in our Subaru, but not in the Suburban. Both of our pups were housebroken pretty quickly and didn't have many accidents after about 3 months. We have pet door from the house into the back yard, so as soon as they had the run of the house, they could go out any time they wanted.
Thanks Granca and snowbunny. Yes, I was considering one with the 2 opening doors. Yes we do have zooplus in Portuguese and thanks snowbunny I think I will order the same crate as you did, and the same size, so there, that was easy to sort with your help Good point on opening the tailgate whilst the puppy is in his crate so as he is not able to jump out Granca. Been there! I will also have a look into the crash tested tail-gate guards and harnesses. Gaston will mostly go in the back of the car as we used to do with Leão..
Sorry cant edit anymore as the 5 minutes are up, just wanted to add that mine is a hatchback too, and the dogs do have generous space in the back. The tail-gate guards and harnesses may be a better option though.. Yes, a lot to think about when you have dogs !
Just comparing notes on the sizes of the crates..so that I don't forget And snowbunnys' on zooplus would be this sized one: 76 x 118 x 88 cm (An x P x Al)
Thanks Ski-Patroller. I am not thinking Gaston would sleep in his crate at night, unless he wants to really. He could go in whenever he felt like it. I did not crate my previous dog, so I am not used to the idea. That said, I do think it may come in quite handy as you all pointed out reasons for so I 'll give it a try. I would like the dog to see the crate as a safe and calm place, so yes I guess it would be his den, as is put. I don't plan on the playpen though (?)
We really liked the playpen, Actually a folding wire pen in the kitchen for the first couple of months. Small pups can get in a lot trouble when you aren't watching them, and the pen can really help with that. We would let them out when we were watching and put them back in when we weren't. I'm not sure why we still have a crate set up in the kitchen. There are 3 dog beds in the house, one in the kitchen and two in the bedroom. Both Tilly and Cooper often sleep together on the (large) bed in the kitchen. Tilly won't go into Cooper's crate. Probably a territorial thing.
I have a playpen for every pup, for the reasons @Ski-Patroller gives. Just popping upstairs for a shower is a problem without a playpen imo! I smear something tasty in a Kong when they are tiny so that I can pop out of the room and they can slowly learn to be left for half an hour or so in the playpen. I find pups never play with toys when I’m not there. .
I didn't have a playpen for my first two, but did for my latest. I found it invaluable, and not just because W&S wanted to do away with the pup
I like all the benefits of a crate. But I would feel bad using them for our dog as he gets hot and needs to move around to find a cooler spot. As a puppy we used baby gates. And as an adult we put our bar stools across the (wide) entrance to the lounge, cos he sometimes digs in our sofas. He’s never tried to jump over the bar stools - he could do so quite easily.
Thanks everyone. Well, my son does want the dog to sleep in his room, (the first weeks he'll be in mine just to make sure he doesn't get homesick without someone there to take care of him). My sons bedroom is upstairs and the rails to the stairs are quite far apart, the pup could pass through them I think. Maybe the playpen with his bed in there to make for safer bedtime and no falling through rails or steps would be good. (We had thought of proofing the rails and stairway some other way with plastic mesh or so and a baby gate..) I don't feel comfortable with the idea of locking the dog into confinement "to and fro" , in between crates and playpens, unless really necessary. Does not help I guess never having used crates or playpens with Leão. Maybe just being silly and an idealist, dunno.
