Crate or no crate? Another question at bottom

We adopted an 8 months old puppy. He is medium sized and pretty much full grown. Mostly housetrained.

DH has had dogs all his life and I had them as a kid but not as an adult. DH has had only big dogs - German Shepard, Husky etc and NEVER crated them. He claims a crate is not necessary.

So my question is- Does a dog need to be crated? What are the benefits? I'm wondering if I should argue this point. DH says that the new dog will use a dog bed and a crate is not necessary.

TIA

Message edited 2/11/2016 4:10:33 PM.

Re: Crate or no crate?

I really liked using the crate for training our large breed dogs. But I think it also depends on what you'd like to get out of crate training- is this for night time or housebreaking or while you're at work? We did not crate them at night, but we housebroke/fed them in their crate and crated them when we were at work. Necessary? No. Easier? IMO, yes. One of them loved her crate, the other one not so much. For our pit, it was her space and she was often in there with the door open. Our collie mix, did not like it. We stopped crating them when we were at work and used them only for feedings when they were about 2 years old. When we moved to a smaller apartment, we stopped using them altogether.

Re: Crate or no crate?

Crate or no crate?

OK- he is already housebroken and was living with a foster for a few months before we adopted him. He runs to the door and sits when he has to go.
I mentioned getting a crate and DH asked why. So I guess I'm asking if it's really needed. If you crate the when you are at work, isn't that a really long time to leave them in a crate?
The dog has decided to son at the foot of DS's bed. Only b/c I didn't want him in the bed. However, this morning, DS was all cuddled up with him in the bed and the dog jumped down the minute he saw me.

Bedrooms are on one floor and living space is on the other which is another reason DH doesn't want to crate him. Just want to do what's best for the dog and make him a part of the family.

Crate or no crate? Another question at bottom

If the puppy is already housebroken, then the main perk of crating him would be so he doesn't destroy stuff in your house. He's 8 months old, so he's still a puppy. However, you don't mention any concern about him getting into stuff while you're away, so maybe you're lucky enough to not have this issue.

I also think just getting my dogs used to the crate was helpful for other situations, like when they need to stay at the vet/groomers and are in a cage. We also take our dogs to our parents' houses, and the crate means they don't have to worry about leaving the dogs in their house. We didn't have the crate once and my dog panicked about being in a new place, and destroyed their door trying to get out. I think even if you eventually don't use the crate all the time, it's good to have them used to it so you can always pull it out when needed. We had put the crate away for our older dog, but then we had to take it back out when he had ACL surgery to keep him confined. He was already used to the crate, so we had no problem crating him during the day when we weren't home.

When we're at work, whether their in the crate or not, our dogs just sleep. As long as they get their exercise when you're home, then 8 hours of sleeping in the cage is fine. When we're using the crates, my dogs know when I'm getting ready to leave, and will go in their crates before I even tell them to, so I don't think they mind it much.

Re: Crate or no crate? Another question at bottom

A crate in the beginning is used as a tool for housebreaking, but you said the dog is already trained. But like PPs have stated, a crate is also a good thing for the dog in general. It's their safe place.

My dogs (10 and 8 yrs old) still go into their crates for comfort. It's their "room". They have pillows and blankets in there. They bring their favorite toys in there. Plus it's easy when I need them away (Repair man comes, or someone who is afraid of my big dog) I just say "Go to your rooms" and they go right in. No problems.

You can see how it goes. If you notice going forward that the dog needs some boundaries and rules set, a Crate is a good way of getting that started. Not all dogs NEED a crate - but my dogs love theirs.

Message edited 2/12/2016 5:00:06 PM.

Re: Crate or no crate? Another question at bottom

Re: Crate or no crate? Another question at bottom

Message edited 2/23/2016 8:41:01 AM.