When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

We do because Bailey cannot be trusted but it upsets me sooo much. We also can't put anything in his cage because he either shreds it or poops on it.

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

hmm. I think we put Loki's favourite toy in his cage to stop him from pooping in there.

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

MIsty stays in the crate when we go to work. We have tried numerous times leaving her out, but always come home to either a chewed comforter or pillow(usually a sofa cushion). We think she just gets bored and restless when she is loose, so it's safer all around to keep her in her crate. We do have a water bowl and old blankets with her. If she chews the old blankets, we don't care.

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

We block off a room in our apartment for him during the day. We put out his bed, some toys and water for him. We used to include a wee wee pad too, but now he's off that. He seems content!

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

We crated Casey while we were at work from age 10 weeks to 1.5 yrs old. She could not be trusted and for her own safety and the safety of our furniture! we decided to do it. Gradually we started to leave her out of the crate on the weekends while we went to the store, movies, etc. and began to trust her. For about the past 4 months we have been leaving her out completely - first floor of the house only, with the dining room and formal living room gated off. She stays in the TV room and kitchen. I think all she really does is look out the window for squirrels, takes a nap, goes to get some water and probably tries to bug her cat brothers I feel so much better that we can leave her out now but it did kill me at first. But you know what, she is totally housebroken and even likes her crate...esp during thunderstorms, etc that is the first place she goes. It is worth it in the end.

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

My dog chews anything small he can find. The house is basically baby proofed but he is gated in the kitchen when we are gone. We don't want him to choke on something or get a blockage in his stomach. He is reliable with potty, so that is not the issue.

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

We do.

But honestly, I don't think of it as a "cage". We kid around and call it her condo. She has something to sleep on in there and will go in willingly when you tell her it is time.

We have been doing this since we got her when she was just about 4 months old.

Its not my favorite thing in the world, but she doesn't really mind and doesn't think of it as a punishment at all.

Message edited 12/2/2006 4:27:57 PM.

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

Sandy was crated for a while (probably until she was 2 or so)...she now has free roam of the house. I think she lays in our bed all day when we are not home

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

NO cage. I just couldnt do it. I put up a baby gate so he cant go in the living room and dining room when we are not home.

I think its great to crate train.. but not for too many hours i read 3-4 would be the MAX. hours a puppy to be caged. If he/she is pooping.. its too long.. he/she cant hold it.

I was lucky to have the summer off when we got baiely this past summer.

Maybe you can have someone let her out at lunch or hire a dog walker. Can you block her off in the kitchen or other area of the house??

Make sure you walk him/her too before you leave. I hate waking up at 6am some mornings... but if I dont walk him before I leave.. I know he has energy and I dont want him alone in the house with nothing to do with his energy.

Message edited 12/3/2006 2:34:01 PM.

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

No, Gizmo has free roam of the house except our bedroom.
Lucky for us, we got Gizmo the summer before 6th grade, so I had a whole summer home with him to train him. He is almost 15 years old now and is still a good boy when we go to work.

However, for my next dog I don't know how we will be able to train them with both of us working f/t. A crate might be an option then.

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

When our dog, also named Bailey, was younger we used to. When he got older we confined him to one room (the den), and now he has free roam of the main level. He couldn't be trusted alone either. The trainer actually said that it's like leaving a baby unattended when they are home alone, so it's really for their own protection. We used to put a toy in for him too and made sure he got lots of love when we got home.

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

Lacie has free roam of the house (except the bedrooms since we keep the doors closed). She is really good all day. We are very lucky. Her previous owners told us they started crating her and slowly trained her to be out of it.

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

No we have the kicthen and Living room blocked off so she can only get into those two rooms while we are gone and she does great this way.

We crated her for maybe a week when we first got her, but she would cry and cry all day long accoridng to our neighbors, we had to take her out.

Then we tried just the kitchen and eventually the two rooms.

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

Diesel has free range
Maximus is kennel trained...although he did get out the other day! and when I came home it looked like we were ransacked! (ok so I may have forgotten to lock the kennel door before I left) I learned my lesson...he is obviously not ready to have freedom. We also can not leave anything in or near the kennel such as clothing because he will shred it (he is only allowed the kong)

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

Ok. I have felt really bad about putting him in the cage. I decided to slowly try and keep him out for longer periods of time when we are not home.

Well, he ate my Ralph Lauren Sweater!!!!!! I guess it's my fault because I should have put it high enough up so he couldn't get it.

It is just sooooo annoying

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

As far as I know the signs your dog is exhibiting is probably separation anxiety. I have two large dogs and they NEVER destroy anything in my house. However when they were puppies, we did crate and blockade them in the beginning and slowly gave them more freedom. When we got our second dog, my DH would hid outisde and look in th windows so he could catch him in the act if he did anything bad(he is a food scavenger so he eats our other dogs food or has gotten into the garbage. A couple of times getting caught and shown that was wrong he really doesn't do it anymore.

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

No, he roams around the first floor of our home. We put a gate at the bottom of the staircase so he can't go upstairs. We also leave a wee wee pad down in the kitchen.

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

No, but we adopted Fergus as an older dog, so he was already trained to use wee wee pads. However, since he is old, we barricade the stairs (we have a split level) so he does not hurt himself. He has the kitchen and LR to roam around, it's enough space and he has two beds to choose from. He's not a chewer (he has only 4 teeth) and he sleeps most of the day.

Message edited 12/4/2006 4:40:45 PM.

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

we have to put chester in his crate when we're not home. if we don't , its not safe becasue he gets into things and eats things that he shouldn't ( the one time we left him out, he got up on the table and ate half a tray of brownies!!! )
he gets a little upset when we put him in there, but he has his favorite blanket and a toy in there- and i think he ends up just sleeping all day.(i telll him doesn't know how good he has it!!) plus, i'm a teacher so i'm home by 4 every day so its not like hes in there for 10 hours a day... i think you have to do whats best for the dog and your house LOL

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

Nope Otis is very trained and plus my husband goes home for lunch everyday to let him out. Otherwise he has free roam of the house!!

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

We just did this for the first time yesterday. He hadn't been alone before. He has a "nursery" room...LOL It's our guest bedroom, we open the shades all the way (he loves the sun something crazy) and put all his toys in there, his bed & blanket, his crate (open), his mattress and another blanket. We kept the door open and put a gate so that he could see out and not feel closed in.

He was sooo happy there.

He's there right now actually, and I can't hear a peep. He plays, goes to sleep.

And he only had 2 accidents yesterday (we're housebreaking him).

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?

We crate both our pups, in seperate crates when we're gone. Its really their safe place. The older one will go in hers when she's tired just to have a place to rest. To me its the easiest way to potty train and keeps them safe. The few times I left the older one out she's been good, but I just feel better actually knowing she's not going to hurt herself with some random accident.

Re: When you go to work do you put your dog in a cage?