To Crate Or Not To Crate?

[Guest Eyeblaura]

So Enzo has been with us a week now. He isn't fond of the crate but will go in with coaxing and lays down quickly and seems to do fine in it. Weds. my husband ran my oldest to school (20 min. trip) and he was laying on the floor sleeping and when they were packing up to leave he didn't even budge so he decided to leave him out. We have gradually been leaving him out for longer times over the last several days. He doesn't seem anxious for us to leave, does usually walk to to door with us but we tell him to stay and he does and that is it, sometimes he stops off at his bowl for a drink as we are leaving and he doesn't even acknowledge we are leaving.

 

So tonight we went out to dinner, gone for 60-90 minutes, he had a nice long walk today, was sleeping when we left seemed calm. We came home and he was a bit worked up, panting etc. He met us at the door as he usually does and I found a bit later he had destroyed one of the kids animated dog toys, it whines/barks/moves etc if "pet". He has gone into the playroom and pulled toys out and brought them in the family room before while we were gone, usually something plastic, but hasn't chewed on them. I don't know if this particular toy got him going because of the dog sounds and movement or what.

 

All that being said would you continue to leave him out and see how he does or crate him? We have a very open concept house and I cannot block off the playroom and make it off access. I can have it picked up and make sure anything we know is enticing is out of sight but I cannot really isolate him other than to the main floor.

[45MPHK9]

He isn't fond of the crate...

 

Then don't crate him.

 

If you don't want him to chew the kids' toys, keep them out of his reach and put away.

[Brandiandwe]

He isn't fond of the crate...

 

Then don't crate him.

 

If you don't want him to chew the kids' toys, keep them out of his reach and put away.

 

FWIW we never crated either of ours. It just isn't the norm here in Australia. BUT we've houndproofed the house (as well as we're able), so hardwood bowls, remote controls, shoes, boots, flip flops, the rubbish bin, food bins, clothing and so on are all out of reach. Food is not left out. We've also made sure that we've left their own toys out and about, and ensured that the curtains on the windows upstairs in our bedroom are left open (so they can see up arriving home). My precious toys (teddy bear, Hootie and Henrietta) are locked away.

 

We also muzzle when we leave which has reduced the chewing and moving things around to a certain extent.

[Hubcitypam]

Crates are vastly overrated. In your case I'd leave the crate up with the door open. Dogproof yourself as far as shoes, toys etc.

[Guest verthib]

Crate him or at least gate him. It's probably too soon to just leave him out. Also give him things that he IS allowed to chew. Kongs. Treat balls. Etc

 

Good luck!

[tydyelady]

You mentioned he was sleeping when you left - then when he woke up you weren't there, so perhaps that's what freaked him out? We always tell Opie bye, leaving, going to work (yeah, even at night!) so he knows we are leaving. We don't make a big deal of it, but just let him know, always say the same things to him. He always gets some cookies before we leave too.

And no, we never used the crate after the first few days, as he was so unhappy and broke out of it twice. Returned it to the adoption group the next week.

[robinw]

Don't crate and ask your kids to pick up,their toys

[BatterseaBrindl]

Don't crate and ask your kids to pick up,their toys

 

Yup.

[Guest Eyeblaura]

Thanks for the replies, we are not going to crate him just yet as this was the first thing he has destroyed and it was minor. Asking my kids to keep their toys picked up 100% all the time is unreasonable. I have a 5 year old and an 18 month old. They have a toy room and most toys are delegated to that room but I can't spend 30 min. picking up every single toy every single time I need to leave. Plus some of the toy organization is open shelving, doll house on the floor etc. that could not ever be put away off the floor all the time. My husband is going to see if he can figure out a way to block off the playroom so that he can't get in at all.

 

We do also have plenty of toys for him to play with, stuffies, nylabone, kong (which we will be stuffing before leaving now) and we have caught him picking up a random toy here and there (he seems to really like the wooden blocks) and have been telling him to drop it, which he usually does and then giving him one of his toys. Hopefully it's just something he needs to learn as to what is and isn't his.

[Guest SusanP]

Honestly, we have had 4 greyhounds/dogs at a time for nearly 10 years now (5 greyhounds and 1 shelter Lab over the years) and stopped crating after the first two months with the first 2 hounds. Then we got rid of the crates. Everyone has done just fine without them, and we seldom need to block any rooms off, unless something unusual is going on. If your guy isn't getting into lots of trouble, you really don't have to use crates.

[kudzu]

Sounds like you are at a point where you can leave him out of the crate but with limited access to the house. Close doors to rooms, use baby gates, xpens, etc. so he has access to a smaller area of the house that is has been dog proofed.

[Guest Psycmeistr]

We didn't have the crate when we first got Chesney & Conan, and they were under the terribly mistaken notion that the living room was their toileting area. Then we tried gating them in the hallway, but they broke through the gate and again decided to use the living room as their commode. It was then that I broke down and bought two crates, and we haven't had a problem since. For the most part now, the crate doors are open, except for overnight. I really think Conan could get along without a crate now, but our spook Chesney would go insane if he didn't have a 'safe space' to which to retreat. But yet I'm toying with the idea, just to see how it goes.

[Guest Geostar]

Frankly, I feel that you should use the crate, and muzzle(greyhound kennel muzzle) him as well. The muzzle is important so he does not push his lower jaw through the steel wire crate and get it stuck. As for his liking it,..ah..who is in charge? You or him? We always crate our fosters for the first five days so they can get adjusted to this new environment. If the grey does not like it, the muzzle on goes on...as we have experienced a horrible racket when those lower jaws get stuck in the wire crate. Our Maria did that twice as a foster before we adopted her. Now, I offer her a treat and she goes in, sits down and is awarded her treat. If we left the house, we would muzzle her and she would go in the crate. She isn't 'wild' about it, but, she knows that we are in 'command' and does know that if she does go in, she'll get a treat. We muzzle our two hounds when we are on on an errand or being away for a few hours due to the very fact that they can get 'bored' and find something to destroy and eat. Our Dougie had a whole used steel ball one day while we were packing to move to Oklahoma from Georgia. He began throwing up every afternoon for three days, until one day, he threw it up in his muzzle..4 inches by 3 inches! What a horrible 'stink' the house had for a short period..stunk of rusted iron!

 

IF you don't want to crate, then, use the kennel muzzle. You don't want to dog to eat something and later have to have some surgery done..

 

Hope that helps..

=star

[Guest SusanP]

I don't know that being in charge is the issue here, and you can still be in charge while making life pleasant for your dog. If something makes my dogs unhappy, I see if I can find a different way to do things, if possible. The main issue here sounds like it's safety for the dog because of small children's toys. When our kids were little, we simply kept the rooms to their doors shut to keep the dogs from "shopping". And we all picked up our stuff elsewhere out of concern for the dogs. And remember that even if a dog has a stealing and or chewing issue early on, that often changes as they get more used to the home.

[revamp]

There are those dogs that will injure themselves and physically destroy a crate trying to get out of it, but are fine and well-behaved if left out of the crate. In these cases it's a no-brainer to just go with the flow and ditch the crate, unless you care to spend serious time and effort (and possibly money) helping the dog through the underlying issues that cause the panic in the crate.

 

For dogs that simply don't care for the crate...well it's my opinion that it's my house--my rules. I don't care if they are reasonably well-behaved if left alone in the house. If I feel it is safer for my dogs to be crated in my absence, then in the crate is where they will be whether they pout about it or not.

 

Especially considering that whether they are in a crate or not 3/4 of the time they'll be sleeping what difference does it make whether they are sleeping on a bed in the livingroom or sleeping on a bed in their crate? The crate removes nearly all chances of the dog unexpectedly getting themselves into trouble in the house.

 

In the decades I've owned dogs, I have both crated and not crated and can see both sides. I don't feel, however, that people looking for advice should be made to feel guilty because they choose to crate--no matter the reasons. I'm new here, but I have definitely seen some strong anti-crate bias which I feel is unfair to others who love their dogs just as much as anyone else here and is only looking to care for them in the best manner possible. For some, that equals crating.

[GeorgeofNE]

We had a rule when I was a kid; if we left it out, and the dog got it, we were in trouble, not the dog. If you're not going to be able to keep the toys picked up, there has to be some way to close off just the play room. He sounds like he's doing fine, really!

 

For what it's worth--don't tell him "stay" when you go out. What choice does he have? Tell him something like "see you later." Stay is a command you will want him to learn--and it does mean "you stay here in the house and walk around and such while we're gone." It means "stay right in that spot until I tell you you can move." Just a minor thing to consider!

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Thanks for the replies, we are not going to crate him just yet as this was the first thing he has destroyed and it was minor. Asking my kids to keep their toys picked up 100% all the time is unreasonable. I have a 5 year old and an 18 month old. They have a toy room and most toys are delegated to that room but I can't spend 30 min. picking up every single toy every single time I need to leave. Plus some of the toy organization is open shelving, doll house on the floor etc. that could not ever be put away off the floor all the time. My husband is going to see if he can figure out a way to block off the playroom so that he can't get in at all.

 

We do also have plenty of toys for him to play with, stuffies, nylabone, kong (which we will be stuffing before leaving now) and we have caught him picking up a random toy here and there (he seems to really like the wooden blocks) and have been telling him to drop it, which he usually does and then giving him one of his toys. Hopefully it's just something he needs to learn as to what is and isn't his.

 

 

So it is not "reasonable" to keep your hound safe? If your hound has chewed something inappropriate, that means he will probably do it again. What happens next time when one of your kid's smaller toys gets eaten and you don't realize it because it wasn't chewed up? I will tell you what will happen:

you will not notice anything for the first day or two, then your hound may start to puke up food 3-5 hours after eating. You wont think anything of it, until your dog starts having diarrhea. The big "d" plus puking continues, you go to the vet because your hound just doesn't feel like eating anymore. Your vet does an x-ray and tells you that your hound has a blockage and it may or may not survive because the blockage has been there a while and parts of your hound's intestinal track has died from lack of blood.

 

Seems extreme, yes, but guess what, it has happened to me with a foster. If you don't feel the need to pick everything up, at least muzzle your hound to help the situation. My foster that nearly died actually ate a sock through the muzzle, so that wont even prove safe in some situations.

 

Chad

[muddgirl]

What we do is leave Batman uncrated, but we restrict access to just our main greatroom and don't allow him into the bedrooms/playrooms while we're gone. Simply shut the door (if possible) or invest in some baby/dog gates. We went from coming home to destroyed objects every day to little or no destruction (sometimes he finds a napkin or a paper towel that we left out).

 

Edited to add: The reason we decided to stop crating Batman, at the advice of our adoption group, is because Batman violently escaped from his crate, injuring himself in the process.

Edited January 16, 2012 by muddgirl

[Guest Eyeblaura]

Thanks for all the constructive criticism. Chad, I do want to keep my dog (and my belongings safe) and if it comes to keeping him crated while we are gone to accomplish that, then that is what we will do. I would prefer to leave him uncrated but we certainly aren't afraid to if we need too. Our previous dog (not a greyhound) was a rescue that had major SA and unfortunately even with LOTS of alone time training (before we had kids) and trying some meds. we could never trust her in our home alone because she would get destructive.

 

I would prefer to leave him uncrated if he is happier that way and can be trusted. I feel I can assert my dominant position in ways other than confining him to a crate.

 

All that being said I pulled out the largest baby gate I have currently, which is a mesh type gate that is adjustable to up to 5 feet. Unfortunately the doorway is about 6 feet wide. So I put it up this morning with a cardboard box in the extra foot of space and just leaned the gate against the wall and box. We were gone about 2 hours, he could have easily pushed the gate down had he really wanted too but he did not and he was fine and calm when we got home.

 

He has not shown any other destructive behavior, hasn't pooped or peed in the house at all. Hasn't gotten into the trash bin or taken anything off the counter (although we are sure there is no food left out while we are gone). So for now we are going to try to keep the playroom blocked off and make sure all the toys are confined in there when we are gone and see how it goes. The upstairs is already gated and my bathroom and laundry room doors on the main floor are always closed to keep my youngest out anyway. So that will give him the kitchen, great room and dining room. I really think/hope the toy was just to enticing with all it's dog noises, he probably didn't know what to make of it. Lesson learned on our behalf.

 

Susan thanks for the tip about "stay", good point.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Eyeblaura

[Guest Psycmeistr]

We had a rule when I was a kid; if we left it out, and the dog got it, we were in trouble, not the dog. If you're not going to be able to keep the toys picked up, there has to be some way to close off just the play room. He sounds like he's doing fine, really!

 

For what it's worth--don't tell him "stay" when you go out. What choice does he have? Tell him something like "see you later." Stay is a command you will want him to learn--and it does mean "you stay here in the house and walk around and such while we're gone." It means "stay right in that spot until I tell you you can move." Just a minor thing to consider!

 

I always tell my dogs, "Guard the house"

[kudzu]

I always tell my dogs, "Guard the house"

I tell mine to "have a boring day." I don't like the way the house looks when they've been having too much fun.

[Guest verthib]

Thanks for the replies, we are not going to crate him just yet as this was the first thing he has destroyed and it was minor. Asking my kids to keep their toys picked up 100% all the time is unreasonable. I have a 5 year old and an 18 month old. They have a toy room and most toys are delegated to that room but I can't spend 30 min. picking up every single toy every single time I need to leave. Plus some of the toy organization is open shelving, doll house on the floor etc. that could not ever be put away off the floor all the time. My husband is going to see if he can figure out a way to block off the playroom so that he can't get in at all.

 

We do also have plenty of toys for him to play with, stuffies, nylabone, kong (which we will be stuffing before leaving now) and we have caught him picking up a random toy here and there (he seems to really like the wooden blocks) and have been telling him to drop it, which he usually does and then giving him one of his toys. Hopefully it's just something he needs to learn as to what is and isn't his.

 

If you're against crating, gating him is the next best thing while he adjusts. You could get a gate that has an easy open door. That's what we have. They are not allowed in the den. At least gate the play room off so he doesn't chew toys. Set him up for success.

Edited January 17, 2012 by verthib

[OwnedBySummer]

Another thing you can use is the plastic lattice from Home Depot or Lowe's (the wood lattice is heavier and has rough edges). We use a piece of white plastic lattice in the double french doors to our family room on the rare occasion when we need to confine Summer. Lean it into position on the side the dog is on and, unless he works at it, it will stay up. This will let you block off a much wider doorway. If it is a really wide doorway, a chair or something in the middle on the other side would help support it.

[Guest verthib]

Another thing you can use is the plastic lattice from Home Depot or Lowe's (the wood lattice is heavier and has rough edges). We use a piece of white plastic lattice in the double french doors to our family room on the rare occasion when we need to confine Summer. Lean it into position on the side the dog is on and, unless he works at it, it will stay up. This will let you block off a much wider doorway. If it is a really wide doorway, a chair or something in the middle on the other side would help support it.

 

Sorry but that makes me laugh. The leaning up lattice would be laying on the floor in 5 minutes with my two hounds. I think gates are more secure. And we tried chairs and they just pushed them out of the way. My two are pretty determined, especially Angus, and particularly when there could be food on the other side....like cat food in the den.

[Guest Eyeblaura]

Another thing you can use is the plastic lattice from Home Depot or Lowe's (the wood lattice is heavier and has rough edges). We use a piece of white plastic lattice in the double french doors to our family room on the rare occasion when we need to confine Summer. Lean it into position on the side the dog is on and, unless he works at it, it will stay up. This will let you block off a much wider doorway. If it is a really wide doorway, a chair or something in the middle on the other side would help support it.

 

 

Great idea! It is a really wide door. I know I can special order a gate wide enough but it won't come cheap. I used a gate that wasn't quite wide enough and a box inserted in the extra foot gap today. The gate was just leaning so he could have easily knocked it down if he wanted but he didn't even touch it. A piece of lattice would work well I think.