Puppys crate...

My BC pup is 6 months old now and an absolute diamond!! All the months of tearing my hair out is paying off and she has turned into such a sweetie.

I am now having a big tidy up of the dogs "area" and have decided to change her cage/pen set up. She currently has a 36x24inch cage with a run attached to it but She is spending less and less time in her cage as she is spending more time out with the big dogs. I have just dismantled her pen in order to clean it and am thinking of not putting it back on. She is only in her cage/pen now for roughly 3-4 hours in the morning while I am at work. When we go out in the evenings or weekends she stays out with the big dogs (I would leave her out all the time now but my husband leaves after me in the morning and insists on putting her away)

Will the cage be big enough for her for that period of time? It is the same size cage she has in the car which she shares with our other little dog and they spend all day in it at shows (minus their competing and excercise time of course)

Thanks
Rachel

Hi Rachel why not just use the run with a dog bed in it.

Or if you think your puppy is now OK with the other dogs (and not pestering the older dogs too much as some puppies do) don't use the pen or the crate for a day or so and see how it goes. You know your dog and how best she is likely to settle .

I trained my last two puppies to go in a crate so I had the option to use a crate if I needed to but I stopped using it all together as soon as I could and had a comfy bed instead .

The 36'' crate should be fine for a BC. Yes, continue to use the crate. Crates restrict activity which slows the body down making it easier to go without relieving itself. This is very important for the dog's comfort, even if it doesn't have an accident.

Mine only go in their cage at night, try your pup out that's the only way u are going to no
ATD x

Labman fortunately not everyone is like you. Most people here don't think a puppy should spend its life in a crate.

I would really like to see how you cope with being put in a crate for hours and hours and having your activity so heavily restricted as you frequently suggest people should do with their puppies .
I am sure I am not alone in this ....

A selection of Labman quotes regarding the crating of puppies as young as 7 weeks old. ..

Minihaha, you lack all understanding of dogs. You also badly distort what I have said.

In the real world, many of us work for a living and must leave our dogs by themselves much of the day. To the dog, being left alone is the problem. Being given the run or the house or even a whole room doesn't fix the problem of being left alone In fact, it makes it worse. The dog is responsible for all its space. It can pace around with nervous energy. The more exercise, the more need food, water, and most of all, elimination. Even if a dog manages to hold it, it is still very uncomfortable and needs to be let out immediately to relieve itself.

As I have explained over and over again, ''The dog may be happier in its den than loose in the house. It relaxes, it feels safe in its den. It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving its self. Dogs that have been crated all along do very well.''

I have also time after time, cautioned people not to leave a dog in a crate more than 4-5 hours.

What is important is to spend high quality time with your dog when you are available.

how patronising.

i would listen to mini's advice any day ahead of someone who believes keeping a dog like a battery chicken is the right thing to do.

and it's strange that you say other people shouldn't leave their dogs crated for 4 to 5 hours and yet you have left yours all day.

Labman see the quotes above from your own posts. You have suggested people did as you did that is leave a puppy in a crate all day from the age of 7 weeks. Ok you may have come home to let your puppies out at lunch time, then you put them back in the crate for the afternoon.
You also say you put puppies in the crate when they can't be watched, then again all night and without bedding and water. So tell me Labman exactly when did your puppies get out of their crates .
Puppies like all small animals need to run around and play not be stuck in a crate.

One more time, one of us has always made it back to give the puppy a mid day break.

So how about all evening and weekends?