Housebreaking a puppy...

If thats the case then should people have dogs if they cant give their full attention? To me its like having a child

http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/cratetraining.htm
http://www.perfectpaws.com/crt.html
http://www.cuhumane.org/topics/crate.html

Cruel and unnecessary.

I am and will be judgemental about something that's created for people that are too lazy to train their dogs the right way. What's next? Electric shock collars?

Ice

I've typed up a long response and explanation twice now and the freaking thing locked.

Do you consider a crib/playpen a cruel and unusual punishment for a baby/toddler? A crate is the dog version of a playpen, if used correctly.

People have children AND work and have outside interests. Do you think that is wrong as well?


Yes, I do think people who work all day and don't have a dog walker or doggie daycare lined up and cannot take their puppy to work, should rethink getting a puppy. There are plenty of young and adult dogs that are looking for homes that are might be a better fit for a working single person.


However, personally, I think not putting your dogs through several classes of obedience training, having a 'working breed' dog (like a shepherd or border collie) and keeping them as a bored house pet only is much more cruel than crate training (which, again, is not cruel in any way if done right).

Yes, all my foster dogs and my own are crate trained. My older girl doesn't ever use her crate anymore, unless we would travel by plane or in emergency situations. She does go in her crate when we have a bad storm because she is afraid of the storm and the crate is her quiet place. He crate doesn't have a door anymore. She goes to the groomer and is not stressed when they put her in a crate between bathing and brushing. If she needs to go to the vet and has to stay over night (emergency), she will not be freaked out by their crates.

I had a dog that would freak out whenever I left the house. He was extremely insecure and when his pack leader (go laugh) was gone, he would be stressed beyond belief. He'd eat the entire house to release his stress. He was crated when I was gone for his own safety. Never more than a couple of hours. (I took him to work).


There is nothing cruel about a crate if used properly. To say otherwise shows ignorance and a lack of understanding/education.

http://www.phsspca.org/training/pupp...e_training.htm

If they're put in there to learn how to hold it in, then yes. A puppy needs to be house trained, and like Kathleen said, it takes time and effort. If you're not willing to do that, but want to use a crate instead, you shouldn't have a dog.

Why would a dog need a playpen? I agree with having the dog in a cage in some situations, but house training isn't one of those.

Dogs are not stupid. They don't need to be put in a cage to realize what people want them to do. They need a person who knows how to train a dog.


Ice

That is NOT crate training.

Again, you are talking about crate abuse, NOT crate training.

Crate abuse = BAD

Crate training = Excellent

For the same reasons a baby/toddler needs a playpen. To keep them safe. Safe from their environment and safe from themselves.

From the page you showed Erik:
Using a crate is NOT cruel. It approximates a den, which dogs in their wild state slept in for hundreds of thousands of years. Modern dog maintains the "den instinct" which is why use of a crate is so effective in housebreaking. A dog will NOT soil where it sleeps. ...Thus, dogs will not soil their sleeping quarters IF they can possibly avoid doing so. The trick is to make the sleeping area small enough so modern dog cannot use one end as a bathroom and the other end as a bedroom!

That's cruel to me. How would you feel if you were put in a crate small enough that you couldn't use the bathroom?

Ice