There is still a lot of debate among pet owners as to whether crate training dogs is a good idea. Crating, if you’re unfamiliar with the term, is the practice of placing your dog in a cage for a period of time during the day or night. The cage is generally made from metal or plastic and is very small ” barely large enough for the dog to turn around in.
The proponents of crate training maintain that a dog which has been crate trained is easier to housebreak, since crating a dog teaches them to hold off on elimination until they are allowed outside. Since animals instinctively are reluctant to do this in the place where they lie down, the thinking goes, this helps to speed along housebreaking. They also point to crates as a place which a dog can consider as its own private space where it can escape from the antics of children in the household and be comforted by its familiar smell.
There are of course crate training detractors as well. Their view is that restricting a dog’s movement by keeping it in a cage which offers barely enough room to turn around robs dogs of the opportunity to act on their natural inclination to roam and explore its surroundings.
Those on the negative side of the debate say that crate training can be counterproductive to housebreaking your pet, pointing out that puppies especially will be unable to hold themselves back from eliminating for as long as they may be in the cage and come to think of indoors as an acceptable place for this activity, which makes housebreaking the dog more difficult.
Now of course both sides make some valid points and no one doubts the good intentions of either camp. Studies done on the subject have yet to yield anything close to a definitive answer. The general consensus, however is that as long as it is done with care and common sense there is little to no harm and indeed there is some good which can come from crate training.
No one, not even the biggest backers of crate training would say that keeping a dog in a crate for an extended period of time is a good thing. You should never keep your dog in a crate for more than four hours ” any longer than this is really too much time to deprive an animal of the ability to move freely and to take care of nature’s call.
When crating your dog, you have to choose your crate very carefully to prevent accidental injury to your pet. Look closely at the cage and make sure that there are no places where your dog’s collar could become snagged and that it is free of sharp edges which could injure your pet. The cage should also be very sturdy ” the cage should not break under the strain of your dog shoving against the sides and most importantly of all, the cage should be heavy enough that your dog cannot tip it over.
There is one benefit to crate training which bears mentioning here, which is that pets which have been crate trained tend to have far fewer problems with travel. They’ll be used to staying in a small space and they’ll also have familiar smells when in their crate ” which goes a long way towards keeping them comfortable during the somewhat stressful experience of travel.
Many pet owners maintain that unless you are making a permanent relocation you should leave your pet at home, since they will be happier in a familiar place. If you need to take your pet along on a trip, make sure to use a very well built cage which won’t tip and will keep things from getting in, not just out.
It’s hard to imagine this issue being settled soon if ever, so it’s up to pet owners to use their own judgment here about whether crate training is right for their dog. One good way to make a decision is to crate train your dog for a few weeks and then start leaving the door of the crate open. Let your dog decide for themselves; see if they avoid the crate or choose to spend time in it.
