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  1. #1
    jent's Avatar
    jent is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    Default We adopted a dog!! and now have questions...

    After talking about getting a dog for ages and dragging our feet, we adopted a dog last weekend!

    He is adorable (the rescue said lab mix, but he's small and looks like he may have some terrier in him) and so far has done really well adjusting to our house.

    Our biggest question today is when to use the crate. He was already crate trained and we were happy to see he goes into it quite easily for car rides and at night. We didn't leave him alone for the first few days but today DH did so he and DD could run a quick errand (I'm at work, they're home with him). I told DH to just put him in the crate, since he's comfortable with it and it would reduce the chance of him "getting into anything". DH disagreed and just left him out in the house, with a Kong to keep him busy. He was fine when they got back in 30 minutes.

    Anyway, what do guys do when you are out? Crate or no?

    Thanks!!!
    Jen, mom to "Little Miss Tiny" 4/07

  2. #2
    daisysmom is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    This is really dog and age dependent. We adopted a lab mix a few years ago and our SPCA guessed she was around 3. We had the crate there for sleeping but we never left her in it and she has never chewed anything other than her toys. We have since had ACL repair surgery on her twice and the surgeon thinks that she was only 3 at the time of the surgery b/c of the level of (no) arthritis in her joints... which would mean we adopted her when she was closer to 1. We also have had 2 labs since they were just weeks old. Our first lab Daisy was fine to be out of the crate all the time even when I left for 8 hours for work at 6 months. Our current puppy is 7 months and we leave her out of the crate for sometimes 30 minutes or so when we leave the house and she will often still find a rug pad to chew up.

    So there really isn't a rule on it.

    A dog who is used to the crate and is in a new environment should be given the option to find his/her crate/safe place, so I would keep it available with the door open. But keep leaving him out until he shows you he isn't ready yet. Dogs are generally happier getting to make the decision themselves.

  3. #3
    hillview's Avatar
    hillview is offline Blue Diamond level (20,000+ posts)
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    Default

    Big fan of crate training at least until everyone is settled.
    DS #1 Summer 05
    DS #2 Summer 07

  4. #4
    jent's Avatar
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    Thanks! Forgot to say that he is about 1.5 years old.

    He doesn't seem to be a big chewer. Also, he seems house trained- has not had trouble waiting to do his business until we go outside.
    Jen, mom to "Little Miss Tiny" 4/07

  5. #5
    SASM is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    For the most part, we crate our dogs every time that we leave the house. This is all they know and they love their crate...it's their space.

    About 6 months ago we started to let them sleep in our hardwood-floored bedroom hallway on their dog beds. They are gated off so they do not have access to the rest of the house. We also do this when we know we will be gone all day. Our dogs are not allowed on the furniture, etc and our 4yo pup still has issues soiling on occasion. She is whining and ringing the bell to go out as we "speak", even though she was JUST out. I wouldn't trust her with full reign of the house.

    I think it is very individual to the family and dog. Crating (and gating) is all our dogs really know.
    Last edited by SASM; 08-17-2016 at 05:02 PM.
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    elbenn is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    I have a question to piggy back off OP's question. My dog is 18 months old. He is crate trained and sleeps in a crate every night, but otherwise just stays in the house while we are gone. He is very well behaved and doesn't chew anything. When we go on vacation, he sleeps in our room. He goes right to sleep and stays there all night, so he's no fuss at all. When we get back, he would prefer to continue not sleeping in his crate, but once he goes back in, he's fine with it. My question is, is there any obvious benefit to continuing to use the crate?

  7. #7
    SASM is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by elbenn View Post
    I have a question to piggy back off OP's question. My dog is 18 months old. He is crate trained and sleeps in a crate every night, but otherwise just stays in the house while we are gone. He is very well behaved and doesn't chew anything. When we go on vacation, he sleeps in our room. He goes right to sleep and stays there all night, so he's no fuss at all. When we get back, he would prefer to continue not sleeping in his crate, but once he goes back in, he's fine with it. My question is, is there any obvious benefit to continuing to use the crate?
    For our dogs, it's their "comfort" place. We also crate them when there are visitors, contractors, new kids etc in the house. If you are referring to bedtime and you are okay with him sleeping in your room, keep him uncrated.
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    Our dogs are 8 and have always been in a crate together. They sleep there every night, and we take it with us whenever we travel. They actually get very nervous in the car if the crate is not there. They use it as an escape if our house is too loud and rowdy, or if they just want a quiet place to hide. Ours is in the laundry room. When we leave the house they go to the laundry room. We close the laundry room door, but leave the crate door open so that they have access to food and water.

  9. #9
    jent's Avatar
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    Thanks all! This is helpful. I get that it's dog dependent, so we will just have to figure out what works best for our guy.

    Now for my next questions:

    - Where to sleep at night? I know this is again very dog & family dependent, just curious what others do. We've kept his crate in our room since I didn't know what he'd do the first few nights. He's doing fine. I would prefer him out of the room b/c I'm a light sleeper though (I wake up when he shifts and his tags jingle. I remember others saying that their dog sleeps in their kids' room and we are considering that. DD would be thrilled (and she is not a light sleeper). Any pros/cons to this choice?

    - What about food? The rescue was feeding him Iams so we stuck with that for now. The vet didn't give any specific advice. How did you decide what brand of food to buy?
    Jen, mom to "Little Miss Tiny" 4/07

  10. #10
    baymom is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by jent View Post
    Thanks all! This is helpful. I get that it's dog dependent, so we will just have to figure out what works best for our guy.

    Now for my next questions:

    - Where to sleep at night? I know this is again very dog & family dependent, just curious what others do. We've kept his crate in our room since I didn't know what he'd do the first few nights. He's doing fine. I would prefer him out of the room b/c I'm a light sleeper though (I wake up when he shifts and his tags jingle. I remember others saying that their dog sleeps in their kids' room and we are considering that. DD would be thrilled (and she is not a light sleeper). Any pros/cons to this choice?
    Our crate is downstairs in the family room. It's a location that is in the thick of activity of our home. She sometimes goes in there on her own during the day if things are too loud/crazy for her, or if she doesn't want to be bothered. But, mainly, it's where she sleeps at night. Our thought process was that if we had the crate in one of the kids' rooms, she'd be unlikely to want to walk up there and find her 'safe place' if the rest of us were downstairs. Even when she does go into the crate during the day, the door is open and she's very much observing us, or trying to nap. She's such a people-person type of dog, that *for her* she'd never escape to it if she couldn't still sort of be around us, at the same time. I suppose we could buy a second crate for upstairs but this has worked for us. However, from experience we have learned that when we are away and take her with us (to either set of grandparents house), she has trouble sleeping in a new environment without being able to see us. So, there, we always put her crate in one of our bedrooms.

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