Why are so many people against crates?

I think people that are against crates are just uneducated about them and don't understand the den instinct.

I had someone tell me it was mean to keep them in a crate because they get bored. I asked them when the last time was that they saw a dog reading a book or watching tv. Dogs sit there, that's what they do, and they do the same thing in the crate that they do out of it.

Right now, my dogs are out of their crates, but they are lying on the floor sleeping, just like they would in their crates!!

I think that a crate is a wonderful tool, and I think it is actually less cruel than not using it because how many dogs get dumped at shelters for not being potty trained or tearing up the house. Using a crate prevents bad behavior and keeps the relationship between you and your dog better.

I have crate trained all my dogs. It has been wonderful for me, no matter what others say. I worked full time and on my own, i had not many other options at the time, i had went through obidenece classes with 2 of my dogs, but i couldnt with the last. My lab while i was on my own had bad seperation anxiety while i was away she would destroy the house if i didnt. I made sure they had a crate big enough to stand. lay, turn, sit, do just about anything in...I supplied water and a food bowl, toys, chewies, and a more comfortable bed in it then what i slept on>< Some people cant afford all the high priced classes, or having a dog walker and such, but that doesnt mean we cant have pets to... She is my baby, and now is over the crate thing.... But my husky i crate trained her also, she has a dominace problem with the smaller dogs, now that she is older, she still loves to go in her crate.. We just leave one of the crates out for whatever and she goes in it on her own and sleep's. And we never keep any animals in the crate while i was home, free roam of where ever they want to be. Just while we was away, for safety of the pets, and the home.. Now that i have moved and so on, they are fine, they have no psychological effects from it. I think its the people who leave there animals in crates 24-7/365 are the ones people get mad about.. But i have had the best of luck with crate training and would never say other wise..

I love crates...when they are needed. They are great training tools especially for potty training. With our first dog my dad made one because we were short on money, our rotty would get a bit excited when we had company and jump on them so we'd put her in the crate until she settled down and the house was a bit calmer. And with our second dog, our beagle he went in his crate when he was naughty (for 5 to 10 minute time outs) and when we had to leave for the day. But once he was a year old he didn't go back in that crate except once, that was when our chocolate kept misteriously dissapearing...

But a dogs crate, if the right size and comfy enough can become their safe haven. We have bedrooms and space that we claim ours...shouldn't an amimal have that too?

Also I thought I would never use the invisible fence, you know the thing that zapps the dog when it goes over the line...well it worked for our beagle (he loves to run like crazy and we were afraid of him getting caught in the road). I used to think it was cruel but I love it now it transformed my dog, he's a little angel now and can be left outside when he wants to be.

If i didn't have my current puppy in a crate he would have my house torn to shreds. This is the first dog I have used a crate with and wish I had with my previous dogs. Luckily, with my older dog, the house we were in at the time had a laundry room and I kept him in there when we weren't home. I would say the floor space was just slightly more than the crate i use now (i have german shepherds so my crate is huge). So it was pretty much like using a crate. I was also a college student then and was home more often to let him out.

I don't hate crates, but the one time we tried one, it ended up pretty bad.

We had a lab mix that we worked on crate training with, we trained her for 2 1/2 months and worked her up to being away for a long time (6-7 hours max, we had to work after all) and everything was working fine, until we came home one day and she had chewed her way through the crate. It wasn't a plastic one either, but one of the metal ones. She was all cut up inside her mouth as well as her body since she didn't make the hole large enough to go through without cutting herself up.

That was the first time I had ever used a crate and the last time. Before we used the crate, we had no problems with dogs being in the house while we were at work and I should have never tried to fix what wasn't broken.

As I said, I don't hate crates, but I am able to train dogs without the use of one.

My technique?

I have one word for you... Patience... LoL.

I'm being serious. It just takes patience in order to do it. You can't expect a dog to learn to go outside overnight, nor expect it to do what you want overnight. It takes plenty of patience to train a dog.

Anyone who is against it simply has not done it properly.

While my puppies were all a little unsure of it the first day, by the end of the second day of crate training they were going into it on their own accord whenever they wanted to nap.

At the end of every night, I'd give my dog a treat after I let him it and put him in the crate. Every night, everyone could hear my dog run inside the house and then this loud thump-thump-thump noise as his tail hit the sides of the crate when he'd patiently wait for me to catch up and turn him in for the night.

Oh, and the days when my dog would see me carrying his crate to the car, he'd go ballistic! That meant it was time to go to obedience class, which he loved. If I didn't calm him, he'd run to the car, jump in the kennel, wait, jump out of the kennel to run over to me, and run over and jump back in the kennel again as if to say, "Hurry Up!"

So if I was being cruel to my dogs, I wonder why I heard so many thumps of their tails when they went in their crates? They obviously must have been trying to escape by using their tails and I just never realized it!

I think you can tell the truth of the matter by looking at your previous answers. Everyone that has answered says they're great because they've used one, or seen someone else use one. No answers yet from anyone who's used one and hated it.

I think pretty much everyone who's against them hasn't ever used one, or used it incorrectly, like the first time the dog was ever in it they were locked up for hours on end, or they used it ONE time and the dog cried so they felt bad and got rid of it forever.

It all boils down to a lack of education. Care of the family pet is something that most people learn on-the-job or by whatever advice they happen to hear from anyone, no matter whether the person knows what they're talking about or not. It's a shame there isn't a better system.

I was extremely anti-crate UNTIL I observed a couple of friends' dogs in their crates. They were very happy and content. The door was always left open when they were home and the dogs would just go in there to lie down just like their den. After that I saw the crate in a whole new light.

I think people who don't use crates, don't understand the reasoning behind using them and they don't understand dog behavior (ie denning). I must admit, before I used one, I didn't really get it either. I thought of it as caging my dog.

It was after I did a lot of reading about crating and heard lots of anecdotal stories about the advantages of crating that I changed my mind. I crate trained my two current dogs, although nowadays I don't crate either one of them. I crate trained my cat and he loved his crate his entire 12-year life. Without a doubt, if I were to get another puppy in our home, I would crate train again. It's a lifesaver (not to mention, furniture & floor saver)!

Completely agree with you. people just don't understand what they are for. My dog actually loves fer crate when she wants to nap she goes into her crate its like her home with some toys, and is larger then she probably needs but I spoil them :). Crates are an invaluable thing but some people misuse them like for punishment. They need to be used in an only positive experience,and not a jail.