Anyone NOT use the crating method??

just curious. i'm debating of not crating this time. any insight is appreciated. thanks

Re: Anyone NOT use the crating method??

We only used the crate 1 night (the 1st night she was home) then after that we used baby gates that let her have access to the hallway, kitchen, & bathroom. We put pads down for her and she was trained within a week. I personally didn't like the idea of the crate but I know a lot of people use it and it works great.

Re: Anyone NOT use the crating method??

We don't crate our dogs.

We had no problems with our first pup, Arnold. It was as if he was born paper trained. Shelby's been alittle more difficult but in the process of trying to paper train her we've managed to basically bypass that and go directly to spot training outside. I will admit it was frustrating with her as she just never "got" going on the papers and still doesn't, but in the end it's working out for us. Keep in mind, however, we live in a house and when we're home we keep the back door open at all times so the dogs can go in and out freely. Obviously, you don't have that luxury with apartment living so by not having as structured a schedule you could be setting yourself and more importantly your pup up for disaster.

Is there a particular reason you don't want to crate? Did you crate all your other dogs when they were puppies?

Also, be prepared to have dog poo and pee ALL OVER the place until he's paper trained; even if you confine the puppy to just one room.

Re: Anyone NOT use the crating method??

We didn't crate for very long... Cooper hates it and is afraid of it. We gated him in the hallway and it works pretty well... he rarely has an accident during the day.. however, it took a little more time than I imagine it would with a crate to get to that place.

PS... we didn't use wee-wee pads either. We did want him to think it was OK to pee in the hosue even if it was on a pad.

Re: Anyone NOT use the crating method??

we use the crate only at night. During the day (when we're not home) we keep ollie in an exercise pen

Re: Anyone NOT use the crating method??

love your new avatar saying...the dog is SO cute

Re: Anyone NOT use the crating method??

Crating IMO is the only way to train a puppy. It was the smartest easiest thing I have ever done. My dog has never ever given me one day of trouble. When she was a baby I knew she was safe not getting into any trouble or choking on a bone, toy etc.. i would only leave there for 4 hours the MOST if that. In the very beginning. if i didnt have that luxury I would have sent a neighbor over to check on her. if you do the crate thing right you will really love the results. My dog goes in there on her own now with the door open. its her safe haven. I have never ever used it as a punishment or a time out thing. I am truly amazed with how well trained she is. On the other hand I grew up with dogs my whole life and no one crate trained there dogs back then. All of them i hate to say pooed and peed all the time in the house. it was gross and I always hated it. it sounds like crate training has been what you have done in the past?? Did it work for you?? if it did I would stick with it. What else do you plan on doing?

Message edited 7/11/2008 10:29:30 PM.

Re: Anyone NOT use the crating method??

i've crate trained in the past. Lukin, Tinky. It was sooo long ago (or so it feels, 6 years in actuality) i cant remember. lukin was my first dog on my own and took him forever to train. crating him really did nothing. tink, well i wasnt working so i was just so very on top of everything.

dharma was already trained.

i havent had a pup since my little mia girl. she HAAAAAAAAATED the crate.

i think a bulldog should probably be crated. especialy since his poos are alredy like 3 times my other dogs'. i dont think i want to pad train him at all.

with the others i always pad trained first, then housebroke them so i always had a backup.


just trying to figure out what to do.
we've only had him almost 2 days. one night. last night he slept on a pillow next to me. he slept til 10 am. although i found a poop nearby.
he is not going potty outside yet. tok him on a good walk, then went in the house. but im trying to limit his exposure to the outdoors until he has all of his shots.

Re: Anyone NOT use the crating method??

I didn't. She hated the crate and would whine for hours if left in it. We would just gate her in the kitchen when we left and she was fine. We used wee pads for her before she had all her shots and she transitioned to going outside without a problem.

Crate training can be great and I've used it for other dogs. We just found that she couldn't stand it- it didn't work for her.
HTH!

Message edited 4/9/2015 8:30:24 PM.

Re: Anyone NOT use the crating method??

We never crate trained Brutus and never had a problem. By the third day he was going ONLY on the pad. By the end of the first month, we had moved the pad outside and now he only goes outside.

In the past three years we have had MAYBE five accidents. . .

We had him in the crate the first night we got him - I don't know who cried more - me, Brutus or DH - it was a terrible experience and I will never try it again if we get another puppy. We don't restrict him to any room when we are gone and he usually hangs out on a blanket on our couch if we are not home. If he gets scared we will find him under the bed.

I know I am biased, but many people have told us that Brutus is the most well behaved dog they have ever met!