I feel guilty- re: Keeping Napoleon in his crate during the day

Napoleon is a 5 month old yellow lab- I wont like he is very very hyper. My husband and I would put up a gate and keep him confined to the dining room when we would go to work.
every single day when we got home, something would be ruined- thank God it was never any furniture- shoes, mail that is up on the table, umbrella's that would be up on the table.
People keep telling us that we should crate him during the day- that dogs love it- the see it as their own space etc.
So we started crating him when we would go out- an hour here, 15 min there so that he would get used to is.
Well, today is here- my husband is back to work and Napoleon will be in his crate until about 3:30pm this afternoon.
Hes got some toys in there and a water bowl but I can not stop feeling guilty that hes in there.
his crate is pretty big considering how small he still is- he can stand in it and walk around a little bit so its comfortable I would say.
Am I silly for thinking this way- am I over reacting?
Do any of you keep your puppys in their crate during the day if your not home?

Thanks

Re: I feel guilty- re: Keeping Napoleon in his crate during the day

you're not silly, i use to feel the same way. we use to crate our yorkie and our boston terrier but we kept them together in a big soft crate with water and toys so they kept each other company. we stopped crating them and put a gate to block off a small hallway so we keep them there now. our boston terrier started getting a back problem cause of the crate.

Re: I feel guilty- re: Keeping Napoleon in his crate during the day

My dog stays in the crate while we're out too. She's totally fine and always her happy normal self when I come home. If I leave her out (confined to just the kitchen), she gets very destructive which isn't good for her OR us. If you haven't already, get a kong and leave that with him - I stuff in a dog biscuit & the kong stuff'n (squirt stuff) and that keeps her busy for 30mins-1 hour.

Re: I feel guilty- re: Keeping Napoleon in his crate during the day

we crated buddy when he was a pup and he loved being in it. After a while we left the door open and he would roam around the kitchen and later he had the run of the house. He loved sleeping in his crate and when things scared him he would go in it too.

I would be careful with the water in the crate because your dog might need to go to the bathroom and go in his crate.

Re: I feel guilty- re: Keeping Napoleon in his crate during the day

we crated hershey when we werent home when he was a young puppy for a while.... he is about 9 months old and we just stopped crating him about 2 months ago -- he now is confined to the first floor of the house and does great alone!

Re: I feel guilty- re: Keeping Napoleon in his crate during the day

You're not silly for feeling this way, but the problem is that you're personifying him. You're thinking about how YOU would feel if you were locked up in that crate all day. Don't do that! Napoleon is a dog, not a human, they don't think/feel the way we do. We always crate Kasey when we leave the house. It's her safe place; she even lays down in there sometimes on her own when we're home. We know she likes it; she knows the routine when we're getting shoes/jackets on and sometimes goes into her crate on her own. It's important to remember to keep the crate as a good, happy thing and that means don't use it when you need to punish Napoleon.

Re: I feel guilty- re: Keeping Napoleon in his crate during the day

I don't think your feelings are silly at all. I felt the same way, which is one of the reasons why we will not crate our dogs. We're gone at work up to 10 hours a day, so I could never leave the dogs in a crate for that long without access to the yard for bathroom breaks, room to play and get some exercise, etc. But that's just me. You need to do what works for your family. In case you want an alternative, this is how we handled it:

We put up a gate like you did, and completely puppy-proofed that area the best we could every single day before leaving for work (putting EVERYTHING away that we didn't want them to chew on in that area, even taking things off tables, etc.) and put their toys out so they had appropriate things to chew on. I won't lie and say it worked perfectly; we did forget and leave things out from time to time and learned from our mistakes when we ended up with chewed up shoes and papers, and we do have some bite marks left on the table legs and base boards. Puppies need to bite and chew things. It's incredibly frustrating when they ruin something of yours, but the chewing is a normal part of their development.

The good part is, they also grow out of it. Our dogs are 3 now. We put away the gate a long time ago. We still keep all the doors to the bedrooms closed while we're gone just in case, and do keep papers and things out of their reach on high tables and counters (since your dog is bigger, this may not work for you), but they don't chew our shoes, furniture, or belongings at all anymore - we haven't had an incident like that since they were a year & a half or so.

Re: I feel guilty- re: Keeping Napoleon in his crate during the day

Re: I feel guilty- re: Keeping Napoleon in his crate during the day

I definitely don't think you're silly. I felt really bad about crating our dog too but in the end, I knew it was best for her. It kept her safe and from getting into things she shouldn't be getting into.

Now, we no longer have to use the crate but she is limited to the kitchen and dining room area when we are out.

Re: I feel guilty- re: Keeping Napoleon in his crate during the day

i totally understand how you feel!
we still have to crate our basset hound when we're not home and hes about 6 years old ( not sure exactly how old since he was a shelter dog). for him, hes just never grown out of the seperation anxiety- one time we gave him a "trial" of being out of his crate, he managed to get up on the table and eat half a tray of brownies!!
so its a safety issue,too. he honestly doesn't mind being in his crate- he knows its the routine when we go out- and hes always happy, and wagging his tail when we get home from work and let him out. dogs think differently than humans, and i think they like having their own little "spot".
if its best for him, then thats what you have to do.