Dog Bed Bedding.com

Crate training has become a popular way to confine your dog while you are away from home. A lot of Vets and dog trainers recommend crate training your puppy or dog for their own safety, yet still there are numerous questions about whether dog crating is cruel. One main argument for crate training, drawn from the study of wolves, is that they create a safe ‘den’ that the dog will be naturally drawn to. Still others view crating as cruel and will often refer to it as caging your dog.

So, are crates a safe den for your dog or are you just imprisoning them? The ‘den’ argument falls apart somewhat when you use the study of wolves as a reference. The wolf pups are kept in a den that their mother will create to keep them safe but as there is no door on a natural den so the pups are still allowed to wander in and out. As the pups mature they use the den less and less and the adults rarely use them.

So using this information it’s easy to see that dogs (especially adult dogs) don’t instinctively desire the confines of a crate. Of course dogs don’t necessarily see their crates as prison cells either and if you have trained your dog properly, then they will stay quite peacefully confined in their crate. Gradual exposure and positive reinforcement is key when crate training.

If you are crating your dog for use while you are at work then how long can you keep your dog confined before its becomes cruel? There is no definitive answer to this but if you take the fact that a dog will generally need a bathroom break at the six or seven hour mark then this should give you a strong indication of the length of time you can leave them confined. This of course is not even addressing the issue of the dogs need to exercise so there is a strong argument that breaks from the crate should be more frequent.

Crate training is useful when house training a puppy but like most things in life a little common sense is necessary to prevent the confinement of well-behaved adult dogs from becoming cruel. Many responsible dog owners who do crate their dogs while they are at work use the services of a dog walker to ensure their pet is getting a potty break and some good exercise during the day. This is probably the best balance in ensuring your dog’s needs are being met while you are away from home.