We have a new one year old rescue and we have never had a dog before so we don't know what we're doing. When our dog is alone or at night she shreds all kinds of things, TP, boxes, containers, socks. I am not sure how to train her not to do this. We are trying to keep stuff out of reach. But yesterday I turned my back and she ate an entire plastic box of Whole Foods blueberry muffins.

We accused each other for days of eating a box of choc chip cookies...until we realized it was the dog.

Anonymous wrote:It's mainly for housebreaking and safety until hey can be trusted not to get out f trouble when you aren't home. It's also practical since there are many times in. Dog's life it must be done like an overnight at the vet's, visit to the groomers, and sometimes as a guest in someone's home. One of our dogs takes agility classes and each of the dogs has to be crated at some point. It's a convenient tool to have handy if you like to do things outside your home with your dog.

This is how we use it too. i work from home so am generally around, and now that we are past house training the dog generally has free reign of the house when we leave too. The crate is in a corner of the kitchen with the door open and he chooses to lie in it when we eat there, and sometimes other times I think because he likes it - nice soft padding and in a corner with a towel over the top, so very den like. Also where he goes any time he has a particularly delectable treat, since in general we don't mess with him in there - that's his safe space where the kids aren't allowed to bug him. Very useful though to have a place we can contain him as needed.

It's mainly for housebreaking and safety until hey can be trusted not to get out f trouble when you aren't home. It's also practical since there are many times in. Dog's life it must be done like an overnight at the vet's, visit to the groomers, and sometimes as a guest in someone's home. One of our dogs takes agility classes and each of the dogs has to be crated at some point. It's a convenient tool to have handy if you like to do things outside your home with your dog.

On dog 4 in my lifetime and never crated - until this one. She eats toilet paper right off the rolls and will pull open the trash drawer and tear apart our furniture/shoes . We have trained our hearts out to no avail, so to keep her safe I crate her when we are not home

I don't like it either. I think being on top of training when you first get your dog prevents behavior problems. We had a crate when our dog was a puppy but got rid of it before she was a year old. I would leave her for short periods at the beginning and work my way up to leaving her for a few hours at a time. Now she just sleeps in the sunniest spot she can find when we leave her. I was lucky enough to be able to walk home from work and check on her when she was a puppy and I first started leaving her home alone without a cage.

I am American and think it is inhumane. I am particularly disgusted by people who crate their dogs all day. WTF

Anonymous wrote:My friend has a crazy dog who's last escapade included eating her mattress. I would think crating makes sense in that circumstance.

Not all dogs are the same.

Well, in that case, I can definitely see the need. What confused me what that when we took our then puppy for his first vet appointment, she immediately started telling us which crate, how to crate, and that is needs to be done right away. DH and I talked about this, as it wasn't a thing for us at all, and decided against it.

I've used crates for the following reasons:
-When my dog was a puppy and couldn't be trusted to be out of the crate unsupervised.
-When I fostered dogs, when I first brought each new foster home until I knew for sure they could be trusted in my home with my dog they would be crated when I wasn't home. This usually lasted a week or two, depending on the dog.
-When I fostered litters of puppies.

I always came home every day at lunch and the dogs didn't spend any time other then when I was at work in the crate so it was 8.5 hours total each day. Now that my dog is older (and I don't foster dogs anymore) I have no need for a crate. It was not, however, "cruel" or anything of the sort. It kept the dogs safe while I was away.

I'm French and never heard of this crating practice until my American friend adopted a dog in this area. I thought it was barbaric.

I am not a big fan of crating either, but it can be useful when housetraining or to keep them out of trouble. It should be a temporary tool and not used for more than 1/3 of the day. If you crate while away at work then no crating at night.

I used a crate for a few months, and still have it because my dog likes to sleep and eat treats in it. But I keep the door open/unlocked.

My friend has a crazy dog who's last escapade included eating her mattress. I would think crating makes sense in that circumstance.

Not all dogs are the same.

We used a crate for our second dog but only to keep him out of trouble when no one was home. I shudder to think of the damage he would have done if he was able to wander. We slowly phased the crate out and then only used it for punishment, the doggie version of go to your room, or he used it as a relaxing getaway from us humans.

I've had two dogs and did not crate either. When I was younger it wasn't a thing - as a puppy they slept in my bed. Woke up and put them outside to pee.

I did put them in a confined space when I left the house but more like a kitchen with baby gates.

You dont need to crate dogs. I said the same on here once and my post was deleted. I criticised the practice as unnecessarily cruel (dog crated all but a few hours per day) which i think is a humane response, but clearly wasnt a popular one. I am also European

So, I never created my dog, golden. And within few weeks he was fine, not chewing on anything or eating off tables or trash even when we were not home. He had other issues, so I am not pretending he is most perfect dog in the world. My DH (Western US) never crated his dogs, nor did anybody in Europe, where I am from. Is this East Coast thing? Why do you crate your dogs? What is the benefit? My dog found his place, on the floor by my bed and that is where he stays most of the day while I am at work. He goes back to that spot when I leave and he is there when I come back, without any indication of anything destroyed, moved. I mean he might get up, but it doesn't seem like he does. At night I will say, "night, night, and he goes straight there. Wouldn't crating be cruel? This way if he really has no go at night he will get up and put his head on my bed, by me, rarely happens, almost never but still he can do that. So, what is the benefit of crating? If there is a thread about this already, post me a link? Thanks.