Re: Crates for Adult JRTs - an excuse for bad owners!

In Reply to: Crates for Adult JRTs - an excuse for bad owners!
Category:   General Training
Posted by:  Grant Browning
Posted on:  May 30, 2002 at 13:49:53

: Hi,

: Reviewing your forum on crating - the typical response for adult (trained) dogs is :

: "What's cruel is allowing a dog to run loose in a house where he may cause damage to himself or his surroundings, and ultimately have to deal with high emotions from an owner that returns to an unhappy situation all the time. Once it's determined that crating is for the good of the terrier..."

: To me that reads like a poor apology for making a dog prisoner simply because the owner has a) not worked out how to deal with canine separation anxiety, b) does not exercise their dog enough when home, and c) has not secured their garden and installed a "dog door".

: It seems to me that if you do "a","b" and "c" (and even "c" is optional if only away for a few hours) - then there is no need whatsoever for crating a dog - other than being a bad (or more likely lazy) owner.

: Certainly that has been my experience to date with a rescue JRT (unless you count making off with the odd bit of mistakenly left out cake)-and I cannot believe that it (or I) are unique.

: Would be interested in your comments. It seems hard to justfiy crating at all for trained adult JRTs. Providing a clear bed-zone and allowing them to stretch / explore / drink water as they wish MUST be a better solution for the dog.

Response:

Well let me try to take a shot at this:

a) not worked out how to deal with canine separation anxiety

To me this best way to work with this is to crate the dog when you are not home, crating could/can only be done until the dog is properly trained, but until a dog is properly trained it should be crated when left alone for its own safety.

b) does not exercise their dog enough when home

I myself exercise my dogs all day long but when I leave the home they are crated, one reason is we have a dog with a bad back and even though he is well exercised and very trained its in his best interest to crate him when not home to avoid him jumping on/off furniture that could injure him again.

c) has not secured their garden and installed a "dog door"

Again this is not possible for all dogs, some dogs are great escape artist and if allowed outside unattended could very well escape and be lost or killed or even stolen out of their own yard.

My dogs are exercised from 6am to 10pm but if for some reason I must leave the home for a few hours or even minutes I crate them because at least I know where they will be when I return.
Thanks
Shannon