Do we actually need a Crate?

[Dami]

As some people already know on here, I'll be getting my first puppy on Saturday, so it's all hands on deck in order grab the stuff puppy will need.

I'm wanting to go out and get a crate for the pup, but my OH thinks that a playpen which we have already got from Amazon, with a bed at one side, food and water in the middle, and some puppy pads at the end will be ok for her. Will this be ok for her? I've read online that crates add security and makes the pup feel safe. I could always have the crate open as a bed as well since the playpen will be around it.

Please help out a going to be new Dad!

 

[JoanneF]

A playpen will be fine but i hate puppy pads with a passion. They should come with a warning - all they do is give puppies mixed messages about whether indoor toileting is allowed or not. If you need help over toilet training, please ask!

 

[Dami]

A playpen will be fine but i hate puppy pads with a passion. They should come with a warning - all they do is give puppies mixed messages about whether indoor toileting is allowed or not. If you need help over toilet training, please ask!

Thanks, I'm sure I'll have lots of questions when I get the puppy. I said the same thing about puppy pads, but since we don't have a garden and the puppy won't have had her injections yet, that's all (I think) we can use.

 

[Josie]

I think as long as your puppy has an area where they do feel safe and secure that’s the main thing. I guess most people use crates because you can make them cosy.

I know a lot of people who have crates and a playpen. They just keep the door open like you said

 

[Dami]

I think as long as your puppy has an area where they do feel safe and secure that’s the main thing. I guess most people use crates because you can make them cosy.

I know a lot of people who have crates and a playpen. They just keep the door open like you said

I think that's why I want a crate, so that I can make it cosy, a small den with blankets for her to burrow in

 

[JoanneF]

The main risks to unvaccinated dogs is other unvaccinated dogs and the urine and faeces of rats. Your puppy will also have some immunity from her mother and the second vaccinations are really just precautionary. I personally would seek out safe places to start toilet training as early as possible. Are you in a flat with a balcony? If so (or even if not) a shallow tray, as big as you can get, with a little soil and turf would be better than pads.

 

[Dami]

The main risks to unvaccinated dogs is other unvaccinated dogs and the urine and faeces of rats. Your puppy will also have some immunity from her mother and the second vaccinations are really just precautionary. I personally would seek out safe places to start toilet training as early as possible. Are you in a flat with a balcony? If so (or even if not) a shallow tray, as big as you can get, with a little soil and turf would be better than pads.

We live in a terraced house with no garden since we renovated. I didn't know we could use a tray, I will look into this, thankyou.

 

[Caro Perry]

Crates have their uses but are not mandatory. I did get one as I have a draughty house with tiled floors and I wanted the puppy to be warm and cosy - he joined us at the end of September. If I was getting a puppy now when it's a lot warmer I probably wouldn't bother. We no longer use it.

 

[Violet Turner]

We have a crate for Olive due to if she ever needs to stay at the vets or at someone's house then she can sleep in the crate, but at the minute Doris is getting used to it for now.

 

[poptart]

I've never used a crate. We bought one for the latest pup and it stood in the living room for about a month but he never showed any inclination to go inside.

 

[Nanny71]

Didn't use a crate but did use puppy pads with no problem. Used them at night, he was used to them because he initially lived in a flat until he was nearly six months old.
Toilet training consisted of taking him into the garden every two hours during the day. He was clean and dry within two weeks

 

[Dami]

Thanks everyone! Have decided not to use a crate since I've found out that she'll have a bed and a snuggly coming with her when we pick her up.

 

[leashedForLife]

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I'm voting for a crate - yes, i saw the final post.

Crates are good for many things - to safely confine a pup who's not yet housetrained, to confine a dog of any age when they're injured or ill & on mandatory rest, to keep a dog from eating or gnawing dangerous items when U aren't home or can't directly supervise them [batteries, remote controls, electric cords, Gorilla Glue, cleaning chemicals, food-soiled trash in the wastebin that the dog would swallow... ].
Besides which, the best crates are airline-approved shipping crates - which of course, are the safest-possible way to transport a pet -- in a car, on a train or bus, by plane, whatever. Shippers also double as safe, familiar, comforting home-away-from-home retreats when U visit relatives, go on vacay, etc.

I evacuated my Akita for 2 hurricanes with her 2-ft x 3-ft crate, & we stayed in hotels well-outside the flood zone - she was comfy & felt safe, the cleaner could come in & not feel worried, the dog wasn't going to dart out when the door was opened, & so on.
She stayed with me in 4-star hotels twice in her lifetime, only b/c i could assure the Mgmt that she would never be on the bed, nor would she be at large in the room if ever she was left solo.

She also recovered from her emergency-gastropexy after a GDV, in her crate - no way to jump around, kept her stitches safe, kept her clean. // Crates are for lifetime use, not "just for housetraining". As a trainer, & as a dog-owner, i highly recommend them.
I also recommend that every dog be taught to happily & calmly wear a box-muzzle - i was a Boy Scout in my youth, & 'Be Prepared' is still among my mottos.

- terry

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[Sezzy]

We’ve never used a crate. When she was a puppy she would be shut in the kitchen when we were out, which she didn’t seem to mind as it’s got a glass patio door and glass door to the dining room so wasn’t like being shut in a big box. Now she has the run of the downstairs when left alone, whenever I check on her via the camera she’s always asleep.
I had thought about crate training so that she would be used to it if she had to stay at the vets, but that two times she has been in a cage at the vets she had been poorly and sleeping so obviously wasn’t bothered anyway.

 

[leashedForLife]

...
I'd thought about crate training, so that she'd be used to it if she had to stay at the vets', but the two times she's been [caged] at the vets, she was poorly & sleeping, so obviously wasn’t bothered, anyway.

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i was thinking more of those times when the dog is not so sick that they *must* stay at the vets', but not so well that they can roam at will - it might be a sprain, it could be diarrhea, upset stomach, recent stitches, ______ , but U want them quiet & safely confined, for a few days.

If U have a multi-dog household, crates are great for giving each dog a private space to relax - a former client had a 9-YO male GSD who'd never shared space with any dog since 8-WO in puphood, & he bought a 7-MO bitch to "breed a pup from the old man".
The buyer took her straight from the breeder's kennel to a grooming salon, for her 1st-ever bath, took her home, & turned her loose... in a houseful of antiques & collectibles. // Then he was angry that she didn't know how to behave!

Meanwhile, that resident-dog made her life MIZRABLE - he wouldn't let her eat, took every chewy & toy, pushed her up & out of any resting place she found, & was a general barsteward, harassing her nite & day. To boot, she'd been reared in an I/O kennel, never entered a house B4, & her new owner is yelling & throwing her outside bodily, 'cuz she gnawed the fringe on the Oriental rug & pee'ed by the back-door when home alone.
Well, duh ... why'd U bring home a dog who'd never been in a house, & just turn her loose, ya dimwit?! NOT her fault, boobie. Look in the mirror.
All the things he did right with the male pup, he now blew-off with the bitch. :headshake: Spending one on one time, training, playing, socializing, exercising - nada. // She was there for one reason, & one only: to whelp a litter from the Old Man while he still had viable sperm. . I felt so bad for her.

I persuaded him to buy a shipping crate, & feed her there - every meal; now, she could EAT in peace.
She also slept there at night [no more overnite pee-spots...], & was crated EVERY time he went outside without her.
He phoned me the evening of Day 3 - said he'd been unable to find her in the morning when he was ready to leave for work, & panicked, thinking she'd gotten out & was lost. [He lived on a large property, atop a small mountain - few neighbors, very secluded.]
Then he found her - IN * HER * CRATE - all her toys stacked up behind her, lying quietly, waiting for him to close the door. LOL - she certainly had more brains than he did. She was a much-happier dog after that - she had a routine, a safe space, & some idea of what was expected of her.

I don't know if she ever had that litter, but my hunch is that she did, & my personal bet is that Major's heir-apparent was christened Junior.
I sure hope that man gave her a long, happy life - she certainly deserved it, living with two old grumps, both male!...

- terry

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[merlina]

I'm a crater-hater too. I do think though that any dog benefits from having a cosy enclosed space where they feel safe and can go to when they want to. 'Cos I work from home it's always the dog-bed under my desk. AND you have lovely warm feet in the winter.