Free... I want to break free... Lord knows...

[OneSickPsycho]

Originally Posted by Sixxxxer

Actually, They say Boxers LIKE to be in Crates...Because there like Cave dwellers in a sort...My buddy has a boxer and he goes to sleep in his crate everynight willingly.

Thats not to say he tries to get out. But it's not as horrible as you think it is for them.

We often can't find one or both of the dogs and end up finding them sleeping in the crate... in fact, if we have the door closed and it's bed time, Taco will begin to whine and carry on until we let him into the room and into the crate.

That said, we do want to break them from being crated throughout the day, but there's two problems with that... 1) their prey instincts and the cats don't mix. not worried about them killing the cats, but they DO NOT allow the cats to have any freedom... that means not letting them into their litterbox, etc. Taco is just now getting to the point where a cat can hit the floor and he won't run through walls to get to it... Belle, not there yet. 2) destruction. We've walked them and played with them to the point of complete exhaustion - like passing the fuck out - leave for 15 minutes and come home to overturned couches, destroyed pillows, etc, etc. Again, Taco is much further along than Belle... he's ok by himself, but with her there carrying on - double destruction. Given Taco's progression and their age difference, I'm guessing another 9 months before they can be trusted together...

[Amber Lamps]

Originally Posted by Sixxxxer

Actually, They say Boxers LIKE to be in Crates...Because there like Cave dwellers in a sort...My buddy has a boxer and he goes to sleep in his crate everynight willingly.

Thats not to say he tries to get out. But it's not as horrible as you think it is for them.

I've never had a problem with a dog in a crate. My Rhodesian Ridgeback loved his crate and could be found there 80% of the time. It was his place, his "zone". Almost all vets and "experts" recommend them. The people that don't use them only do so because of misplaced sentimentality and the over-anthropomorphic-ification of their pets. What YOU as a human, wouldn't like has zero basis. Dogs are not people. Wild canines spend most of their time in dens and only venture out to hunt, relieve themselves, etc. If you are that worried about your dog's "freedom", you should allow it to roam outside wherever it wants. How dare you force it to stay cooped up in a house all day! Trapped in a fenced in yard... Etc

[Cutty72]

Yeah, mine are kenneled outside all day, can't help ya.

[Adeptus_Minor]

Originally Posted by marko138

Can't help you. Manfred roams free when we aren't home. Occasionally gets pissed and pulls a pillow off the couch but rarely destroys anything.

Same with Lilly.
She's yet to destroy anything and even when I was keeping her crated, I never had a problem with her escaping.
I dunno how I got so lucky in that respect

[OneSickPsycho]

Originally Posted by Adeptus_Minor

Same with Lilly.
She's yet to destroy anything and even when I was keeping her crated, I never had a problem with her escaping.
I dunno how I got so lucky in that respect

Dog breed helps a lot with that...

[jtemple]

We have labs. They're happiest just loafing around all day on the nearest pillow. Crate them up and they pitch a fit until you let them out.

They're 8 & 9 years old now. They lost interest in chewing on stuff that doesn't taste good a long time ago.

[marko138]

Originally Posted by Gas Man

Yep, need to do other non-traditional latches. A friend of mine has to do this with his boxer's crate.

But I, like marko, don't kennel the dog. He has free range of the house. This actually works best for us. He really doesn't do much. I am working on a plan to put in a video camera to tape what he's doing in here while we are gone. My guess is he just sleeps on the bed all day.

My concern is that Manny won't bark at noises if he's in his crate so he's no deterrent if he's in there. That's why I like him to be free. Then he barks at random noise (people) he hears outside.

[OneSickPsycho]

Originally Posted by marko138

My concern is that Manny won't bark at noises if he's in his crate so he's no deterrent if he's in there. That's why I like him to be free. Then he barks at random noise (people) he hears outside.

Our dogs are silent during the day... However, if someone enters the room they'll respond accordingly... Our roomie opened our bedroom door one night to let a trapped cat out and Taco growled at him... I'm also pretty sure that given the correct motivation, the flimsy collapsable crate wouldn't hold back a monster like Taco for very long... Hell, Belle's got the damn thing so warped it hardly goes back together anymore...

And as far as a house fire or something, they're crate is directly in front of a window so it'd be easy access to get them out... not a perfect system by any means, but it's the best we can do for now...

[marko138]

Originally Posted by OneSickPsycho

Our dogs are silent during the day... However, if someone enters the room they'll respond accordingly... Our roomie opened our bedroom door one night to let a trapped cat out and Taco growled at him... I'm also pretty sure that given the correct motivation, the flimsy collapsable crate wouldn't hold back a monster like Taco for very long... Hell, Belle's got the damn thing so warped it hardly goes back together anymore...

And as far as a house fire or something, they're crate is directly in front of a window so it'd be easy access to get them out... not a perfect system by any means, but it's the best we can do for now...

Manny got out of the house one day. I stupidly didn't lock the door one day when I went to work...and it wasn't latched tight either. So the wind blew it open. The mail man found Manny hanging out in the driveway. He put him back in the house and closed the door. Stand up guy, that mail man of mine.

[OneSickPsycho]

Originally Posted by marko138

Manny got out of the house one day. I stupidly didn't lock the door one day when I went to work...and it wasn't latched tight either. So the wind blew it open. The mail man found Manny hanging out in the driveway. He put him back in the house and closed the door. Stand up guy, that mail man of mine.

Yeah, I think that if given the opportunity, most people would do the right things... there's just that 10% douche factor that ruins that perspective.