A cage is only as cruel as the person that uses it. Used correctly its a god send, used inappropriately then it could be considered cruel.

I think it would be far more cruel to allow a puppy/young dog to chew the house and risk a foreign body and surgery. A cage is about the safety of the animal, not convenience for the owner.

I used one for my last pup only due to the fact that my other dog is much older and thought we could use it to give him some peace. my othr 2 never had one and never chewed as i only left them for short periods of time and built it up. My last one only had it for about 4 weeks, i personally didnt like using it thats not to say i think they are cruel or anything else.

I use my crate with the pup mainly for toilet training, and also to stop him chewing things.
I used a crate for Dixie for the same reson when she was little and intended to let her just have a bed, but now she will not settle unless she is safely in her crate with a bone. It is her comfort zone and she will not only go there to sleep but if she is feeling uncomfortable or if the pup is annoying her she goes off to her crate- its funny though because she has one that has an 'up and over' door and if its not locked, she can open it but pup cant- as he has not learned to keep out of her bed yet its great!

x

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We use crates for at shows, toilet training, traveling in the car and to split bitches up form males when were not in and the bitch is in season.!
I agree with nonnie a cage is only as cruel as you make it, the wrong use/over use of a cage IMO is classed as cruel..
My pups love theres and are not made to in them when we are in the house but will quite happily take them selves of for a short nap
kerry x

i only use mine at night or when i am have to pop out other than that she has the run of the place when i am at home

When we got the first dog we didn't use a crate - too cruel I though so she had the run of the kitchen and garage (through the kitchen door) and didn't we know about it she is a labx and chewed whatever came in sight. Also took ages to toilet train.

Second puppy, still didn't want to crate too cruel, but the first girl hated the puppy and we would always wonder if we'd have a puppy in the morning, we had moved by then so she had the kitchen and part of the conservatory to destroy.

Third puppy thought we'd try crate training as we didn't want a repeat of the worry so asked the breeder to let her go in and out of a crate while she was there (they use crates) and we had no problem with her destroying the place and toilet training was reasonably easy.

So with puppy number 4 our choice - straight in a crate no debate and no trouble.

The youngest one sleeps in the crate, he's an intact male so will remain crated at night, and is a happy boy.

The new puppies will have a crate that they can go in and out of in the pen and will probably sleep in it when they are older, hopefully then if the new owners want to crate train they wont have problems.

I love my dogs but I have to say that with puppies life is a lot easier and safer and not quite so much gets destroyed if you have the option of crating them whilst they are still learning good behaviour.

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Love your dogs

http://www.tollpeppertollers.co.uk

Its not for me but mybe one day i will need use it, but if it works for you then fine..
I got my male chihuahua @9 months he was crated but he had issues with it lady before me put him in there from 7am until 6pm and came home to a stressed dog and messy crate thats why they "got rid" ..

but after hearing a lot of good reports on it it must be good..

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R.I.P ...Mesha xx Never Forget you xx
I will be back! i need to fight the BIG "C" atm!

So you saying caging a dog all night is for the dogs safety then?

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love me love the dogs

for me my labs have been used to a crate since pup and are okay with it - if they wernt i dont think i wud av any house left to come back 2 -
now have prob with youngest one who goes toilet in it but never anywhere in house???????

I totally agree with this post.

Whilst i agree they don't look fantastic (but need to be like that to be safe) it is no different to putting a baby in a cot to sleep. I put my children in their cots for daytime naps and nighttime sleep so they are happy and safe (it would be impossible for me to dog proof my house and still have a nice place for my kids to play in) same with my puppy.

I have just started letting Oscar have the run of the kitchen when i am out during the day because i am happy he will not mess or chew and it is the one room he is safe in, i have done this because it is the coolest room in the house in the summer so is the best place for him to be left.

There are other benefits like travel, emergency vet care, medical conditions that may require restricted exercise and if a dog is used to a crate these things will be alot less stressful.

It's horses for courses i suppose