Crating opinions

[ccb_love]

I have 4 dogs with very different crating schedules. I've posted about my dogs many times, but just for reminder I have

Comments

[fuzzieduckie]

i would think it's perfectly fine - especially if she seems happy! i'm no expert, but sounds alright to me...

[ccb_love]

Thanks!

[i__never]

This is what I do with my GSD pup, if it's not completely covered except for a small part to make sure it stays cool in there he will whine until it's covered.

[ccb_love]

Thank you! We have the opposite problem, she gets cold very very easily. It was 80 degrees out the other day and she got a bath outside in luke warm water. Even though we played in the sun for a while afterwords we still had to go in and cuddle for a bit because she was shivering. We think part of why shes sleeping better is that we gave her a big piece of fleece to curl up with and she gets it nice and toasty in there.

[teacupdiaries]

People have strong opinions about crating but, really, it depends on the dog. If she's going in voluntarily, sleeping through the night, and relaxed/calm in the morning then it is clearly working for her, and I would stick with it. If she were stressed, chewing obsessively, or crying all night, it would be the time to re-evaluate.

Honestly, some dogs do sleep better in total darkness (like people). It might be that she really does feel safer, calmer, and warmer with the full cover. :)

[ccb_love]

No, she is a complete terror outside of her crate, but right now she is the only dog that gets a real dog bed that isnt a towel over a piece of cheapo foam pad because shes the only dog that DOESNT eat her bed! We joke her bed is magic because the minute she steps onto it she falls asleep. Its great for 5 min timeouts when she gets overstimulated (the crate, I mean, we dont cover her for that!)

[crysania4]

It doesn't sound cruel to me at all. The dog is happy and sleeps well -- what is bad about that?

[ccb_love]

Thank you! Its good to hear. I'm always so worried I do more harm than good.

[crysania4]

I don't think we'd be good dog owners if we didn't worry about such things! I'm always worried I'm doing something wrong. lol

[miss_teacher]

She sounds fine with it, so I'd probably do it if it were my pup. Some pups get crated in totally separate rooms. Some pups sleep outside alone all night. I think your dog sounds like she is happy.

[ccb_love]

She certainly seems to be, and now we wake HER up in the morning to go out, instead of her getting us up at 6 to potty and then have her be cranky about going back into it because its light out and obviously that means its playtime!