[UncleWede]

I echoed your worry sara, but my pup actually likes her cage. The only time I close the door now is at night, when I put the robe over the top, to let her know it's bed time and she can quit trying to get me to put her on the bed.

We leave the door open all day, she still has some times when she has to take a dump on the bathroom floor, but she rarely pees any more. I blame us more than her, if we are gone from 6:00 - 4:30. I can't hold it that long.

[KingOfJericho]

My dog holds it from 6am to 7pm, no problem at all. Not sure if crate training had anything to do with it but she's a camel. Even when I get home, it's not like she's begging to go out right away.

[Templar]

Originally Posted by Sara504

So you rescued him only to put him back in jail.

You have no clue what you're talking about, as usual.

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

It's not jail, it's a training tool. In the wild, animals put themselves into small holes and crevaces because it makes them feel secure.

I crate trained my dog and she was very quickly house trained. I second the notion that you need a crate with a movable divider. Make it just big enough for them to turn around but not big enough for them to shit on one end and sleep on the other.

+1

All of my dogs love their crates. I only need to say the word "crate" and they all run right in. The only one I don't crate regularly is my oldest one, because I can trust him after years of behaving well outside of his crate (and he is the biggest and I want him loose in the house if someone decides to break in).

A crate provides a dog a safe atmosphere where they can rest without getting into any trouble. Crate training is probably the best and easiest way to properly house train a dog as well, because if you follow the above advice (about the size), the dog WILL hold it until they are let out, at which point you make them go right outside.

I would advise the crate because unless you have "puppy proofed" your house, the dog may not be safe while you're gone. Meaning that sometimes, a new dog (not just puppies) may have a tendency to chew things. The last thing you want is the pup to chew a power strip or cord and get shocked, or get access to some poison or something that may harm or kill them.

I've never owned a dog that didn't like their crate. Make sure it is a positive experience for them and they won't have any issues. If you make it negative (i.e. using it as punishment), they will hate it.

[kscarrol]

Beating a dead horse here but both my dogs love their crates. They sleep in them at night and I feed them in there as the younger dog (age 6) eats faster and will then goes to eat the older dog's food. It is not a jail, it is their safe zone. When we get a thunderstorm (both hate the thunder!), they go into their open crates voluntarily. Same goes for when my teenage boys are rough housing, the dogs will go into their crates...

[Vegetable]

My little lab pup hated his crate for the first few days, now he loves it!

[Lups]

Haha, I've never had one of those but the idea behind the is solid. This crying over dogs being locked away is just again us humans thinking dogs are like us.