Crating guilt

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ayoub77

New member
I’ll preface this by saying I’ve been working part time at a job where I’d start about 3am and would be home about 9ish and my boyfriend usually leaves the house about 7:30am so my dog is crated 2 hours MAX. The rest of the day, we hike and play and I’ve loved the time with him but things changed at this job and hours were super-cut so I went to find a new job that will also be part time (with him in mind) but 12noon-6pm and I’m feeling so so guilty about the schedule changing. I know to leave him lots of goodies like kongs and lick mats so I have those in the freezer ready to go. But poor boy is looking at 4 more hours than usual in his crate- am I abusing this poor dog by crating him for 7hours? I’ll also make sure he’s super tired when I put him in, I’ve had him for months so I understand that that’s necessary. I just wanna know I’m not the worst dog mom ever, i can’t live on 10 hours a week but having this guy potentially be sad in this crate for 7 hours a day kills me. I know I’m probably just being dramatic because he doesn’t even hate his crate 😂
 
@ayoub77 Oh gosh, no. He's going to be fine! You're giving him a safe space to call his own while you're gone. While he's there, you know he won't get into the trash, chew something harmful, etc. Crates are healthy for dogs when they're done right. Mine loves his crate and will sometimes just go in it just because - or to get a reaction from us because he's pouty. LOL
 
@mamabear777 Thank you!!! Once we get used to it more I’m sure I’ll feel less guilty. My goal is to get him well behaved enough to not even be in the crate while we are gone but he can’t be trusted yet 😂
 
@ayoub77 That will likely come when he's older. My boy couldn't consistently be left out until he was nearly 3.

We once had a Golden retriever with horrid separation anxiety. She would destroy my house before we began crating her (she was our first dog and oh did we learn a lot from her!) and there was one day even when she was older I hadn't crated her for whatever reason. She got into the cabinet where the trash was (that was a new trick!) and got a soup can and cut her nose. The cut could have been much worse! So we were careful after that to be sure she was crated until she was too old to care. LOL
 
@mamabear777 Yeah I really think my dog is capable of a lot of great things but he’s only a year and has a lot of learning to do. He sleeps most of his afternoons away after I exercise him on a trail and play with him anyways so I guess the only difference will be that he’ll have a nice nap in his crate lol
 
I am headed out for my for shift in this new schedule, thanks for your wise words! It’s like a community here and I love it. This is the first dog I’ve owned so I’m still kinda learning all the things in general- thanks again!
 
@ayoub77 I was able to have my ACD roam free. He has never been crate trained which I do think I should do anyways just in case one day I may need to transport him somewhere. Anyways, when I am at work he just sleeps on my bed all day. He is only destructive when I am home and he is trying to get my attention.
 
@ayoub77 Mine are crated during the day, sometimes up to 8 hours. It's part of the routine. She will even go get in her crate without being asked when she sees me pouring my coffee. I'll find her sitting in it, patiently waiting.
 
@marie89 It’s so funny mine does that when he sees me getting his kongs and lick mats!! Thank you I’m feeling less and less guilt about it plus I’ll have weekends off to be with him
 
@ayoub77 Dogs understand routine. I promise you he/she is ok. Crating is a very safe thing to do and rolls back to animal instinct of having and protecting a "den." My old show dog would actually protect her crate when we were at dog shows.
 
@marie89 Oh wow! This is a great way of looking at it! It makes sense as to why he’ll go in there to sleep sometimes and I don’t even ask him to! I’m definitely happy he never has ever given me an issue about it before, it’s not like he’s never been crated for 6-7 hours but now it’s gonna be Monday-Friday. I’m grateful he’s such a sweet cooperative boy.
 
@ayoub77 It’s great to keep him used to a crate, as there may be times later when he needs to be confined for whatever reason. Once you completely stop using it, it will become more difficult to get him to use it. I always leave them available to my dogs, even when they have full run of the house, and they’ll choose to go in there when they need space/time alone. Like when my young nephews come for a visit.
 
@ayoub77 As long as he’s well behaved and there won’t be problems with destruction or anything leave him to roam the house. So many people think a crate is necessary when it absolutely is not if you have a well behaved well trained dog.
 
@jesuscares4u Hey! So he’s a good boy but could def use work. He just turned a year and surprises me at how well behaved and good he is but we don’t know about giving him free reign yet. Maybe we can start with a room to himself then go from there? But then again I’ve seen pictures of dogs yeeting themselves through closed windows- I just wanna keep him safe above anything. I haven’t seen any evidence of separation anxiety other than a chewed up lick mat but that could have been sheer boredom. How do you work your way to being comfortable with them having a whole house to themselves?
 
@ayoub77 My heeler has always had the house. To the detriment of a couple couches I’ll admit but after he turned one there hasn’t been any issues. Starting with a room is a great idea. And they are plenty smart enough to know why they get in trouble and with mine he rarely dies the same wrong thing twice
 
@jesuscares4u This is true!!! I might have to clean out our back room put his crate back there so he can chill in there if he wants and leave the room like a big ass crate. My dog likes to test boundaries- I let him run in our yard when we play ball (I never leave him alone outside) and if he sees a car he thinks he recognizes he chases it! That’s a whole other story but yeah he’s an amazing dog just needs some work on impulsive behavior. I don’t really care about stuff being wrecked because it’s STUFF and can be replaced I just don’t want a potentially bad situation to happen and regret it
 
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