MIL Keeps Dog Caged All Day

[silencespeaks21]

My MIL can be incredibly selfish, a prime example being her family dog. “K” is a 90 lbs, 4 year old long-haired german shepherd. My MIL doesn’t want dog hair all over her house, so she keeps K in a wire cage in their living room. The cage is big enough for him to turn around in, and contains bedding, water, etc. My FIL loves K, so he walks him and takes him in the yard. On average, K spends 20 hours each day in his wire cage. My husband insists this is K’s little home and he loves being in it all day.

Now my MIL is getting tired of having a big wire cage in her living room, so she has been talking about getting K a dog house so he can stay outside, including overnight. My in-laws live in Nevada, where it is 100+ degrees on summer days, and under 30 degrees on winter nights. I have no idea what kind of dog house my MIL has in mind for K.

Is using a large wire kennel as a dog’s primary living space abuse? What about leaving a dog (with a thick coat) to sleep outside at night? Are there potential health consequences for K? Although he is well-fed and loved by my husband and FIL, I am appalled at my MIL’s treatment of K. Am I overreacting?

Edit: Thank you to everyone who replied! I am going to call animal control or the ASPCA and ask if this qualifies as animal abuse or can be intervened on. We don’t live in the same state as my in-laws, so I can’t stop by every day to monitor the situation, but I have to at least try and do something for this dog.

To those who brought it up, believe me, I have told my husband I don’t want to go with him to his parent’s home anymore, but he considers this a dealbreaker. His mother’s cruelty to animals extends to human beings too. This dog might be the nail in the coffin for my relationship.

 

[ichthymom]

@silencespeaks21 no, i don’t think you’re overreacting… NO dog should be left in a cage 20 hours a day, that’s not really a life and honestly, should be considered abuse.

 

[silencespeaks21]

@ichthymom Especially a huge dog, I would assume would need lots of space to move around throughout the day.

It might sound silly, but watching my husband sit silently while his mom treats K like this makes me angry/sad, and is making me question his values. K is a living creature with needs.

 

[symphorian]

@silencespeaks21 Hey I’m right there with you. Ended relationships for similar reasons. I don’t trust anyone that doesn’t treat animals with basic respect and care, they probably aren’t going to treat your animals or (current or future) kids much different.

 

[kg706]

@symphorian

Ended relationships for similar reasons.

Me too. I ended a relationship over the way my long time dear friend treated her dog. The day she said 'it's just a dog' after I found a great new home for him, I felt my heart break and a surgical end to the relationship. This was a 20 year friendship but it was her first dog. She then got vindictive and took a few more of my friends with her... she had the energy to hate on me but not the time to walk the dog.

 

[preacher4truth]

@silencespeaks21 Genuinely, why does she keep him? A dog in a cage wouldn’t even be helpful during a home invasion ffs

 

[ichthymom]

@silencespeaks21 yeah :/ some people really just seem unable to grasp that dogs have feelings/needs just like us humans. :/ i hope things improve for K soon. if not, i might would think about calling animal control or something, even though that seems drastic…

if they do end up moving him outside, he might would be okay if he had room to roam, but in the cold weather he would probably need a heat lamp.

 

[ziegw]

@silencespeaks21 You have to do something. This poor dog is being tortured.

 

[timstrong1123]

@ichthymom I have four pet rats and they’re not even in their cage for 20 hours a day.

 

[ichthymom]

@timstrong1123 i would love to have a pet rat

 

[lirpa74]

@ichthymom Can I ask for some honest feedback? My 10 week only puppy probably spends 20ish hours in his cage. Is that okay? I just got him this week and am using it as a housebreaking tool. I’m really worried it’s too much, I try to get him exercise when he’s out after I know his bladder is empty. I take him out like 12 times a day for potty breaks.

The crate isn’t going to be permanent. I’m using it as a tool and when I feel confident he is well trained, the crate will be ditched entirely.

 

[ichthymom]

@lirpa74 use a pen instead. walmart has circular ones. they’re a lot better than a cage. just put down puppy pads. leaving the dog in the kennel for that long is going to teach him to hate it, it’s not proper crate training. the crate should be a place for the dog to have his own space and relax. if you leave it in there too long/too much it will grow to hate the crate and never want to go in it.

trust me. my dog is a border collie/husky mix and she loves her crate, it’s where she goes to nap/chew toys/lounge. my girlfriend has a chihuahua that still has accidents inside and she crates him as punishment, and in turn he HATES his crate and never goes in it unless he’s commanded to.

i also wouldn’t suggest ditching the crate entirely, as i said most dogs view their crates as their “home.” it’s a safe space for them. just a suggestion.

if you are home, for potty training, try tethering the dog to you. this way, you can always see it and recognize the signs when it needs to go outside. i know for a fact this method is 100% effective, although not quite as easy as just crating the dog.

 

[joseb76]

@lirpa74 My opinion is this would only be acceptable if you play with the pup until they are exhausted and fall asleep and then move them into the kennel, 20 hours is too much. If you can I’d at least make it a play pen type area on tile or newspaper with access to water so they can move and play. It’s a formative time for the pup and you want them to get used to being out and about, with slowly growing territory. 3-4 months they should absolutely know not to go inside and then it’s either on you for not taking them out or a legitimate accident

 

[randy321]

@lirpa74 That's a lot, really. Housebreaking is hard, but I never had my dog in her kennel that much. And there were times I was taking her out every 20 minutes when we were on the struggle bus. For the most part, she was out unless I needed a break.

 

[andro]

@lirpa74 Honest feedback: it’s probably not okay. A crate is a great tool for housebreaking, absolutely! However, it’s no substitute for true housebreaking. You need to be able to take him out every hour (or even more frequently) to figure out how often he needs to go. Intermittent crate breaks and sleeping in there at night is a great idea, but it’s not a fair start to his new life to be in a crate for 20 hours, especially if you are awake and at home.

If you have a puppy, he is going to have accidents in the house. It is inevitable. I would get used to cleaning them up and starting on some true house breaking sooner rather than later. I highly recommend bell-training your pup. Mine caught on within a few days. You just attach a long bell to your door and ring it every time you take your pup outside—eventually, he’ll start to ring it to let you know he has to go out. My basset puppy is nearly 6 months old, and while she’s certainly not fully house trained yet, the bell training has helped tremendously!

I hope my reply doesn’t come off as rude at all, just wanted to provide some honest feedback! Puppyhood is hard, and you don’t learn everything overnight! I recommend watching lots of YouTube videos on training and such. Best of luck to you and your pup!

EDIT: I also recommend confining him to areas in the house using baby gates. I have my living room baby gated off from the rest of my house and usually let my puppy loose in the room (supervised, of course). Once you trust he’s ready for more room, you gradually expand the area. This helps a ton with house breaking. Make sure the area you choose is a place where you can have eyes on the little guy always! If you work and can’t supervise your dog for long periods of time, I recommend a pen + crate. Have the crate door open to a penned, small area with access to water and safe toys, as well as a puppy pad. Have a friend or someone come over periodically to let him out.

 

[lirpa74]

@andro Thank you for your feedback. It didn’t come across as rude at all. I have done a lot of research and read some of the work by Ian Dunbar. He recommended “errorless house training” where he basically says every single accident should be treated as potentially detrimental and the goal should be zero accidents. He says to use the crate to your advantage because you know every time you take the pup out of the crate, he will need to go.

I don’t like the idea of puppy pads, but I think based on the comments I should try and reduce crate time a slight bit.

 

[jenlousie]

@lirpa74 Puppies that age sleep about 20h/day. You’re probably fine, but they also make pens you can attach to the crate, which is what I used!

 

[justaperson1111]

@lirpa74 I think it’s fine with a puppy since they sleep for like 18-20 hours a day. My puppy is 7 months and she easily spends 18 hours sleeping

 

[believer777]

@silencespeaks21 German Shepherds are working dogs, keeping
them in a cage is a huge injustice. Why don’t they rehome the dog if they have to provide this living condition. It’s absolutely appalling to hear a dog in his cage for 20 hrs, that’s ridiculous. This will definitely have an impact on his life span because he’s not getting enough physical and mental stimulation. The poor dog is suffering in silence, please be his advocate and try to get him out of this situation. No amount of love justifies keeping him in a kennel for 20 hours. I don’t even leave my tiny dogs who barely weigh 12 pounds in their crates for more than 5 hours because I know it’s wrong. Dogs are meant to be free, I honestly feel so bad for him

 

[revrog252]

@believer777 Yeah, whether or not they comprehend what they are doing to the dog, this is still 100% animal abuse regardless of their ignorance. They only have the dog for the exclusive reason of feeling dominant over another living creature, but that part's just my opinion. And yes this will absolutely have a very negative impact on it's life span and obviously quality of life. This was horrible to read. That dog is definitely suffering and has no idea why it's suffering.