Why I am against crating
I am personally very much against crates, with the exception of if a dog has an injury or needs to be prepared for travelling somewhere. Think about it—how absurd is it that it’s considered normal to confine an animal to such a small cage for prolonged periods, with this space often being just a little larger than their body size? Would it be acceptable to keep a cat like that? How might you feel if you saw a zoo animal kept in such a small cage? In comparison, the majority of hamsters and other rodents live it up in multi-storey penthouses. In fact, the only other animals that often suffer this same fate are many horses, guinea pigs, and rabbits!
Here is my rundown of why I personally think we should not be crating our dogs from the get-go:
Restricting a dog’s movement
Restricting a dog’s access to move around and confining them to one space is not toilet training in my opinion. It is toilet management. The dog has two options:
- Soil my bed and lie in it.
- Hold on until my owner decides it is an appropriate time for me to go.
This gives the animal minimal choice, and one choice is hardly pleasant and, in my opinion, totally unfair on the dog. The issue with option number two is that how often a dog needs to eliminate depends on a huge range of factors and as a result, it can vary from day to day. While many owners are observant and understand when to give their pup toileting opportunities, many are not canine body language savvy or they are perhaps too busy at times and don’t notice.
Psychological implications of crate training
Toileting is a basic need and we all have the right to go to the loo when we need the loo. For young individuals who are building up muscular and sphincter strength, this is usually more often than with adults. In fact, Karen Overall states that on average puppies gain full muscular and sphincter control at around 8.5 weeks of age. Before then, it can be near-impossible for some individuals to successfully hold on, i.e., they need to go right there and then.
So, what are the psychological implications of this approach to toilet training? Can it cause a dog stress? While I enjoy referring to scientific studies, for this I have none to refer to. However, I am a great believer in empathy and often use this as a means of trying to figure some things out. I do not care if people scoff about anthropomorphism because I refuse to consider animals as bionic beings who are resilient to feeling many of the physical stresses that us sensitive humans are subjected to on a daily basis.
We all know what it’s like to be busting for the loo on a car journey and the horror we feel when the road sign says the nearest service station is 30 miles away. Imagine that bursting bladder sensation and feeling of urgency every day or throughout the week. I personally like toilet training the old-fashioned way: get the dog out every 30–60 minutes when they are awake, and within a couple of minutes of them waking, playing, eating, and drinking. Mistakes and accidents are a part of having a puppy and crate training ensures that any accident a dog has is not a pleasant one—in their bed, and in what is meant to be their safe place.
The myth of crates preventing destruction
Apparently, crates stop dogs from being destructive. In my opinion, they can potentially do the opposite. If a dog’s environment is so tightly managed through crating that they never get enough opportunity to touch, see, and sniff things, then that environment remains novel for far longer than it would if they experienced more of it earlier on. The longer an individual is exposed to something, the less novel it will become. If a puppy feels familiar enough with their environment through adequate exposure, then they’re less likely to want to explore it intensely. And guess what? Many puppies explore using their mouth, and the older they get the more damage their jaws can do.
I think it is far more sensible to gradually expose pups to their home environment whilst satisfying the desire to explore using all the senses with an enriched environment of puppy-safe items. Of course, access to novel areas should be managed and supervised until the pup has settled, and it goes without saying that anything that could be of danger (especially wires) or that is too valuable to risk having puppy teeth marks in should be removed until that phase of the puppy’s life has passed. Stair gates and puppy pen partitions are a great way of restricting a puppy’s access to inappropriate places.
Dogs’ natural sleeping behaviour
Dogs are polyphasic sleepers. This means they sleep in short periods, like to get up and move around, and change positions. Changing surfaces that they sleep on also helps them regulate their temperature. Therefore, crating dogs goes against their natural way of sleeping and removes all options of them fulfilling this instinctive behaviour.
It’s worth noting that to enter deep REM sleep, dogs need to have the ability to stretch their legs out, as full muscle relaxation is part of the process of slow wave sleep (the stage before REM sleep). Should your dog not enter REM sleep, their brain may not be getting all the repair and recharging that it needs to function efficiently. It’s during REM sleep that the brain receives energy and also cortisol (stress hormone) levels lower. We all know how cortisol affects our mood and brain, so it’s vital we all get our REM sleep—dogs included!
Crating and training
Crating (when misused) can even inhibit training. If a dog can’t concentrate due to lack of REM sleep, then how are they meant to efficiently learn new behaviours we want to teach them? I sometimes say to people who are pro-crates: ‘How would you like being locked in your bedroom all night and/or for 8 hours a day? How do you think you’d sleep?’ Or, considering some of the sizes of crates, how about being confined to your bed for a duration of time? And being escorted to the loo when someone finally says you’re allowed to go, before being escorted back to bed?
Sadly, many people neglect to upgrade their crate size as their dog grows and this leaves many dogs in too small crates. This can create mayhem with their physical structure, as they are unable to stand up straight, stretch their bodies out, turn around, or lie with their legs outstretched. This can cause muscle tension which can then create compensatory movement in the body. This has a knock-on effect—a bit like dominoes.
The physical impact of crating
Think about how you have felt after a night sleeping on the sofa—a crick in the neck perhaps? A twisted feeling in the lower spine? How did you feel the day after and how long did it take to go away? Why is it so often overlooked that dogs would get this too? If a dog is in pain then their behaviour is often compromised—just like it can be with humans. How well do you concentrate when you have back ache? I can be pretty laid back, but even I’m guilty of getting irritable and taking it out on my fiancé (never the dogs!) when I’ve been in constant pain.
Alternatives to crating
Some people believe that crating encourages relaxation in a dog or helps them cope should they move house or visit a new place. And, perhaps for some dogs this may be so. However, my preference is for all dogs to have the ability to relax and cope without needing to be confined. I want them to choose to relax, not relax because the option of movement has been taken away. I want them to have the confidence levels in place through previous experiences to be able to cope with a new environment and I want to give them the opportunity to be responsible in that environment.
People who use crates to help their dogs relax need to ask themselves the question: ‘Is my dog relaxing, or are they lying down because there is absolutely nothing else they can do?’ I have often wondered whether crates can in fact cause more hyper behaviour in dogs. Being boxed up for many hours surely can create a jack-in-the-box type reflex for some dogs who understandably struggle with not moving around for prolonged periods of time.
Preparing for emergencies
Another reason I hear people say they use crates is because they want to prepare their dog for being at the vets/worst case scenario. I think forward planning is really sensible, however, I think when dogs are doped up on pain relief or are post-operation they are going to likely lie down and recover (this is the case with my dogs who aren’t crate trained). If the dog is wide awake and ready to go, then I’d be very surprised if anyone’s crate training generalises to the vet kennels which tend to be full of sick and stressed animals making a lot of noise.
The den argument
And then there is that frequently heard: ‘my dog’s crate is their den’ justification. A crate is only a den if the den is a safe place. A safe place is only safe when there is choice to move towards or move away. By shutting the door the crate no longer becomes a den. I do think that crate training for transport is a sensible thing to do if that is how you are going to transport your dog. I personally opt for car safety bars, but understand why some people use crates in their cars
and in this instance—absolutely train your dog to be relaxed in the crate.
Misuse of crates
More than once I’ve seen two or three dogs crammed into a crate designed for one small dog. I’ve seen dogs being unable to turn around, dogs being left without access to water (another basic need) for hours on end, and dogs shut away for 8–10 hours a day with no bed or mat—just the plastic crate floor to lie on (because they soil their bed or rip it up). This is what the crate training concept has got people doing and thinking is acceptable, and it’s not acceptable at all. If you really think about it, I mean, really think about it—it’s immensely unfair and no wonder that so many dogs develop anxieties, frustrations, and fears when that is the daily life they lead. We control so much in our dog’s lives, do we really have to control exactly where they sleep, when they sleep, and how long they sleep for too?
Conclusion
As with all things, these things do often depend on the dog. Some dogs genuinely do like their crate and want to go in it. That’s fine, keep the crate—just leave the door open. I feel that for the home environment we should be more trusting of our dogs and not worry that they’re going to wreck our houses with toilet accidents or chewing. We do so well at treating them as part of the family in every other way, so let’s make that truly the case and ditch the cages!
