Is crating your dog cruel?

by Lindsay Horvath

As a veterinary technician, my favorite appointments to see are first-puppy appointments. The cuteness, the excitement of a new bond being formed, and the chance to snuggle with...read more

by Marcia Studley

I have to admit that years ago I considered crates cruel and never would have purchased one. However, three years ago when I added a new black lab to my home, I decided to give ...read more

by Stacy Kaaki

Many people think that crating a dog is cruel or inhumane. After all, dogs are a part of our family, and who wants to put their family member in a cage! Unfortunately, we cann...read more

by Ilona Van Galen

What do you do with up to 400 excited dogs in a public place, desperate to compete in their favourite sport? You crate them, of course. It's impossible to consider an outdoor Au...read more

by B. L. Babb

A dog crate, utilized properly, is not a cruel device, but instead becomes a safe haven for your pet. A place to go where they can "get away from it all." Somewhere that they ...read more

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by Angela Schmoll

When it comes to crating our dogs, odds are good if we don't do it, it's because we think it's cruel. But in defining cruelty, we use our definition of it, not the dog's. Many t...read more

by Kimberlee Decunzo

Before making a decision as to whether or not crating a dog is cruel you first need to understand how a dog thinks. If you were to find a dog in the wild you would find him rest...read more

by Michelle Paszkowski

This is a tough question for me. I never thought crating was a good idea. I would always argue that it wasn't fair to the dog. I have always been an advocate for free range pets...read more

by Barbara Stockton

Todays pet is a member of the family and shares the domain with there human masters. They ride in the car, go on vacation with us and do everything with us except go shopping. ...read more

by Anna Wright

Years ago I did think that crating your dog was cruel. However, that all changed with the addition of our much loved dog Daisy. Daisy is a little dog, a border terrier, who wa...read more

by Jessica Dach

I don't think that crating a dog is cruel. I have two large dogs both of which are very destructive when left alone. I have come home to too many ripped up carpets...torn up bli...read more

by Jan Hoadley

Critics of crating point to any number of things to prevent putting a dog in a crate. "How would we like to..." - well we (as in people reading this) are not dogs. We don't reli...read more

by Melia Benjamin

How can you think that it is cruel? It is a home to your pet if done with love. The crate is similar to your own bed. It is a place where the dog often feels the safest because ...read more

by Megan Clark

There is nothing cruel about a dog crate, although the same cannot be said of dog owners. It is a dog's natural instinct to have a "den", a small, protected, warm (or cool) comf...read more

by Alicia Kryklywyj

You just came home from the hospital after giving birth to you new bundle of joy. He is only 5 days old. You want to take a shower and get the hospital smell off yourself. You t...read more

by Susan Nichols

Crate training is not a cruel method of training whatsoever. If anything, it is one of the best forms of training if it is used properly. For example, sending a dog to his or he...read more

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by Ann White

Definitely not! As long as the crate is big enough for the dog to stand up in and to be able to turn around, then, it is not cruel. The crate becomes the equivalent of their den...read more

by Kim Sharpe

I'm an extremely strong advocate when it comes to the wonders of the dog crate. I have owned, trained, and shown dogs for close to twenty years of my life. During that time a ...read more

by Randy Scott

Dogs have always been hanging around man in some capacity or other. It didn't take too long before they became part of the human tribe. But they needed to really feel like they ...read more

by Roan Kishpaugh

"Crate my dog? You mean cage my dog? I wouldn't think of ever doing that!". I have heard this over and over again from people who are also replacing their chewed up sofas, payin...read more