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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 things that dogs enjoy we would find cruel - rolling in manure or dead animals, chewing on bones, running for hours after something that won't be caught, walking with a leader when they decide to walk. Just as dogs enjoy these things, they also enjoy the security of a crate, which is like the den a wild canine would dig under a fallen tree or large rock. As pet owners, one of our biggest flaws is humanizing our animals too much.

Dogs crated from an early age have the same sense of security that we as children used to get from running to our rooms and slamming the door. It's their space, where, like their ancestors, they can be enclosed and secure. To a dog, using a crateis a natural thing that we can encourage when they are young with no negative effects. That it also provides benefits for us when we are training them or have to leave them unattended, doesn't make it cruel. Even crating a dog later in life, when their behavior has become a problem, is a more humane alternative than many of the things we consider or allow.

Crating is an excellent tool for housebraking as dogs do not like to toilet near their beds. That is a better option than ranting at them for wetting the floor, or giving up and turning them over to an animal shelter. Some breeds require crating to make acceptable house pets. Jack Russell terriers, for example, are often known as hyper, destructive little dogs. Yet, if they are crated when young and exercised appropriately, they learn how to be still and make excellent pets.

Another aspect that should be considered is that pet owners are not their pets' only caretakers, and training a dog to be comfortable when crated at home makes life easier if the dog has to stay at a vet's office or be boarded. Although we may not plan to leave our pets with someone else, there may come a time when we decide we want to take a vacation or need to travelto be with family; there can come a time when we are ill and need to be hospitalized and someone else has to care for our dog; our dogs could also become ill or be injured and have to be left with a vet. Having them accustomed to being crated can make any of these scenarios more pleasant for or pet.

Crating your dog is not cruelty, it's really a kindness when you think like a dog instead of a person.

Learn more about this author, Angela Schmoll.
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