Crates.
Crates seem to be a bit of a controversial subject these days, and I felt compelled to make a post about them, after a discussion with someone I met on a dog walk today, who told me, in no uncertain terms, that crates are cruel. Not only that, but my dogs are abused, because I use crates.
Since Iāve owned my own dogs, I have always used crates. And I always will. I genuinely donāt know how people live with dogs without a crate. Absolutely no judgement from me if you donāt use them, I just know I would struggle without them.
My dogs are crated every single night, without exception. They will never not be crated at night. They are also crated, regularly throughout the day. My main reason for this, is their safety. My dogs are young. My boy dog, is partial to lego, and anything else he can get his paws on. If you follow my personal page, you will know that heās tried to eat and chew some questionable things. When he is in his crate, he canāt do this. Another big benefit, is that my dogs get adequate rest in their crates. Young dogs can be like toddlers, if they donāt get enough rest, they do silly things, annoy one another, harass my cat etc. I crate my dogs after every walk and after every training session. This allows their body and brain to recover. I never use crates as a punishment. I remember going to a training class ran by the lovely Pawzitivity Dog Training. Where Dianne said the crate should feel like finishing work on Friday evening, when you have your favourite tv show on, and a takeaway in your lap. Complete relaxation and contentment. Thatās what it is for my dogs. Their crates are available 24/7, and they happily go in of their own accord.
Also, letās not forget that, God forbid, your dog is ever at the vet for a longer period of time, or recovering from surgery, having a dog thatās crate trained will make life, yours and theirs, so much easier.
My dogs have a pretty decent life. They have adequate exercise, training,
Incase you ever wondered what happiness looks likeā¦..
And just incase anyone is under the disillusion that I know at all what Iām doing with dogs, this as at the end of the session when we were heading back to the van. The other dogs were waiting patiently while I got all our stuff together, while my own two dogs ran off all the way to the other side of the field, and completely ignored my efforts to recall them.
I just wanted to share something I learnt from TikTok, of all places, for how to tire out your dogs if theyāre not having their normal amount of exercise, due to the cold weather.
My dogs are usually walked twice a day, once on the long line for a sniffy walk, and once on pavements for more of a structured walk. Weāre not really doing much of the street walks at the moment, and I think theyāre missing it.
I did this for five minutes with each of them, and theyāre now fast asleep.
This one is Loki, Lylaās is in the comments. š¾ā¤ļøš¾
Weāve been practicingā¦..
Professional dog walking service operating from Chatteris, Cambridgeshire. Walks are based on your
