My Pet World: Adopter says she was told her dog ‘did not bark’

Cathy M. Rosenthal, Tribune Content Agency on Jan 20, 2021

Dear Rita,

For my readers, please note that Rita is referring to a recent column where I gave housetraining advice to a family with a small dog who kept having accidents in the home. They had a crate, so I discussed ways they could use the crate to housetrain their dog. While proper crate training is a humane way to train dogs, there is one caveat: Dogs are not meant to be closed up in their crates all the time or for long periods of time, and I believe this is what Rita felt I neglected to say. So, I need to rectify that oversight.

Keeping a dog in a crate all the time would be cruel. They wouldn’t get enough exercise and could become anxious, destructive or depressed. One should never use a crate to punish a dog or to put a dog in while you go to work for eight hours. It’s a training tool and should not be used in place of supervision and other training.

So, what does humane crate-training look like? Use the crate sparingly, like when you have to leave the house for short periods of time or during housetraining. When home, leave the crate door open and feed your dog his meal and special treats inside the crate, so he learns his crate is a special place where good things happen. Once a dog is housetrained, leave the crate door open when you leave home, so your dog can go in and out. You will be surprised at how much time your dog wants to sleep in his crate, especially if there is a comfy bed inside.

I used crate-training to housetrain three of my five dogs. The crates are not hidden but in the main living area so they can enjoy their crates whenever they want while still hanging out with the family. For more information, the Humane Society of the United States has a step-by-step guide on how to crate-train a dog.

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(Cathy M. Rosenthal is a longtime animal advocate, author, columnist and pet expert who has more than 25 years in the animal welfare field. Send your pet questions, stories and tips to cathy@petpundit.com. Please include your name, city, and state. You can follow her @cathymrosenthal.)