Dogs in crates, how long & how often?

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nativepony

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My husband has always worked from home since we've had our two dogs but due to a change in circumstance is now out at work all day. So, I'm now main dog looker afterer(!) but I work at my yard in the mornings so have been leaving them at home in crates. I'm having to leave them for almost 4 hours some days and am worried that's too long - physically they're fine when I get home but just don't know if it's fair on them? I don't have time to walk them before I leave but they go out for a good walk/run when I get home. I could take them with me but they're not allowed in the yard so would have to stay in the car - obviously not an option if it's hot & I do ride some mornings but would have to leave them in the car as although one would come out hacking with me, the other wouldn't!

Just wondered what everyone else does as it's a new situation for me and I don't want the dogs to be miserable - am feeling bad :(
 
my dog sleeps in hers overnight, as she chews and will have the cats... she comes out in the morning, i put her back in for 30 mins-1 hour while i go do the pony.. afternoons are easy as my son is home from school and can watch her... as long as the create is big enough.. get 2 sophies size in mine..
shes happy to go in it.. if i leave it open all day she quite often gose in it for a kip, of her own chose..
 
Mine also overnights in crate (11-7 usually) and any time when he can't be supervised and he goes for long periods in car journeys too, wouldn't worry about 4 hours, especially if they have something to occupy themselves (butcher's bone, frozen Kong etc)
 
Loki no longer has a crate, but Cid is in his overnight, when the kids are eating as he nicks food, and if we are gone (which isn't often). The only time he is in the crate more than 3 or 4 hours during the day is when we go on a day trip, and that is two, maybe three times a year. Neither dog has ever had a problem with it.
 
What size of dog? Depending on their size you can buy very large crates which you could put two dogs in with room to spare, then at least you would feel better in your mind that they are not too confined. Or as some friends do put up a secure ex-pen, they fix it to the wall so it cannot be tipped over.
 
My two jacks were crated overnight in a large crate (for the size of a collie) and coped very well. 4 hours is a walk in the park, especially if they are tired :)
 
Cefyl - they are lurchers & quite large! One has a big crate & she is quite happy, will sometimes just take herself in & lie down, the other dog has a slightly smaller crate but we don't really have room for two large ones - he does stress & will leave his chew untouched until someone is home, but tbh he does this in the bigger crate too, he's just a very stressy dog - when I got back today he'd managed to pull one of the curtains through the bars & has chewed a hole in it!!!!
 
'I don't have time to walk them before I leave'. -Why not get up twenty mins earlier then?
A dog that's chewing curtains etc. I would worry about. Can you not leave them out to have roam of the house or preferably garden?
 
No I can't - one of them will jump over the 6ft fence - I have two small children that i need to get ready for school, a part time job and have enough on my plate ad it is! As I said this is a change of circumstance that I can do nothing about - I appreciate it's not ideal but to be honest even if I walked his legs off for 4 hours beforehand he'd still stress as he was a stray from a rescue centre & despite trying numerous avenues to alleviate his stress short of having him permanently with me 24/7 there's not much I can do! I already get up at 6.30 and walking the dogs first going would involve having to take my two small children with me which just isn't easy!!! We do have a huge garden which they can both run round in before I leave them.
 
BTW, if I let him have run of the house I can't imagine what I'd come home to, he's a complete theif and can find his way into any closed cupboard or door resulting in previous emergency vet trips!!
 
I take it the crate is an open wire one? Try throwing a rug over it (or maybe not, if he drags curtains in :p) or invest in a Vari-Kennel type which is more enclosed, or a similar plastic box, the type used for air transit.

What about an outdoor dog run with a roof? You can get cheapish flat-pack affairs these days.
 
4 hours is fine for adult dogs, if you cannot walk them before as you say then obs making up that time when you come home with a long walk would be a good compromise.
As cc suggests sky/vari kennels are a good option for safety if he pulls things into the crate and they are darker inside and the mesh is alot smaller (where there is mesh)
I would suggest also with separation anxiety the dog spends random periods in the crate when you are in the house aswell as out of the house as it's this that actually causes part of the issue.
Feed meals in there and try and get him to accept treats/kongs and bones when you are in and he can see you.
Also DAP plug in near by to help with anxiety and radio on to drown out disturbing noise and no OOT greeting when you return home.
 
Mine lives in his cage 24/7, I sometimes let him out and stick him in a rolling ball to run about the floor for 20 minutes...

oh wait, that's my hamster :o Which is odd as I don't have a hamster. I have degus, but they don't have a ball... Either way, 4 hours is fine, imo. Mine's in a crate overnight or on occasion while I'm at work which is longer than 4 hours.
 
Um, anyway...

Tyson was crated for 4 hours at a time. I would walk him in the morning, then crate between 8-12 then return for a lunch time walk & crate again between 1-4 with another walk at 5pm. Not ideal but we've had to adapt to working full time hours with him
& this is how we cope. He seems ok.
These days he is kenneled outside with Bryony, instead of being crated... but the hours & routine remain the same. He seems happy enough :)
 
Thanks Cayla - and to think one of the reasons we got him to try & help with Daisy's SA which is now completely cured - perhaps a third lurcher would do the trick!! ;)
 
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