There are many reasons why I chose to crate my dog Sasha, and the reasons have varied depending on her age and what I was trying to accomplish with her. The main reason I used a crate on him at first was because I wanted to potty train him. The easiest and most efficient way to teach a dog not to go to the bathroom at home is with the help of a crate.
In my experience, the best crate for potty training a puppy is a wire dog crate with a dividing panel. This type of dog crate allows you to purchase a crate of a size that will accommodate your pup once it is fully grown, but also gives you the ability to limit the “living” space you give your pup at first.
The reason it’s important to be able to do this is because the less space your pup has to move about, the less likely he’ll be able to potty in his crate. The divider panel allows you to gradually increase the space available to your pup as he grows, until the divider panel is completely removed.
Dogs are generally very clean creatures and do not like to go to the bathroom in their homes. But if you give a young puppy too much space, so that he can potty in one corner and then move to another corner to get away, there’s a much higher chance that he’ll have a crate accident. . This can make the potty training process much longer and more complicated.
When I brought Sasha home to live with me, I made potty training the first order of business. I wanted it to be as seamless as possible, so I bought a wire dog crate with a divider panel ahead of time and had it all set up and ready to go. Whenever she couldn’t keep an eagle eye on him, she put him in her cage.
Every time I let him out of his cage, the first thing we would do was get out and go to the bathroom. He wouldn’t let him back in the house until he had gone to the bathroom. Being a German Shepherd Dog, he is naturally quite intelligent and was a very quick study. He had the routine down in no time. However, a puppy’s bladder is small and his ability to hold urine is very limited, so Sasha needed to go to the bathroom every 45 minutes for the first few weeks he was with me.
Sasha’s grasping ability gradually increased, but she was not able to fully potty until 6 months of age. This surprised me, but my vet told me that’s usually how long it takes for a puppy to learn bladder control from her. Having the right box, while going through this process, was a real life saver. In fact, I can’t imagine trying to potty train a puppy without this tool. It was priceless.
Another reason I used a crate with Sasha as a puppy was to keep her from destroying my house while she was teething naturally. Puppies like to chew on just about anything and everything they can eat for the first year of their life. There were a few times when I turned my back for just a minute or two, only to discover a nice hole in my couch when I turned around.
A puppy’s teeth are very sharp and can tear through almost anything in a matter of moments. Not only is this very bad for your furniture and other belongings, but it can be incredibly dangerous for your pup. Many puppies will swallow pieces of whatever they break and the consequences of this can be disastrous.
If your pup were to swallow something sharp, it could lacerate tissue in his GI tract and cause internal bleeding. If you swallow something too large to move comfortably through your digestive system, it can cause an impaction. Both of these consequences would require surgical intervention, which may or may not be successful, and would also be very expensive to treat.
Therefore, it is extremely important to have a dog crate where you can keep your pup safe and secure during times when you are unable to care for him. A wire dog crate would, again, be my first choice for this purpose, especially since you probably already have one for the potty training process. A wire dog crate also has the highest “breathability” of any crate available, and therefore allows for maximum air circulation to help keep your pup cool.
Additionally, wire dog crates offer the most visibility for both you and your pup. Not only can you see them from all angles at a glance without having to bend down and look inside the crate, but your pup will be able to see you too. Just knowing where you are and what you’re doing can bring great comfort to your pup. Dogs are very social animals and they like to be with their people as much as possible. And, when you can’t be with them, knowing where they are is the next best thing!
I also use a box with Sasha during meals. I chose to feed him an all-raw diet based on the work of Australian vet Dr. Ian Billinghurst, author of Give Your Dog A Bone. The basis of this diet is raw meaty bones, which are most commonly translated as whole chicken thighs, turkey neck and back, lamb neck, and some organ meats such as liver and kidneys. I usually add some supplements to his food like omega 3 fish oil and wheatgrass juice powder.
As you can imagine, this can all be a bit tricky, so the simplest is to feed him in a cage. A wire dog crate also works perfectly for this need. This type of cage has a hard plastic tray at the bottom that easily slides out the front of the cage, making post-meal cleanup a doddle. The only alternative would be to feed it outside on the lawn, but the weather and time of year can sometimes make that impractical.
By nature, Sasha is a “protection” dog, which means she is highly suspicious of any and all strangers. Some German Shepherds are much more like this than others, and Sasha is at the other end of this scale, considering everyone guilty until proven innocent. Therefore, to keep everyone safe, I always put him in his cage whenever someone I don’t know, like the delivery man or repairman, comes to my house. Most dogs don’t fall into this category, but if you have one like Sasha, a dog crate is the best solution in my experience.
The last reason I use a box with Sasha is because of the times I travel with him. For this purpose, however, I use a plastic dog crate as I find it to be a safer option. These crates were originally designed for the purpose of air travel and are required by law if you wish to transport your dog in this manner.
Plastic dog crates are primarily made up of a strong and durable plastic (although some highly destructive dogs can break them when they want to) and are therefore also perfect for use in a vehicle. When going on any kind of road trip, long or short, I’m a big advocate of keeping your dog crated. If you were to brake suddenly and your dog was not secured in a crate, it could easily become a flying projectile. This could cause a serious injury or accident and potentially threaten the lives of everyone involved, including your beloved dog.
Another reason I prefer a plastic crate over a wire crate when traveling with Sasha is because it keeps any dirt, mud, or water that might have accumulated during an outdoor excursion inside the crate much better. The wire boxes are basically wide open and when Sasha inevitably decides to shake herself off after a trip to the lake, moisture from her fur will fly all over the place. However, the mostly solid walls of a plastic dog crate will keep the interior of my vehicle from becoming a soggy, dirty mess!
Sasha and I hope this article has been helpful to you in understanding all the many benefits that boxes can bring to you and your own furry four legged friend.
