Dog crates/cages

icanhandthemback

I agree. My DC didn't go in the playpen for long, just an hour or so whilst I cleaned and tidied up. They would play happily and weren't just dumped in there for hours with no-one chatting to them. In fact, they chatted to their toys. I also used it in the garden sometimes as our garden back then was steep and terraced.
I wish crates had been invented for dogs then, too.

I grew up in a village and it was quite common to see a dog mooching about on its own, having been turfed out to exercise themselves. No-one thought anything of it.

I remember in the 1950's dogs ran the streets freely.

They did wander with the result many good natured ordinary mongrel puppies arrived.
They can’t wander now any more than our children can. Cars

Casdon
Thanks for your reply. I don't have any issue with dog crates, just never really understood the purpose of them. My dogs have always had a bed. I do however totally approve of them for travelling in the backs of cars. Anything to keep the dog safe has got to be a good idea.

I am pretty sure that having dogs restrained in cars is now a legal requirement. We have a crate in the back and a seat belt harness for the other hound on the back seat. I think that there is a pretty hefty fine if you are caught with an unrestrained dog.

As someone previously said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with crate training a dog, as long as it is used correctly. More often than not, it is for their own safety, not for the convenience of the owner.

When left on his own, my Flat Coat was a wrecking ball. Chewing through electric cables and getting hold of bottles of toxic household products was not good for his health, oddly enough. I would prefer that my dogs were able to be left in safety. I think that anyone who leaves a puppy to its own devices is, frankly irresponsible. What happens when you go to the supermarket, for example? Give it the run of the house?

Both my Retrievers now take themselves to the crate as and when they choose. One of them takes their night-time Bonio in there - it is a safe space.

Don't knock the crate's usefulness.