Can excessive crating make a dog handler aggressive? - Page 3

Actually, it was a serious point. Thank you, Chaz, for what you replied.

I knew it was a serious point. ;) It is a serious situation.

Can excessive crating make a dog-handler aggressive? Hmm ...excessive crating would sure make ME aggressive! 

Oh, wait...seems I punctuated that wrong...

Most of my dogs have been crate trained. As puppies, they had to be crated while I was at work, because they couldn't be truste to not tear the  house apart. And no, it hasn't made them aggressive.

In my previous home, where I had a larger bedroom, Star would go into her crate as soon as she finished eating her supper, and would sleep there most of the night. My currrent bedroom is too small for her crate, so she sleeps wherever she wants: beside Eksa's crate, on the rug by the front door, on the dog bed in the dining room, the dog blanket just outside my room, or on the floor beside my bed are all favourite spots.

Eska is still crated at night, becuase she thinks it's fun to chase the cat in the wee hours of the morning.   She will even sometimes go to her crate of her own accord during the day.

I crated my dog frequently when he was a pup 9 weeks to 6 months.... at night and depending on the circumstances during the day( in the house). I continued to use the crate throughout his life but less so after he settled down from crazy puppy juvenile stages.I also have a crate with open door in the yard ( he would frequently go in the crate on his own accord and I would have him go in the crate if I had a lot of people over(unknown people) for a bbq etc. I also have a gated dog run in the yard( which he could see from) that I used when I had a lot of action going on in the yard ie repair person etc was around.
The dog run was one of his favorite cool spots to go to on a hot day and he would just go in their on his own.Also, my dog would frequently sleep outside on his own( again this was when he wasn't a juvenile and would bark at everything in the night) I always made these spots positive and not punishment associated. The majority of my dogs life he slept on a carpet in the living room or a pet bed at the floor of my bed or chose to sleep out in the backyard  for part of the night and come back in on his accord. I was never to worried about locking the back door of the house when he was around:)

Shortly before my dog passed I noticed he would go to his crate more often...looking back now I realize he associated it probably with a place of peace and solitude.

Without knowing a whole lot more about the circumstances it would be impossible to narrow down why. When dogs bite owners it is usually something that builds over time and a person can usually tell that tension is building. I have seen dogs that were overly harshly corrected on a regular basis and over time and over time you can tell the dog is trying to show submission but from the dog's view point it isn't being accepted. And so finally it says "okay enough". Who would notice this building would only be someone who observed this over time. And those who were bit obviously didn't notice any problems or if they did they just ignored them. regardless they either have no idea why or aren't going to tell all information, so impossible to tell. Crating by itself depending of the individual dog probably wouldn't be the cause but crating along with other issues could combine together to be a problem.

Crating a dog doesnt make them bite their owner, period. Thread closed.

I never crate my dogs. But that is my personal opinion.

One thing i know about dogs in general is there are no certain situations that applies to every dog.

Dogs are individuals, excessive crating might make some dogs handler aggressive, that is plausible Imo.

Genetics can be triggered the wrong way, different circumstances or conditions might have a different outcome on the same genetics.

 

 

 

 Crate rotten. crate rotten dog is dog which is not comfortable anywhere else except in his crate. That dog maybe genetically predisposed to be insecure or be poorly socialized  or usually both -  and on top of it where the crate is used as a crutch for convenience of  the lazy handler where it is not really necessary and dog could be with the hander instead.  Such dog then may become focused on his   nearest environment because he lacks social experience with lively broad experiences of every day life environment  and the crate to him/her   is all the dig  is familiar with. Such dog then may became overly protective of his den/crate which is atavistic trait which will pop up when dog is kept in such unhealthy environment.    This is similar to fetish  aggression where the dog is protective of specific object  or even area  or spot in the house  which he considers to be his or hers- same as the crate. If such dog shows aggression and the owner backs off then that is disaster of the serious behavioral problem in the making. 

How to avoid it This is avoidable if the socialization and daily routine and to the dog interesting training is employed during the day and quality time is spend with the dog.  If the dog is taken for ride and for walk and  as a rule of thumb the dog all possible time is spend with the dog.  Asks your self;  Is the dog in the crate  because I am lazy to  deal with it? If the answer is yes, then you are screwing up your dog and are asking for trouble which will pop up  in variety of behavioral problems. Do not forget to LIVE WITH THE DOG !

BUT

Crate is important tool. We can transport dogs in crates, restrain them in the crate when we have visitors who are afraid of dogs and we can teach them to be housebroken with help of crate and keep them from destroying house when they can not be under supervision. I do not agree with the PC notion that person should not have a dog if they can not supervise the dog 24/7. ( Susie's Post) Such notion is quite preposterous since nobody can  fulfill such requirement.  For example; what do you do at night when you sleep. Keeping alternative supervision of your dog with your spouse?

 What is crate to the dog ? Crate represent to the dog his den. Most dogs like  crate and choose to be in one . It their safety zone. 

Too long.  what is too long for the dog to be in the crate? Dogs sleep for about  12 -14 hours per day or longer. Thus about 1/2 day. If the dog is in the crate  for such period of time and is otherwise comfortable - not thirsty want to pee or poop or is not hot,  then such total amount of time in crate is natural and normal. During night I recommend the dog to sleep in crate by the owner's bed . They can actually bond that way because that is what  canines do in wild and when pups sleep with their dam. Too long is relative term but I would say that too long is when the crate is used when not necessary for the convenience and laziness of the owner who keeps the dog out of his hair by just basically making them live in the crate instead with him or her.  

Hans.

I can  see where a dog might start to "resource guard" a crate when there is nothing much else in its life THAN the crate.  Although the aggression to handler would probably need to play out at the moment when the handler finally gets the dog out of the crate, rather than elsewhere and at other times.  As Mithuna did not yet answer questions to give more detail, who knows if this is THE problem with the dog in question that he boarded, or whether something else is gong on ?

You wouldn't believe how many dogs I'm getting in for boarding that actually do resource guard their crates.
Especially with Huskies...