Kennel or not ? - Page 3

Sunsilver
When blair built gsd said the trainer did not interact with his dogs i guess he meant walks etc on top of the training, Plus he did not say that the trainer did not stop and talk to his dogs when out there and give them a pat etc, also he did not say how often the guy trained his dogs, if he trains them more than once a day i see no problem with that, He makes the trainer out to be a cold sort of guy and i do not think he meant it the way it came out
Now let me put it the way most of you guys work over there in the USA and those who keep there dogs in the house ,
It seems many over in the USA keep them in crates in the house, to me that is cruel, what size crates do they live in.
now at night when you people go to bed i guess you will crate them they cannot do there business properly, outside with a run  they can go out of there kennel if it is a warm night they can and do sleep outside in the run
They can walk about and pee at will no harm to nothing, i get up the next morning clean out the pen change the water , then a bit later  after the pigeons are finished, I take the dog out, it comes home and is then fed half its daily ration, if we are training that evening it does not go out for another walk plus it is not fed before it gets home from the training club about 11.30 in the evening
The next morning the same except before the walk the dog is tracked then taken for a walk then home and fed, and that is a pretty good life for the dog much better i think than keeping a dog in a crate in the house even if it is overnight and part of the daytime, i know which i prefer, note if i am tracking the dog it is done early in the morning around 5.30 in the mornings when in the summertime
Steve

I have two dogs, one male and one female. Both intact. The male is shooting blanks, but with my luck..... LOL They are outside during the day, while I am at work. The male is kennelled, because, being male, he likes to go see the world on his own. As I live in a city, half a block from a 4 lane thoroughfare, and in a part of the city where some idiots allow their pits to run lose, his wanderlust is unacceptable. So, he is kenneled. The bitch is lose in the yard. When I get home and all weekend, they are with me. We are in the house, running errands, training, tracking, whatever. They sleep in the house at night near my bed. When the bitch is in season, one of them IS crated at night during that critical week or so. Otherwise, they are lose in the house while I am sleeping. Yes, the male is shooting blanks, now, but he didn't always. It would be just my luck that he would NOT be shooting blanks, were I not vigilant, and I'd have an untitled, un-hip cert'd, underage bitch bred. !!!! If I had more than 2 dogs, the arrangement might be different and I would have to "rotate" dogs in the house and they might all spent more time kenneled. I doubt this, though, as any additional dog(s) would be small breed (Corgi or Scottie) that could have the run of thehouse, while I am gone.

I am my dogs' kennel, LOL:

Yup, and both of my girls run to their crates and plop down inside when we ask them to - with the crate doors wide open and even if we ask them to "go in their box" outside - they'll go inside and go into their crates - and stay there.  They love their crates.  My manly man dog ain't so interested in the crates, though....

I've had dogs who were just kennel dogs and dogs who are house dogs who compete. Since I am a better trainer now than before, my house dogs are better competitors than the kenneled dogs were. Frankly, I have more opportunity to reinforce good behavior and to teach the darn things an off switch which is valuable when traveling to trials.  I want the dog (and me) to get a good night's sleep in the hotel room before a trial.  To avoid telling them no all the time, I keep the garbage covered and teach them how to go to their beds to get out of my space. They also very importantly learn how to be alone, in crates, in kennels and in the back yard. I don't think kenneling is cruel but I do think isolating dogs in order for them to have fun only with you is a little much.  My dogs are socialized and allowed to play with their own kind (perhaps after they play with me) and I don't have any dog distraction problems on the field, nor do they have problems fighting the helper or the decoy because they are submissive to another dog. We breed these dogs to have drive and if they have to be isolated in a kennel to have drive, then I would say, you perhaps have the wrong dog for the sport. (or maybe you just aren't exciting enough!)
To each their own, after all, what did you get the dog for? Because you like dogs and want to be with one? Or perhaps a product to get on the podium for your ego?

To each their own, after all, what did you get the dog for? Because you like dogs and want to be with one? Or perhaps a product to get on the podium for your ego?


BINGO!!  Well said, Changer!