Although it can be difficult to leave our pets at home, doing so is necessary as long as we need to earn a living in order to care for both ourselves and our pets. However, you might be curious as to how long a dog should be crated. Is it even necessary?.
Zoe, my dog of two years, is a lovable, outgoing, and fun-loving member of our family. She is also the first pet I’ve ever had. Since she was 7 weeks old, we have trained her to use a crate. I wasn’t working outside the home when she first moved in with us, and we only crated her when we left the house together. I now work full-time and spend eight hours away from home each day. I regret keeping her in her crate for such a long time. She exercises with our 9-year-old son when I take her for walks, but I wonder if she would be okay if she weren’t crated when we were gone.
Zoe shouldn’t have any issues being crated for medical purposes because she has had her entire life to get used to it and occasionally enters it on her own.
You have good reason to worry about crating Zoe for eight to ten hours each day. Dogs need to move around and change positions more than dog crates allow, so that’s not really good for them. The main purpose of crates is to protect the dog and the furniture in the home during the puppy and adolescent stages of potty training and teething. There’s really no need to crate Zoe all day if she doesn’t have accidents or a tendency to chew your belongings when you’re not looking. She should also be prepared to graduate from her crate during the day if she doesn’t act irresponsibly while you’re asleep at night.
I don’t want to keep her in that kind of confinement because she despises being locked in another room. She typically sleeps in our son’s room, on the floor of our bedroom, or in her open crate without being confined at night. In addition, I worry that if we don’t crate her when we’re gone, she won’t want to go in it later on if she gets sick or needs surgery.
On the weekend, when you’re not gone all day, try it out. Leave Zoe alone, loose in the house, for an hour. Try it again for two hours later that day if she doesn’t cause any harm or act overly anxiously during that time. She can probably handle your workday schedule without being crated if she can be left alone for that long without misbehaving. If she continues to sleep or take naps in the crate after a few months, you may want to keep it available permanently with the door open. In this manner, the crate will be handy and she will already feel at ease in it in the event that there is ever a need to temporarily confine her.
Is it cruel to crate a dog while at work?
Whether to crate a dog while you are at work depends on how long you will be gone as well as the disposition and general temperament of your dog.
It’s acceptable to crate your dog for the four hours you spend at work if you work a part-time job. He’ll probably just nap until you get back, especially if you took him for a walk and did some training beforehand.
On the other hand, you shouldn’t crate your dog for 8 to 12 hours while you are away if you have a full-time job (and possibly a long commute on top of that). He’s been confined to this small space for far too long. He might get very restless, try to escape, and exhibit nervous behaviors like constant barking or even behavioral problems like separation anxiety.
Because they are social creatures, dogs need a lot of daily enrichment to be content and well-behaved.
Dogs need to:
None of these can occur to a dog that spends their entire day in a crate. Being crated for a dog for that long during the day is unfair to it.
Can a dog hold his bladder for 12 hours?
Several adult dogs can go 12 hours without going potty. Similar to humans, dogs don’t need to urinate as frequently at night as they do during the day because of certain hormones.
Many people would find it difficult to go 10 hours without using the restroom during the day, but it is not an issue at night. The same is true for dogs, who frequently have the ability to hold their bladder while sleeping for 12 hours.
Your dog, however, will need to use the restroom a few times throughout the day. While some dogs may attempt to hold their bladder in novel or interesting locations, it is recommended to discourage this behavior since it can lead to UTIs in dogs.
Never force your dog to hold his bladder for 12 hours during the day; it is unhealthy and will have negative effects.
FAQ
Can I crate my dog for 12 hours?
The short answer is no, not at all. A dog should not be crated for 12 hours during the day, even though he can sleep through the night in his crate. This is way too much time spent in isolation.
Is it cruel to crate a dog while at work?
While it is not advised to crate a dog while at work, no more than 8 hours should be attempted if this is unavoidable. If you can’t crate a puppy while you’re at work, dog-proof the space you’re keeping it in so it can’t hurt itself while you’re gone.
How long should a dog be in a crate at a time?
All dogs, even mature dogs, should be crated for no longer than nine hours at a time. Too much time spent crating a puppy during the day can result in separation anxiety or crate accidents.