How To Keep Your Dog Safe In A Crate

Submitted by: Esm e La Fleur

For some, this question may seem rhetorical. Aren t crates themselves supposed to keep your dog safe? The answer to that is, of course, yes. However, what many people do not know is that it can be very dangerous to put things in the crate with your dog. It can also be very unsafe to put things on top of or over your dog s crate. Almost all puppies, as well as many adult dogs with anxiety issues, will chew or shred just about anything they can get their teeth on, whether it is inside or outside the crate.

When I first brought my German Shepherd puppy Sasha home to live with me, my primary concern for him was safety. I was fully prepared with two different kinds of dog crates: one for using inside my home and one for using inside my vehicle. The one for my home was a wire dog crate with a divider panel, designed especially for potty training a new puppy. The one for my vehicle was a plastic dog crate, which is designed especially for traveling with a dog.

However, no matter what type of dog crate you are using, you never, ever, ever want to put anything inside the crate with you new puppy or newly adopted older dog until you know exactly how they will behave inside the crate when left alone. Once a puppy or adult dog dismembers a toy or disembowels a bed, it is very easy for them to swallow pieces of it…and this could lead to very disastrous consequences. Not only could it endanger your dog s life, but it may also turn out to be quite expensive if veterinary intervention is required.

With Sasha, any toy or other article I placed in his crate with him as a puppy would get shredded, so I never left anything in his crate with him. Period! Many people think their puppy or adult dog will be uncomfortable in a crate without a blanket or bed of some kind but, in actual fact, many dogs do not like cushions in their crates even when you offer them one. When Sasha got older, and it was finally safe for me to place a blanket or bed in his crate with him, all he did was scrunch it up into one corner of his crate to get it out of the way. He actually preferred the coolness of the smooth, hard, plastic.

In one very sad case that I am intimately familiar with, a blanket was draped over the crate of a dog who was being kenneled at a professional boarding facility, in an effort to keep the dog calm and quiet. Unfortunately, this dog was a spinner and he spun virtually non-stop, round and round, and round, whenever he was placed in a dog crate — but a crate was still the safest place to keep him under the circumstances, or at least it should have been. However, this dog had a collar on and, by some crazy fluke, the collar managed to snag the blanket that was draped over the crate, and this dog ended up accidentally strangling himself to death.

This was a tragedy of huge proportions because the dog involved was a K-9 Police Dog. Interestingly, the Police Officer that this dog lived and worked with, placed a blanket over his dog crate every night for years, and nothing ever went wrong. But it only took one time, and the consequences were lethal. Almost every kennel owner has had a similar unfortunate experience, and they never make the same mistake twice. But it is my hope that by sharing this information and explaining the potential dangers involved, I can help you to avoid anything bad happening to your own beloved dog.

So, to summarize, when placing your puppy or adult dog into a dog crate, always remove their collar, do not place any toys, or blankets, or beds inside the crate with them until you are 100% sure of their behavior when left alone in the crate, and do not place anything on top of or over or even near your dog s crate, EVER! You also want to be sure to position your dog s crate away from any electric wall sockets where lamps, computers, or televisions are plugged in ~ not only could they damage your equipment, but they could also potentially electrocute themselves.

Sasha and I hope you have found this article helpful, and that you and your furry four-legged friend live many happy, healthy, safe years together.

About the Author: Esm e La Fleur has always been passionate about animals, especially dogs. In addition to sharing her life with her German Shepherd Dog Sasha, she currently helps run a website where they sell a wide variety of dog crates in many different sizes and styles. To learn more about dog crates and how they can make your life with your dog safer and easier, please visit

QualityDogCrates.com

and browse their broad selection of wire, wood, and plastic dog crates today!

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=1867564&ca=Pets