Texas Belle
Austin, TX
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birdman652001
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Posts:194
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| 05/25/2009 10:42 AM |
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hes 6 months old... pics are now posted!!!
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Kerplunk105
Bucks County, PA
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Posts:713
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| 05/25/2009 11:05 AM |
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| Why are you opposed to just crating him? |
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Elizabeth
Leena RIP 11/08-9/17/09
Bliss, the Labrador
Tegan, the Weim/Labrador
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birdman652001
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Posts:194
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| 05/25/2009 11:07 AM |
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| apparently my wife thinks its INHUMANE to lock him up in a crate... i do got a crate.. but apparently her rule is he cant be in there for more than an hour... too cruel... (shrugs) so far hes only gone in the crate for bad things he does. |
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Dwayners
Toronto, ON
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Posts:271
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| 05/25/2009 2:16 PM |
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Our dogs are free to roam the house while we're at work.
I really believe that Michigan would never do anything that she knows is bad, she's that good. Plus, she has the cat to chase about if she gets bored. As far as I know she's happy on the couch until I get home, and then she's happy to be there for a bit longer before we go outside.
Hardy, our Border Collie, used to have a thing for ripping into the garbage. Exercise and preventative methods have pretty much stopped that. |
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Terra's Owner
Planet Earth
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Posts:262
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| 05/25/2009 3:15 PM |
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| With the gate being at the top of the steps, I'll bet it takes him a while before he figures out how to jump over it. He may even climb over, using his front paws to pull himself up. Or maybe he will be content to stay in the basement - hopefully.
What is interesting to do is to sneak back home and peek in the windows to see what the dog(s) are doing when you are not there. A survailance camera would be great. I have only peeked in the window at my gods. They are normally sleeping on the couch.
But I'd love to have a video of who ever shredded the throw pillows from the couch.
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John (human), Bearoff (gsp), Jenny (Plott), Sunshine (Heinz57 rip 11/4/2010), Terra (missing but still in my heart) |
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singltrak
Las Cruces, NM
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Posts:1149
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| 05/25/2009 3:18 PM |
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Okay, I'll be the Alpha bitch here...what happens if he tries to get over the "gate" that you have at the head of the staircase and misses ? You might or might not luck out and he wouldn't fall all the way to the bottom of the stairs and seriously injure or kill himself. How humane is that? I also used to think that crating was cruel, so my 6 month old puppy (my first GSP btw) had the run of the house. Sure, I came home at lunch and spent the lunch hour picking up stuffing from my "good" sofa, old pillows-now dead, garbage pulled from the closed cupboard and scattered all over the kitchen...but at some point, I returned at the end of the day to find good old Roper stretched out in the middle of my brand new mattress...with a hole 24 inches in diameter in the middle and chewed down to the innerspring...oh, that and two pairs of my own Reeboks and my daughter's BK's ! I called the breeder and said, "bring the crate and bring it now !". I've never looked back.
Now, 20 years later, with 5 GSPs and having more crates than good sense...vari-kennels, wire crates, softsides...my guys are crated in the daytime when I'm gone (about 4 hours) and out the remainder of the time when I am home. I live far out of town and with work 18 miles away do not trust them to be either loose in the house safely or out in the yard unsupervised with no close by neighbors. As far as my furtribe thinks, they are all in their crates right now....with doors wide open...in the middle of a holiday day and they are sound asleep, even the 5 month old pup. Go figure that one.
Phyllis and the Singltrak furtribe |
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Look to the Past, Breed for the Future |
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birdman652001
MH
Posts:194
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| 05/25/2009 3:29 PM |
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Posted By singltrak on 05/25/2009 3:18 PM
Okay, I'll be the Alpha bitch here...what happens if he tries to get over the "gate" that you have at the head of the staircase and misses ? You might or might not luck out and he wouldn't fall all the way to the bottom of the stairs and seriously injure or kill himself. How humane is that? I also used to think that crating was cruel, so my 6 month old puppy (my first GSP btw) had the run of the house. Sure, I came home at lunch and spent the lunch hour picking up stuffing from my "good" sofa, old pillows-now dead, garbage pulled from the closed cupboard and scattered all over the kitchen...but at some point, I returned at the end of the day to find good old Roper stretched out in the middle of my brand new mattress...with a hole 24 inches in diameter in the middle and chewed down to the innerspring...oh, that and two pairs of my own Reeboks and my daughter's BK's ! I called the breeder and said, "bring the crate and bring it now !". I've never looked back.
Now, 20 years later, with 5 GSPs and having more crates than good sense...vari-kennels, wire crates, softsides...my guys are crated in the daytime when I'm gone (about 4 hours) and out the remainder of the time when I am home. I live far out of town and with work 18 miles away do not trust them to be either loose in the house safely or out in the yard unsupervised with no close by neighbors. As far as my furtribe thinks, they are all in their crates right now....with doors wide open...in the middle of a holiday day and they are sound asleep, even the 5 month old pup. Go figure that one.
Phyllis and the Singltrak furtribe
keep in mind i work 11-12 hours a day.. my wife works 10 hours a day... hes got the WHOLE basement to roam and there is ABSOLUTELY nothing down there except laundry room, bathroom and a dirty OLD couch. he could poop and pee and theres no carpet down there except the staircase. im much more happier he gets to run around and chase the cat (if hes down there too) and have room to stretch. my dog is ONLY 6 months and will be passing his phase hopefully awhile. we do walk him, play with him and he loves his tug of war and that wears him out fast. he sleeps all night uncrated with NO problems at all.... he stays in our bedroom all night and doesnt have any accidents and waits til i let him out... hes a good dog.. just i think hes got a seperation annixity (spelling??) problem so when we're not around.. hes gotta go beserk and tear things apart...
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Texas Belle
Austin, TX
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Posts:7843
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Pointer Fan
Westminster, Colorado
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Posts:954
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| 05/25/2009 4:57 PM |
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| I agree that the gate at the bottom of the stairs would be a better idea. Does he have any toys to play with during the day? You might try putting a crate downstairs with the door to it open and an old blanket over the top. I find that mine likes the idea of it being her den. We don't put her in there to punish her. |
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birdman652001
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Posts:194
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| 05/25/2009 5:16 PM |
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hes got plenty of toys to play with. well im not putting more holes in the wall.. if he falls (which i dont think will happen) then i will put the door there.. hes got a BIG ASS basement.. i guess i need to take a pic you guys or something bc i dunno if you think i have a small basement or something...
everyone had their own way of using the crate..
im not worried about him falling bc he cant get a running start.. there are heavy duty door hinges... at least hes not locked in a crate for 11 hours... this is better than being in that crate... |
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Frank B
JH
Posts:21
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| 05/26/2009 8:43 AM |
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Why not just make the door taller at the top of the stairs. That would be easy and resolve him even thinking about jumping over ! |
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pvstks
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Posts:225
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| 05/26/2009 3:39 PM |
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Posted By Patti on 05/24/2009 4:14 PM
I don't usually answer these questions because I know there are others much better equipped. But it is far less humane to let a dog potentially get into trouble with something it chews up while left unsecured than it is to safely crate the dog. A torn package is probably not the end of the world but there are things in all our homes that could be very dangerous, electric cords etc. My dogs have never chewed anything inappropriate but they also have never had the opportunity. If the dog shows any tendency to be destructive when left out, just don't do it. Crate the dog with a nylabone and a heavy duty kong until it grows up.
I think this is a great response. 
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MurfsMa
Orange County, CA
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Posts:280
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| 05/26/2009 5:05 PM |
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I have to agree with the above. It makes the most sense for the dog's safety and your sanity. Kennel or crate him until you trust him not to tear apart your house. Murphy is kenneled outside in a 15 x 5 kennel with a dog house and tarp for cover over half of it every day while we are at work... min 8 hours a day. As far as a crate being "inhumane", well... aren't you training him as a hunting dog? A lot of people would see that simple act in and of itself as inhumane... (not myself...please don't be confused... but just simply stating facts from another POV)...and on that same vein if you're training him to hunt, I imagine you'll be implementing an e-collar at some point in his training for recall among other purposes? Will your wife have an issue with that?
A lot of what goes into training these beautiful intelligent dogs seems harsh and unforgiving... but in all reality is simply another step in honing their skills and making them even better at what they are bred to do. But more importantly is training ourselves to work better with them.
Yes sticking him in a small crate for 12 hours straight is not the right thing to do but neither is possibly putting his health and safety in danger with a long fall down the stairs... or possible ingestion of couch stuffing or fabric... or any of the other possibilites that have been mentioned. These dogs tend to find a way... as far as not getting a running start... I've seen Murf try to climb over things by hooking his front paws over the top and scrambling with his back legs. And he would have nearly succeeded had one of us not been there to stop him... as they get into the "adolescent" stage these guys get gangly and leggy and are not as graceful as it would seem... one little fall backwards and he could take a tumble down those stairs and no one wants that.
On another note... your Remington looks SOO much like Murf did at that age! Now Murphy is just over a year old and holding steady at 65 pounds and could scale a 4 ft wall with NO QUESTIONS asked!  |
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zodiakgsps
NW PA
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Posts:1059
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| 05/26/2009 5:15 PM |
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Just giving fair warning to you & not trying to start anything, but I personally know of someone who had an adult dog fall downstairs exactly like the set up you have - gate at top of steps. She broke her neck and died. To top it off, she had a litter of pups......thats why she was in their basement (partially finished, had a nice whelping area set up).
The gate wasn't so much to keep her down there, but to keep the other dogs from going down with the babies, she was a very nice GSP, finished show champ, great lines, sweet dog, it was quite sad. |
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birdman652001
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Posts:194
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| 05/26/2009 7:45 PM |
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so you would rather me CRATE the dog for 11 hours with no one come home in between over a 4ft door? Sounds too inhumane to lock him in the crate for that long. my dog doesnt even come up the stairs and stays in the basement unless someone comes in and then he comes up... but again.. i had this argument with locking him in the crate and my wife said no....
you do what you do and i will do what i do... |
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lauralee
Plainfield, CT.
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Posts:449
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| 05/26/2009 8:03 PM |
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| I have to agree with your wife,, I too think it's much to long for your dog to stay in a grate for 11 hours, however I also think it's important that if you do keep the dog in the cellar, that he have plenty of play things to keep him busy, or he will find things to do that aren't acceptable |
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briarpatch
N.J.
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Posts:168
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| 05/26/2009 8:05 PM |
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I put mine in an outside kennel while at work
and bring them in after work
they go in the crate when its time for bed
before I built the large outdoor kennel when I only had 1 dog I had a 10 X 20 outdoor kennel with a blue tarp covering it for the one dog during the day while I was at work..
I just recently built the larger outdoor kennel for the dogs while I am at work.. They seem to love it and always want to get out there as soon as daylight hits the house. Of course they are spoiled and still want in at night. which is fine by me ..
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My Pups:
   
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birdman652001
MH
Posts:194
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| 05/26/2009 8:15 PM |
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Posted By lauralee on 05/26/2009 8:03 PM
I have to agree with your wife,, I too think it's much to long for your dog to stay in a grate for 11 hours, however I also think it's important that if you do keep the dog in the cellar, that he have plenty of play things to keep him busy, or he will find things to do that aren't acceptable
That he does have LOTS of toys to chew on. TODAY was the first time we both were gone for 11 hours and he was STILL in the basement and never chewed on anything OTHER than his toys for the first time.. both me and my wife are relieved to come home to that. i wont lock my dog in a crate for 11 hours and i cant build anything fancy kennel like post above bc my yard isnt suitable for that kind of kennel. i have found a 12x12 kennel i need to pick up from a man whos selling it fro 125.00 and use that outside.. but for now. hes locked in teh basement with that 4ft door and he has NOT even attempted to jump bc hes got LOTS of room... and i mean LOTS of room... hopefully instead of taking a pic of my bare basement that is huge is convincing that hes got plenty to do and play with and lots of room...
*sighs* |
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briarpatch
N.J.
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Posts:168
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| 05/27/2009 2:03 PM |
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Birdman,
I dont think anyone is trying to tell you the basement is not a good place to keep your pup from the posts I read, I personally think (not that my opinion makes a lot of difference since it aint my dog) it is a very good place provided there isn't anything dangerous down there for him to chew on as you and a few others said..I personally wish I had a large safe basement to keep my pups in while I was at work..But I think some are just suggesting to you that a taller door at the bottem of the basement steps would be safer for your pup.. So there's no chance of him attempting to jump the gate at the top of the steps and end up hurt..
Of course it is your dog and you know what you want to do.. But I believe it never hurts to take in some safety advise when it comes to protecting a pup..
and of course this is just my opinion you have to decide what is best for your pup but hearing some suggestions certainly can't hurt..
I personally always like suggestions helps give me better ideas..
I think you are taking suggestions as a personal put down of how you take care of your dog, and it certainly is not meant to be that..It is just people offering advise that people think may help you out and help you to keep your dog safe..
Dont take it personally, advise is free and you can take it or leave it..
again this is just my opinion and suggestion and I think lots of things that generally turn out to be wrong..
Dennis
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My Pups:
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