Ok, in short, we had a shi tzu that was stolen... I saw Jennifer's post, and asked dh if we could buy her dog, he said yes (I'm still in shock on that one! LOL), and now I don't think she's going to sell hers....

My ? is this... if you have a dog, and keep it inside, do you have a metal cage, or a dog carrier? (the ones that are mostly plastic, with a door, etc)

We want it to 'crate train', but other than that, might possibly use it in car trips. (Not likely, with 4 kids that will argue to hold the puppy, but it's possible)

I need to know how much everything else is going to cost, before I approach dh.

Jodi--"they" say you should crate a dog/puppy till they are about 2 years old. I didn't know that when we got our dog and always felt guilty about putting him in it at night and when we left the house. Our trainer told us that they actually feel safer and they are safer in them, so I highly recommend getting one.

When we adopted Daphne the Humane Society suggested we get one and train her to sleep in it…she didn’t like being closed in. She sleeps on a pillow in the house and in the car and has never had a problem either way. I have heard they feel safer, but I do not always find that is the case…of course it may be different for pure bred dos (Daphne is a hybrid;) )

…Oh I should add Daphne was much older than 6 weeks when she became ours.

We crate trained our pup and it worked well. She did cry at first, but we found if we layed next to her cage that she would quiet down and go to sleep. She just needed someone near her. She is 14 months old now, and loves her crate, even barking at us to put her in there when she gets tired or just wants some space from the kids. She has free access to her crate but since we always gave her a treat to go in her house, she now barks before she wants to go in, so we will give her a treat. Silly girl she is. lol

It's really practical for her to be in her crate when we are eating, or when we go out for errands, or while we sleep, since she can get into trouble otherwise. We always tried to make her house an enjoyable environment by putting a blanket in there, a favorite chew toy, and a stuffed animal toy to cuddle. We also always made sure to call it her "house" rather than a crate.

Our crate is a large metal one with a black coating. Crates can cost from $40-$100 depending on size. With a small dog, you can get a nice one for $40-$60 probably. We found that the biggest cost with having a dog is vet visits. At least the first year of the puppy's life when they are going every couple of weeks for shots, stool checks, and any other neccessary treatment. Now that our dog is 1 yr, she doesn't need to visit the vet often. Now we just have monthly heartworm pills, monthly flea treatment, and her dog food.

I prefer wire crates to the plastic travel ones because the wire ones have much better ventilation. If the dogs wants an enclosed "den-like" feeling you can always partially drape a blanket or cover over it. The plastic crates gave our doggies sweaty paws, LOL, and made them hot! I use those for transporting small animals, but don't like them as crates for dogs.

Great, 1 more question-

For those of you who crate train, and keep the dogs in the crate... do you take it along when you go on trips? (we 'might' be going to my sil's for Christmas)

Originally posted by JodiM
Great, 1 more question-

For those of you who crate train, and keep the dogs in the crate... do you take it along when you go on trips? (we 'might' be going to my sil's for Christmas)

Yes, we fold it up and put it in the trunk and then set it up once we get there so our doggie (and us as well) can stick to a familiar routine with pottying, rest times, and sleep.

We have a carrier, a large one but our dog is a smaller breed. A full blooded rat terrier (rescue dog). He is 1yr and still in the cage at night.

At our old house he slept in it in a corner of the kitchen and here he sleeps in the garage. He gets very excited and runs to the door when it is time for bed, it is so funny!

When we leave he is out, this is very much a dog neighborhood and everybody around us has animals so he likes to stay out w/ his buds.

His carrier was a yard sale one that my mom got so I don't remember pricing but very cheap. He eats discount foofy dog brands from the pet store because he had a hair problem and his hair fell out on regular food. He eats one specially for hair.

We drape a blanket over the carrier and have one inside (that I need to wash it is disgusting now!). Sometimes when dds are out of town he steals a stuffed animal or shirt of theirs and sleeps with it, but doesn't chew on it like everything else. He is very attached (and protective, he ran off some weirdo who was lurking aroundat our old place staring at dds) to dds. I guess he feels better w/ their smell there when they aren't around!

Done right it's an awesome tool to use for training and for them. I think some who are against it just may have seen people abuse it. I was against crate training for the longest time after working in a vets office for the first time and hearing the stories. People abused the crates basically, and the dogs were kept in there too long and too often. )o: But done and used right? It's a great training method. However you still must invest a lot of time into it. Dogs are very time consuming to train, from chewing to pottying to barking to escaping the house or jumping on people. Make sure you have the time, energy and money (a general recommendation for anyone).

I just wanted to jump in here and say that our golden retriever LOVES her "house" ;)

we got her when she was 8 weeks old, started her off in a little travel crate and after about a month got her a large metal crate. We both work and we didn't want her free to roam and possibly hurt something or get hurt herself while we are gone.

She is so smart, she knows when I am ready to leave by my routine and she goes ahead and gets in her house so I just shut the door for her! sometimes we can't find her and look around and find her in there curled up playing with her toys, the door wide open! We do not shut her in at night, she sleeps where ever she wants...usually on our bed or in her house with the door open.

It is her room, her comfort zone. We haven't traveled yet but we are planning to for thanksgiving. we haven't figured out yet whether she will go with us or be boarded. I would prefer her to go with us but we are staying at my dad's house and he may not want our giant furry beast coming along! LOL

Just wanted to say that we have a German Shorthaired Pointer, and use one of the metal crates because we feel the plastic ones do get hot, just not the same when it comes to ventilation. We do drape a blanket over if we think it is chilly for her.
Which leads me to your last question. Yeppers we do take her along, in her crate, because she is much to large for any of the kids to hold in the car. Just some quick responses lol.

You are very right.

Our situation with Daphne was a little different, in the fact that when we adopted her she was a formerly abused dog, and I really didn’t have the heart to make her do something she didn’t want to…this doesn’t mean that I was right in not forcing the issue, but I couldn’t…IT would probably be a good idea for the car even now, though.

When we first adopted her, her former owners said she was “a terrible, non-trainable dog”, her care giver at the humane society said she was a sweet dog, but easily frightened, and needed a lot of training, he probably thought the crate training would help that…but when I got her, all she wanted was to be cuddled ( she was no longer a puppy, but might have been reliving her puppy-hood). Apparently she had never been let in the house before, however I potty trained her in no time, she does not bug us when we eat dinner, she is a VERY good dog. Her reaction to the crate leaves me to believe it was misused on her…well, what scares me is it wasn’t EVEN a crate they put her in…..she was severely underweight, and would not go near a male person for almost a year. Maybe now that she is relaxed I will give a crate a try for trips, and I could see how they would be useful for a puppy or a dog without “issues”…heck someone better than me could have probably trained Daphne when they got her…but if you look at the big picture she was neglected, left out in the rain, mistreated, abused ( she use to cower like she was going to get kicked, so sad), probably treated in ways I can’t even think about without going insane, she didn‘t even have a name…and now she is happy, warm, loved…spoiled ( did I mention her pillow is velvet and chenille), and yeah I have been told I “over-do-it” (spoiling), but as her vet said…she deserves this in her second half of life, considering what her first half was like, right?

After reading what you have read I WILL DEFIENTLY considering using a crate for road trips…I will however get her a new one ( in case her first hold memories) and put her pillow in it!

Oh, and German Shorthair Pointers…I love them! I had one when I was a kid…she was so lovable! She was a goofy thing ( not at all proper for show), but so pretty! Daphne’s care giver said he thought she was part pointer and part healer…my dad thinks she is part Dalmatian…and yes…even the entire extended family spoils her…when my mom gets her she is the only “mutt” at the doggy salon or who goes to the doggie café for special treats…it is cute.

Sorry to ramble, but you got me thinking, and reminiscing…I would not want Daphne hurt…so thanks for the info!

Scout's crate won't fit in our car. On trips to the vet or just for drives, she wears a seat belt. they make dog seat belts that work nicely.

Storm

Originally posted by Mamax4
An unrestrained puppy in a car is a projectile. A dog is as vulnerable as a human in a crash.

What is the best type of restraint to use for a small dog/puppy?

Originally posted by JodiM
What is the best type of restraint to use for a small dog/puppy?

I don't know but I do know I'm dying to get a Roadie vest at www.ruffrider.com for my Happy. I've looked around stores and stuff and these are the only ones that look like they have been engineered for their purpose. (no plastic clips, no webbing across the dog's neck, etc.)