For those who crate their dogs while you're gone, do you leave TV or radio on? (wound, skin)
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As far as I can tell, dogs have no interest in the TV or radio.
Some do, some don't. My male could care less about TV, but if there is a dog, cat, horse, etc., on TV, my female will sit there and watch. She loves the movie Eight Below when the dogs are shown.
And there used to be a stupid cat commercial that would get her running in from another room to watch the cat jump around.
As for when she was a pup and in a crate...yes I would turn on the animal channel. Now that they are free to roam, I make sure the TV is off. According to the security cameras files, he goes into the front bedroom, she goes into my (master) bedroom, until they hear the garage door open again and then they meet me at the back garage door.
Yes, I play the radio for my dogs. My one dog is noise and thunder-phobic, so I play the local classical music station during the day. Studies have shown that classical music has a calming effect on dogs, and also even though it is on low, it drowns out extraneous noise from the street that he might react to.
A new study found that dogs have different tastes in music, but that a lot of dogs prefer reggae or soft rock. My grandmother always played the local soft rock station for her dog whenever she would leave the house. I don't leave anything on for my dog, he has never shown any interest or reactions to the radio/tv.
Location: at the foothills of the cascades, washington
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Forgive me, but I don't understand how people can crate their dogs for hours on end. Seems cruel to me. I have a 6 month old dog and he goes EVERYWHERE with me....or he will stay in the truck while I run in to the grocery store, library, whatever. If you have to be gone for the day due to work/whatever, at least have your dog hooked up to a lead line on a run outside where there is some shade or enclosed in a fenced in yard. How would you like to be confined to a cell half the day?
Forgive me, but I don't understand how people can crate their dogs for hours on end. Seems cruel to me. I have a 6 month old dog and he goes EVERYWHERE with me....or he will stay in the truck while I run in to the grocery store, library, whatever. If you have to be gone for the day due to work/whatever, at least have your dog hooked up to a lead line on a run outside where there is some shade or enclosed in a fenced in yard. How would you like to be confined to a cell half the day?
I hope you live somewhere cold if you're leaving your dog in the car while you're out and about. Anything above 70 degrees can turn deadly for a dog left in a car. Your dog does not need to go everywhere with you (unless medically needed). It's not cruel to leave them at home alone for a few hours.
It's illegal where I live to leave a dog chained up outside all day, so my dog stays inside if I'm at work or out running errands. It's not cruel, it keeps him safe. His crate is a calm place for him to go, he even goes in their to sleep when I'm home. Or at night when he is ready for bed. It's basically his bedroom, a place where he can go when he wants to rest or be alone.
Our dogs only crate as puppies till they're housetrained, but I've never left any radio or tv on for them either way.
Since 2013, someone's home almost all the time anyway with only a few hours here or there during the day where everyone's gone (my wife is SAHM).
Since 2008, there have always been 2 dogs, so they hang out together.
Years ago I had a dog (cattle dog mix, Kaya) who had separation anxiety. She had to be crated, otherwise I could come home to a house that was completely destroyed (in the past, when I first got her she ate: my sofa, my bed, the kitchen flooring, bedding, garbage, etc. etc. etc.; she once even ate a spiny cactus!). This was during the first month after her adoption from the local humane society. So, after several anxiety-filled moments of my own when I'd return home from work, I trained her to feel comfortable in a crate by introducing it as a positive...when she entered, she got a high-value treat (Kong filled with either peanut butter or (most often) frozen soft dog food) and the crate was 3/4 covered with a blanket - one she couldn't reach and pull inside - and I left the radio on whenever she was crated and I had to go out. I tuned it to a talk show, figuring the constant sound of human voices talking would help to soothe her. Plus, the frozen Kong gave her something to focus on for a few hours as well.
Once Kaya had been crated for a year, I gave her the option of no longer using the crate after I bought a house. She was absolutely fine and never destroyed anything, and I never needed to use it with her again. Then when I got my border collie puppy, I crated him for the first year as well, simply because a puppy's tendency to chew things and get into trouble (combined with house training) could result in disaster unless the puppy is protected. So Izzy spent his first year in a crate while he adapted to his home, learned to go pee/poop outdoors, and grew out of his chewing stage. And again, after his first year he had the option of not using the crate any more. Since he was a dog who accepted the crate, but didn't relish it, it was quickly abandoned once he could be trusted to be 'free range'. Oh, and for both dogs, crate was only used after they'd been fed, watered, exercised intensively (both were high-energy breeds), and I'd ensured that they had both emptied their bladders and pooped. Once the dog's needs are met, they should be able to adapt and settle in to a crate, so long as it's not for inordinately long stretches of time, and so long as it's not used as a method of punishment.
I don't leave the TV or radio on, but her crate faces the sliding glass door and the backyard. My dog seems to love to lie in front of windows and watch the world go by. Even when I'm home with her she makes a bee line to the window sill upstairs where she can lie down and watch everything.
I did when I had one. We have 3 though so they are never alone.
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