CRATE?

[christina chow mum]

There are a lot of differences between the English and American written languages, between nouns and verbs. i.e. Car boot/car trunk, lift/elevator, bring/take etc.
So, I am very curious. I have seen the word "crate" mentioned in several posts and that some of you put or keep your chows in them ( ). To be honest I really can't figure out what this means. In English english (lol) a "crate" is a wooden box that you pack up belongings, artworks and household goods to move to a new house or to be shipped. Also a "crate" contains oranges or fruit, or bottles of beer, for example.
Pliz therefore let me know what YOUR crate means. Is it an outside dog kennel? A wooden box with a lid on it? A baby's playpen? A cage? Thanks in advance for any input cos its driving me nuts! LOL!

[Me & Tess]

This is the definition of a dog crate: A dog crate is a metal, wire, plastic, or fabric enclosure with a door in which a dog may be kept for security or transportation. Dog crates are designed to replicate a dog's natural den and as such can provide them with a place of refuge at home or when traveling to new surroundings.

I am not a proponent of the "crate." Lilly was shipped to us in one & they did give it to us. We in turn gave it to our shelter for transporting dogs that they save. We have a wonderful shelter up here. All the dogs eventually find their forever homes.

Lilly has special places around the cabin to "den" in. There is; beside the sofa by a corner wall, in back of the infamous chair & in back of our bed. All cozy places. During the day I encourage socialization but she does have her quiet times when she is not helping me with cooking, cleaning the house or sitting in back of me when I am on the computer.

[Rory's Dad]

For us the crate, which is a wire enclosure, serves several purposes. It is their safe zone. Both dogs (we have a 2 year old male and an almost 1 year old female). They have 'assigned' crates and have learned not to enter the others space. Amber, the female, is pushy and still playful. She wants to test Rory (the male) at almost every turn. When Rory has had enough, he can enter his crate and its his signal to leave him alone. She has learned to respect that.

I know not everyone is a fan of crating. For us, its a fact of life. My dogs are pets 1st, but participate is AKC confirmation events. Our handler has 10 - 20 dogs on any given weekend. The dogs must be crated. They have been practiced at this since they were young pups and are completely comfortable with it. They are not mistreated in any way, have water available to them, and are simply segregated for the show times. It works to their protection in many ways. Since they are show dogs, neither are fixxed. Amber goes into heat 2x a year and cannot be exposed to any unaltered male dogs. They are around anywhere from 900 - 1500 other dogs during these events. If left to their own devices i am quite certain they could choose to pick on a pug or decide they had an issue with an irish wolfhound.

So, in our environment, it is completely necessary. But if your dog needs to go to the vet for an overnight, or to the groomer for a spa treatment, they WILL be crated. A dog that is not accustomed to it will have a stressful experience.

Sure, they have their special spots, that they have chosen at home and are not crate related. But by spending a few minutes a day (ours do about 10-15 minutes a day at home, just for training, with a special chew treat thrown in), they are fully used to the concept.

Crate training for 'potty' training is also a proven method. Chows (and most other breeds) don't want to soil their bed. Starting at that point and then expanding it to rooms and then the full house is effective as they learn their routines.

[Piff Poff]

Yeah, another brit here, its a cage or travel /indoor kennel thing, some people crate train, some don't. Henry had one he went into as a puppy but much like his bed, it's not been used for years.

[wokman]

I have Posted a Picture of a Crate in use by Abby when she had first joined the pack. She slept in the Crate that transported her to a new home until she felt comfortable with her new surroundings.
Never forgotten, always remembered

[christina chow mum]

WOW! What a wealth of information! Many thanks to you all. I must admit until I got thru to yet another of wokman's "lopsided sideways pics" ..ha ha ha I was still a bit unsure of what you guys meant until I saw it. OH YES I know what this is! Silly me! Of course. They have them in Greece but here they're called "klouves" or animal baskets.

You get them in the pet shops, all sizes, but they are usually only used here for taking cats, rabbits and hamsters to the Vet. They are also used, but not very often, to carry small pets or puppies on public transport as it is illegal here to carry on a dog of a length of more than 20 centimetres..(howling with laughter here... ). I kid you not! [Thinks: Who in his right mind is gonna attack his dog with a tape measure? LOL but over here, anything goes!] Imagine my intense surprise the last time I was in old "Blighty" when this woman took a great big St. Bernard up the stairs on a double decker bus! She would have been lynched over here! I thought she was drunk but no, it was real! I know, coz the driver confirmed it!

So you see, old "Blue Eyes" was right when he sang "You say TOMAAATO, I say TOMAYTO..." ha ha ha!
Thanks again to all and a big HI to the other "Brit" !

By the bye, having gotten over the last of Ming's horror stories with storms here and beginning to clean up and relax a bit, God almighty at 4a.m. we were "attacked" by the Cyclone Cleopatra which hit us from Sardinia where they are now in a state of emergency!! Cleopatra? Where DO they get these names? Why can't we have a Cyclone Alexander the Great or at least a Cyclone Sophocles, e?? Worse to come until next Friday so my travel plans cancelled, no way i'm leaving ol' Ming to cope with that lot even with the guy upstairs whom he adores!! Anyway, good news is that he has calmed down a lot, trembled all over yes, but no panting, slept through it under his "fear blanket", definitely left the bathroom alone...[thank God, really fed up with peeing under the Pomegranate tree in the yard... LOL] and guess what? No sticky, brown, gucky Naturvet Gel applied! Yippeeee!

[Piff Poff]

On the subject of Mings anxiety, I was trying really hard last night to think of the name of the stuff and lo and behold, it came to me as my eyes opened this morning lol, Bachs Rescue Remedy is supposed to be really good, my daughter used it for a little while and a lot of horsey people uses it as well as doggy people (for their animals), it's all natural too.

[christina chow mum]

LOVE your humour Piff Poff! LOVE the name too. (You must have two dogs...) My daughter has a Brack Hunting Dog called "PO" which is Greek for "WHAT?" You really ARE a Brit.....to make ME laugh.
Thanks for the tip, problem is that in current "Greekistan" nothing petwise is coming in thru customs coz the crook importers won't pay their bills... the pharmacies are in deadlock as the government wants them to only sell or deliver "generics" to save costs and my Vet is half way off the planet.... tra la la, so just can't get my hot little fist round any of these wonder goodies. Amazing how I have coped up to now.

I think I got it covered for now. It has been a real shock for Ming as we usually only get one big storm a year here and now its coming at us from all sides and continents! Strewth! Now things are calmer, because I am too, no need for the "Quiet Moments" (don't want a Junkie Chow in the house now do we? LOL!) and henceforth we kind of ride the storms quietly together.
Thanks for caring!

[Piff Poff]

Let me know if you want me to send you some

[Rory's Dad]

Just a variation on the crate theme...here is Rory (sorry for the grainy pic) just hanging out in his wire enclosure. Amber's is right next door like they are neighbors. Very open with a great view of the tv and front door.

image.jpg (68.64 KiB) Viewed 9319 times

[612guy]

Crates come in different material and each have their advantages and disadvantages. Wire ones can be broken down flat while stored or transported and when up are very secure holding a dog. The down side is they can be a little heavy. Plastic ones are lighter and are secure too but can't be folded up. Fabric with steel frames are lightweight but not as secure.

We have a steel and the fabric crate and Brutus is very comfortable in both of them. Below is an old picture of him in the canvas one and you can see how comfortable he feels in them.



612

[christina chow mum]

Oh thank you so MUCH guys for the clarifications, boy do I need it with all this "Americanglish"...LOL!

I am familiar with the first pic with the wire crate (I call it a "cage"...lol). My Vet has some in his surgery.
He's got a huge Amazon parrot in one and a little marmoset monkey in the other.
The second one of Brutus is really smashing!! I would have loved one for Ming and Brutus looks SOOOO content!

We do have these marvellous "pet things" over here but they are usually for only very small dogs which seem to be the "fashion" over here during the last few years. . I have tried now and again to find a "bed" for Ming but never saw one big enough so he sleeps outside the door on little warm mats stuck together with tape at the back (the mats...not Ming...lol) during the day and at night his "bed" next to the sofa consists of 4 thick summer chair cushions as a base with a thick blanket over those. I would really prefer a proper "bed" but Ming seems happy, so that's O.K.

I really appreciate your efforts guys, thank god there are still "people" on this planet coz everyone else has gone to Mars ....it seems..

[chowpups]

612 Guy Iam very interested in some info on your canvas crate I need to take my golden retriever to Florida for a while and her metal crate is so heavy and awkward for me to pack . Is it pretty sturdy? And where did you find it or the name of it if you like it? sorry to hijack the thread you can PM me if you don't want to reply here! Thank you! Also for the dog food shipping works great and cheaper!

[christina chow mum]

Aaaaaw.... I want one as well!............ha ha!

[ChowServant]

We let our Chowguy BooBoo sleep in a big wire crate even though our other dog (a small mutt) is left to roam the house. BooBoo has decided that when he's in the crate he's off duty and doesn't have to bark every time a deer or possum wanders through the back yard or a car goes by in the street at 3am. Also, when we rent a trailer at our favorite dog-centric campground (Four Paws Kingdom in Rutherfordton, NC USA) he's freaked out by the smell of all the previous occupants for a night or two before he figures out that he hasn't really invaded a big pack's territory and the crate helps him feel safer.

[612guy]

The brand of our fabric crate or sometimes referred to as soft crates is Nature's Miracle. We bought it at Petsmart but is not for dogs that aren't crate trained. You can check out more reviews at their site but for Brutus it's works very nice. It has a metal frame that locks into place and is light weight which is great for traveling. There are probably many other brands, some better and others not but for Brutus it works great.

612

[chowpups]

Bella is crate trained and loves a place to just retreat to .we are renting a house and want her to have a place that reminds her of home! she's very calm and laid back for a golden 1yr old, so Iam not worried about durability ( shes not a chewer or gets upset in the crate) just weight and space in the car and yours looks very comfy.I want to get it ahead of time and get her use to it too.Thanks for the reply! I'll check out the reviews but I think it will be perfect!

[christina chow mum]

Oh my goodness... this is priceless folks!
Here I am, a "Brit" living in Greece with a Chinese chow, posting on a U.S. Chow Forum site ha ha, who just happened to pop in and ask out of curiosity what a "Crate" is... We have had some great discussions, inputs, advice and comments but guess what? It seems to have ended up with various chowlies getting THEIR versions of "Crates" clarified and sorted out to everyone's content!
Glad to have been of some use...LOL!

[christina chow mum]

Hi, I mentioned above that Ming doesn't sleep in any kind of crate but on my "homemade" creations. So here's a couple of pics showing where he dreams his chowlie dream inside and outside of our Chowlie Castle LOL!.....