wow...i'm surprised and glad at the responses that have been posted. as I said before, it's not the fact that a crate is used for training that is the issue but the reasons why. Also, by saying "crate training," I don't mean training your dog to go in a crate, as some of you have interpreted. obviously, it is important when your yorkie is injured, at the vet, or his or her life is at stake.
i believe that when the crate is used for other training, ie: house-breaking, there should be a point at when the use of the crate ends. and from the looks of some of posts I've read, it never ends, which to me defeats the purpose of using the crate to train. and the reason why it never ends seems to be because it is inconvenient for the owners, or they don't know HOW to end it.
I have read the aspca article before. as i mentioned, it does acknowledge that crates can be misused and should not be used simply to contain a dog. And the ASPCA says that if you do crate your dog for 8 hours at a time you should give the dog 90 minutes of exercise outside. That doesn't mean 90 minutes of letting your dog walk around the living room. They mean 90 minutes of taking your dog outside for a good run in the park. And whoever wrote that article says that crates should really be used sparingly. The way I read this article, they're talking about training your dog to be in a crate, not using the crate to train your dog. And when they talk about crating to prevent bad behaviour, this presumes that you KNOW or have reason to suspect that your dog engages in this behaviour. For example, if you've seen your dog chew on the furniture (usually a sign of frustration from lack of exercise), or if he bites your cat.
Let me just add this one thing...this post was never about how much you love your yorkie. i'm well aware that everyone here loves their yorkies or they wouldn't be here. |