Hello again! My house didn’t get TP’d or egged over the weekend, so I seemed to have escaped punishment for last week’s downer of an article. Much obliged to you all!
This week’s topic is The Crate. A crate or kennel is one of the most important pieces of equipment you’ll use as a Can Do Canines host, but it’s also one of the simplest and most straightforward. A real “set it and forget it” situation. Like a Crock Pot.
Disclaimer: This article refers to my Canine Comrades who are able to tolerate their crate, even if they’re a bit loud or grumpy about it. If your Can Do Canine really struggles with their crate time, please contact Puppy Program for support!
Crate time is essential, and I will bark this truth over the rooftops. I’m a Grown Adult with Full Couch Privileges and sleep the night away in my own plush bed next to my parents. Nevertheless, I still have crate time at least once a day à la Can Do Canines (collar off, bare crate, Nylabone/Kong only) no matter the human schedule. Why? Because it is critical to my wellbeing for a bunch of different reasons.
But really, Quest? Critical? Isn’t that a bit of an overstatement? I’m afraid not, my friend. Let’s look at it from a few different angles.
We Need Safety.
I’m told it’s frowned upon to put a human child in a crate, but I’ve seen your cribs, bouncing contraptions, and high chairs. Ya’ll are serious about your baby containment and for good reason. Safety! How else could you get anything done without your child flinging themselves down the stairs? Or prevent them from eating an entire pecan pie off the counter in less than 20 seconds? (It wasn’t me.)
Most people think dogs are carnivores, but the term “opportunistic scavengers” is more accurate. I agree with this because cardboard is not made of meat (I guess it’s plant meat?) and yet my former housemate Career Change Zephyr once ate most of a cardboard box. Further, Science Humans agree that we likely owe our strong canine/human partnership to a group of MY ancestors who were brave enough to start raiding YOUR ancestors’ trash heaps. Isn’t that a lovely story? *Sigh* To honor that heritage, human trash raiding remains a Cherished Canine Pastime to this day.
Anyway, this constant readiness for Snack Time is part of what makes Can Do Canines such excellent assistance dogs, and you wisely leverage this trait to teach us amazing things. But our desire to eat and scavenge doesn’t naturally “turn off” when you say training time is over. We need MOAR SNACKS, and without proper management and containment will work tirelessly to find, chew, and consume anything of interest. Solution? When you can’t have eyes on us, to a bare crate we must go!
Also, safety doesn’t just mean avoiding a repeat of Quest’s Pecan Pie-apalooza 2022. It also means protecting me from well-meaning humans. I’m grateful for my crate when a bunch of humans come over to my house, especially child humans. I can nap undisturbed and not worry about tolerating rude pokes and unsolicited head pats. Remember, your guests likely don’t have the dog body language skills you do.
We Need Good Sleep
Can Do Canines need a lot of deep, uninterrupted sleep. Like, A LOT. The dogs you host are puppies through young adults, and we are growing and developing rapidly. Just like a human toddler would never proclaim, “I must take to my bed for I appear hyper, but am actually exhausted,” most young dogs need structure and encouragement to get the rest that they need. Yes, when “free to roam” we may lightly snooze at your feet throughout the day, but try counting how many times we pop up to check out that noise outside. Or to see what the kids are up to. Or to stand by the door to see if you want to take a walk. How do you feel when your daily rest time is punctuated with starts and stops? Young Can Do Canines need the structure of a crate to take the uninterrupted daytime naps we need for proper brain development.
We Need a Break (And You Do, Too!)
Beyond just our biological need for good sleep, Can Do Canines need break times so we can be our best selves. Nine times out of ten a Can Do Canine’s household behavior issue can be helped with more crate time. I kid you not! Ask the staff!
See, you control access to all of our basic needs, including cookies, attention, exercise, toys and bathroom breaks. We, on the other hand, are expert pattern-seekers and are capable of accurately predicting our minute-by-minute chances of getting any one of those needs met just by watching how you move about your world. And like any living creature on Earth, we’re going to try to influence your behavior to get MORE of those things. Never less. Oh, and remember that our nose is always ON FIRE with smells of all the things we could be investigating and consuming.
You know what? It’s a lot for a young, immature Can Do Canine, which is really the only kind you spend time with! When we get overstimulated we become notoriously bad decision makers, and as you know the decisions we make can be OBNOXIOUS: Barking, counter-surfing, transporting your shoes, humping the resident dog, shredding toys, and enjoying your trash heap to honor our ancestors. The possibilities are truly endless. God Bless America.
When we are overstimulated, our crate is the compassionate option. It is the only place on Earth we can learn to be truly “offline.” We learn to take a break from anticipating your cues, as you don’t ask us for anything while we’re there. We can hear the sounds and smell the smells, but we can’t do anything about them. While initially frustrating in a FOMO (fear of missing out) kind of way, for most of us it eventually becomes a huge relief and place of rest.
And as a dedicated volunteer, you ALSO need breaks from the constant care and attention we require. For real!
We Get Sick
Illness and injury are a part of life, and for a dog this means crate rest. Lots of it. The inevitable health hiccups of a Labrador (pecan pie, anyone?) are already stressful enough. No one needs the added stress of a dog who hasn’t learned to tolerate their crate. If you have ever hosted a dog for a spay or neuter recovery, you know what I’m talking about! Help me prepare for this stuff by giving me all kinds of crate practice (all hours of the day, with and without humans milling about the house, etc.) Your efforts will be rewarded with a calmer, happier dog, which will make you a calmer and happier human.
The Big Picture
Our goal is that each Can Do Canine is matched with a human partner to help them in their everyday lives. But did you know that working Can Do Canines are not supposed to spend 24/7 with their client!?! When they receive their dog, new clients get all sorts of training, including how to give us adequate crate rest each day. It’s vital for everyone’s well being - the human’s, too! Getting matched with a dog is magical, but it’s also overwhelming. Humans need break times, too.
Also, each client’s needs are different. Some clients who work outside the home don’t actually bring their dogs to work each day. Their Can Do Canine will have regular crate naps throughout the week as a part of their lifestyle. Let’s make sure they’re prepared and content!
Have a good week!
Quest
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