Hi - does anyone have a second hand dog crate - at least 48" that we could buy - we are in Edinburgh and have been advised that it would be useful when we have to leave her - which isn't often - but at night great destruction can occur! and we would like to insure that she is contained not just for our benefit but for hers too when we discovered her chewing a piece of glass from a jar of jam she had got hold of during the day but that I:S thought I had cleared up entirely!p.s. any tips re preventing her getting up onto worktops would be appreciated - obviously we have to crack this before she gets any bigger - have tried breeders remedy of chili paste on edges of worktop without any effect!

Hi, not sure if a crate is a good idea ? it would be abit like making an athlete stand in a telephone box for a couple of hours ! Only way of stopping her from kitchen worktop surfing whilst your not there would be to keep her out of that room. I know what you mean though, wait till she's fully grown ! My deerhound girl is 2 years old now & her head is at a very appropriate height ( well she thinks so ) for helping herself to anything on the worktops. I now keep a very organised kitchen & never leave any food about unless I am there. Having said that I had just made myself some toast the other day when my phone rang, I returned to the kitchen to witness Amy removing the toast followed by her running off with it when she saw me - great game she thought !

Countersurfing It's called 'having eyes in the back of your head'. Murray has nicked no end of food even when I have been in the kitchen! Cheese, bacon, toast, biscuits, sandwiches ect ect ect. He has perfected the art of nicking food

Because of the other doggy issues I had when Brice arrived he learned to use a 'tall' freedom puppy pen that he could still fit in (just) if he needed to be confined post injury - heaven forbid.

I do crate some of my other dogs but bearing in mind I have a 42" crate for a smallish brittany geriatric I don't personally feel any crate is big enough for a deerhound.

I have had some modification of decor in my house, not as much from him as my welsh springer it has to be admitted.

Tidiness and dog gates are the way forward in my opinion!

Cathcode, is there anyway you can put baby gates up? We have 2, one at the bottom of the stairs and one on the living room, I bought them when Murphy was with us for 2 days and they havent been taken down since, he is 4 in May! The kitchen door is shut and locked with a small bolt at the top and we are all trained, kids as well, to locking the door behind us when we come out of the kitchen, especially around ta time!
I personally wouldn't want to put a dog in a crate, but it is personal prefrence. The perils of owning such big beasts!
BTW, Murphy can reach on top of the fridge freezer to reach anything, though he doesn't damage anything anymore he still takes food given the chance.

Babygates - not just for babies!! My baby nephew worked out that if he put his little finger in the closing, he could open it, found on Murphy's bed....no fear!

Lurch8252 wrote:


I have two "dog control gates" I purchased from Lindham Ltd some time back (www.lindam.com), I prefer them to closed doors as the dogs can still hear you (if they are unable to see you.

We have found that baby gates are too low to give effective control and dog gates, I think ours came from Argos, are much better.

Re crates, I don't think I've seen one that I would consider suitable for containing an adult DH for any length of time. Have to agree with Brice on this one. Have to say, stealing from the worktops is not a problem that we have encountered although temptation is often left in their path.

Chris' whippet Merlot is able to undo baby gates, I watched him in utter disbelief (I think the Deerhounds were cheering him on) So dog gate should be safer all round!

He also wiggles out of dog crates. He is now under lock and key to rest his elbow. His jailer is my mother and father in law both spoil him rotten

We don't seem to have a problem leaving the dogs to have full reign while we are out. Of course there is the rare time when play time turned to mischievenous but not often.
I admit that I did crate Lockie as a puppy and only at night, this was more for his safety and our piece of mind. He grew out of his crate before 8 months of age. It was a 42" crate.
As for counter surfing, Lockie is so tall that he doesn't need to jump up, and he will oblige by cleanning the counter tops if they need it:) Ours will respect baby gates if we need them.

Cathode
I agree that crating a deerhound is probably not a great idea. A friend who has a young bitch that tends to get in trouble when left uses 2 xpens joined together to make a large comfortable space when she has to be left unattended. I have also found leaving without fuss and returning without fuss (wait until you are settled and have coats off etc. to greet dog) helps. Good Luck.
Picture is from a sales company online.

My Ben, when younger, was always chewing when I went out. I also tried leaving without a fuss and left many pieces of cheese hidden around the house to keep him busy. I also obtained one of those large rubber containers, a cong I think its called, and stuffed it full of cheese which also helped to keep him busy.

thanks for everyone's help - I really just wanted a crate whilst she is a pup that she could have as her bed in the kitchen with the door open when we were there and to close if we need to be outside the kitchen - I have been told that sometimes they quite like it especially if you cover it with a blanket - it is a cosy bed - we do let her in with us in the downstairs of the house when we are around but really it isn't possible to contain her in the kitchen with a gate and if we literally disappear for a minute she has cleared anything (and that isn't food) - china, chopping board etc from the very back of the worktop! what have we done!!! I am hoping she will grow out of it a little - I can manage to remove all food but it gets difficult if you can't leave anything on the countertop!

have tried these with biscuits and peanut butter but she doesn't seem interested I am wondering if it is attention seeking when we disappear - my family have just left and one of them left a jug of milk on the side by mistake - I have returned to the kitchen after waving goodbye and the jug and the milk were smashed all over the floor!

cathode wrote:


When Mac was a pup , my wife and I went on a week long dog training course at an agricultural college. The College would not allow dog in the bedrooms unless they were crated so we had to get one. We found one on Ebay , something like this :

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or

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We use it to keep him safe in the back of the car now.

Thanks for that info - someone mentioned that you can get a very large cargo cage so some of these places may have these - as you can imagine with her breaking and attempting to chew glass and china! it is for her safety too!

Cathode,
I bought the following for Cailean when we travel. I thought it would be good for lure coursing, shows, etc. etc. To get her used to it I set it up in the house & just left door wide open. With a comfy bed inside she soon was choosing to go in herself, I have taken it down after leaving up for about a month. I especially like the windows that can be closed for shade or rest when used outside. I checked and it is sold on ebay. They aren't puppies for long, this too will pass.

I agree with Alan...I got dog gates from Argos as they are taller than baby gates. Twist and Oddie cant get over them. They are 4yrs and nearly 3yrs old. Personally I agree with the analagy (spelt wrong I know) that someone said about the athlete in the telephone box. could never bring myself to put my Deerhounds in crate especially for the whole night. I have huge dog crates that I put my lurchers in overnight just in case of fights while I am asleep but I really struggle with that even though you could keep probably 3 in each cage for the size of them and they have one each.
My hounds sleep in my bedroom happily on the floor all night (although I have to chuck them off initially)...they just like to know I am there.