Keeping A New Puppy Behind A Gate?

[HuskyHayes]

We are going to bring a new puppy home and we have an area gated off with a crate. Some people were telling me that this is not a good idea and we shouldn't keep the puppy behind a gate? Curious to hear your thoughts. The idea is to keep the puppy behind the gate when we are unable to watch it, he will be able to walk around the small area behind the gate or go inside the crate.

 

Thanks.

[Andy]

First off, Welcome to the forum.

Although my guys are never crated except for camp.

I have two stairgates that stop them from getting upstairs

or in the kitchen area when I'm not home.

When I am home they have free run of the house.

 

Many of our member are strong believers in crating especially at night.

 

Please do a proper introduction in the . . .erm. . .introductions section.

[Emma]

Puppy's have a habit of chewing and eating things they shouldn't, so when you go out it would be far safer to crate/limit access to areas where they could get themselves into trouble.

[goingsolo]

Raising a puppy, like raising a kid, is down to you. Gates are there yo keep em safe, they work and in your home its your rules. By the way welcome can't wait to see pics of pup when they have arrived.

[RedJasper]

I would recomend crate training as it helps with house breaking too.

[musicalxheart]

I think as long as the area behind the gate is completely puppy proofed and there's nothing that the pup could get it's teeth on to chew or eat that could be harmful to them, then I think that's fine to let it be in a gated area when you can't watch it while you're home. But I do recommend crate training, so when you're not home you can let them in the crate and they won't be able to get into things. Plus like others have mentioned crate training does help with house breaking. Also keep in mind that the pup will grow really fast so you'll need to make sure the gate will be tall enough so they can jump it.

 

We have a gate that blocks the kitchen and laundry room off from the rest of the house, it's a tall gate and is a walk through one where you hold in a button and slide it to the side to open the door to get through. It has come in very handy for us since we have a 3 year old son that doesn't need to get into the laundry room or kitchen unattended, and it keeps our Husky out of the kitchen and laundry room too. The gate we had before was a wooden baby gate but our Husky pup got big enough to where she could jump over it without an issue, so we bought the new one I described first. But now both my child and my Husky know that they're not allowed past the gate without me being in there too.

[mydiamond]

why do people say it's not a good idea to crate a puppy or put it behind stair gates? There must be a good opinion about that, but IMO for a stubborn chewer with sensitive digestive system like huskies, crates and gates are a life saver. Like @goingsolo says raising a puppy is like parenting it's all down to you. But here in H-O people mostly believe strongly in crate-training  

 

 

now the most important part:    

[Stormy]

I think its a good idea

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

We use gates

[Storm Angel n Auroras Mum]

Depends on what its for.

The pack cannot bond if they are seperated.

We use a crate in the livig room as a pen if we need it but tbh we dont use it much.

[CPWK13]

If your puppy is anything like mine, it's not a great idea. The first night we brought Kato home, we closed him in a room by himself, as I had to work (nights, UGH!) and Peter had to take care of family business. He was only gone maybe an hour, and Kato proceeded to tear bits of trim off the wall, rip apart stray items he could find in the room, and even pooped and peed on the floor. Probably not the best move on our part, especially being his FIRST day home and separated from his true pack, but what other option did we have?

 

Even to this day, nearly two months into our being owned by Kato ( ), he can still be destructive when left alone, even for short amounts of time. Though we now know to puppy proof, and he doesn't do it AS OFTEN, he will still definitely chew on things if we leave them within reach. Just last night, in fact, while I was at work and Peter was out again for less than an hour, he chewed up my sandal. Before that it was another pair of my shoes, pieces of clothing, one of Peter's shoes...

 

We also had a hard time crating him while we were out though. He made it a habit of urinating in the crate and then jumping and rolling in it, completely soiling himself with urine, needing a bath. That's how we found out Kato is not a fan of baths, or water. After the second or third time of needing to clean him head to toe, we decided to try without the crate.

 

We sometimes fill his bone with some peanut butter, in hopes to distract him from other things, for a little while at least. It actually does work with him.

 

We do use a gate in the doorway leading into the cats room, only because he used to help himself to some not-so-tasty treats. Other than that, he has free roam of the house, except for our bathroom. He likes to eat garbage, apparently. :wacko:

 

I can't really say that I can speak from a lot of experience, but with what we have dealt with so far, I'd say if you're going to lock up your puppy behind bars while you're gone, give him/her a few toys to keep him/her occupied, and expect a bit of a mess.

 

It's really up to you to find out what works for both you AND the puppy. Who knew puppy parenting could be so difficult?

[Chula]

We use both crates and gates. Gates are more to keep her out of certain places, and the crate is where she spends her time when we aren't there and at night. Last night we forgot to properly shut/lock the crate door, and she stayed in there all night. The door was open a bit and her paws were out, but she definitely stayed in since there were still socks on the floor that she hadn't eaten

 

We started the crating for housebreaking reasons, but now it is because she will chew things if left out. She will chew molding and walls and wood trim. I know that people who have other breeds of dogs think that I'm "mean" for crating, but I'd rather be mean with a healthy dog and no damage than "kind" and have a dog with a sock in its gut and holes in my walls.

[sjwrx]

I use a gate as well as a crate. I've used the gate since Panda was a puppy to separate him from my yorkie puppy that i got the same day. It was more to contain him to an area until he was slightly older.

For housebreaking purposes as well as ensuring that he doesn't go around chewing things. I Later found out nothing is safe lol. He chewed my wall as well as my leather couch in that room.

 

I Only use the gate before the stairs now so he can't go upstairs or the front door. I do have a long ikea cardboard box that isnt every high to block off part of the kitchen area. Both my pups are terrified of the box.

 

Other than that crating is a great idea as everyone else has mentioned.