I am also in the U.S. and I do treat my dogs as family and I do not crate them. However, the person you are replying to does not treat their dog as family. They think they do, but they don’t. They told a story on another thread on this governor about their own dog (which I initially misread) which included this part:
I thought about having the vet put him to “sleep” but I didn’t like that either. He didn’t deserve to be injected with strange drugs in a strange place by strangers. I chose to take him home, give him a rather large dose of xanax and smother him with my hand while telling him what an amazing boy he was.
What the fuck… Not only is this animal cruelty but it also shows the incredibly fucked up view that person has on what “family” means.
Yes, very much not all Americans are “bad” and it’s dumb to generalise like that, but man are they good at proving stereotypes and being completely ignorant of it. Both via the Internet and having known some Americans in real life, most of the time it doesn’t take long to discover how shitty they are.
There are definitely some very shitty pet owners around. There’s a dog we walk ours by that is out all day on a wire lead whether its family is home or not and it’s constantly pulling on it and jumping around because it’s clearly full of energy that it can’t expend. I doubt it’s enough to call the humane society and have them do anything about it unfortunately.
Our two dogs are very well-loved. They sleep on the bed with us, get the food our vet recommends (a brand called Taste of the Wild) and we have a dog door so they can run around their big yard. I’ve had four dogs in my life and I’d like to think I’ve treated all of them as well as, if not more than, I could be expected to reasonably do so.
I sure as fuck would never smother one of them any more than I’d smother a relative dying of cancer.
My dogs have always been crate trained. Its not like they are in there all day. They ride in a crate in the car for their safety. They can go lay in it whenever they want. Some do, some don’t.
I’ve certainly never needed or wanted to crate a dog, my dogs sleep in bed with me every night. Some dogs are destructively anxious when alone and need it unfortunately. I only know one person who does crate their dog (their dog is like I described above), and they hate that they need to. It’s not as common as you think in my experience at least.
I’ll admit I wasn’t aware that was an American-only thing though.
This shows you have a fundamental ignorance of this subject matter. It’s not American practice, for starters, and it’s certainly not cruel if you’re doing it right.
Really? FYI, a dogs crate is where they feel safest when their humans are gone. It’s one thing if you crate them 24/7 but otherwise, no, it’s not a bad thing. Do some research before you jump into this debate choom, or you’re gonna get demolished.
Edit: and, for the record, my dogs both sleep with me. Only crated when me or my partner are both not home
yes, it’s true, tons of books say it’s ok. my folks raised dogs, i’ve had a number of dogs myself. never crated them. until dogs can be interviewed, im team “lets don’t lock them up for hours all alone.” just because humans write books saying this and that doesn’t make it true. dr spock wrote books saying it was bad to hold babies when they cried. it’s not. science used to be near uninamous that animals and insects didn’t have emotions. then it was “emotions like we do.” now…it’s turning out they do. research isn’t the be-all and end-all.
I would imagine that if you’ve never heard of anybody doing that where you live, it’s a culture thing. Certain places have different practices on how they handle dogs. I want to stress though, much of the US doesn’t just do it because it’s simple and easy without any regard to the animal (at least not any good dog owners). To you, it may look like a prison, but to a dog properly crate trained, it’s more like a safe and comfy bed they can relax in. The positive effects crating can have on a dog is heavily backed by science, and I’d recommend looking into it, it’s actually kinda fascinating.
Of course, that all assumes it’s being done properly. Crates are a tool, and like any tool, they can be misused and abused. So it’s not always where they feel safest, it all depends on how you train them and certain issues a dog might have (claustrophobia, heavy anxiety, etc.). Generally, from what I understand, you never want to associate the crate with negative emotions or consequences (i.e. don’t send your dog to the crate as punishment). It’s supposed to be a safe place, not a jail cell.
Do you “crate” them when you are away from home or sleeping? That American practice has always horrified me.
I am also in the U.S. and I do treat my dogs as family and I do not crate them. However, the person you are replying to does not treat their dog as family. They think they do, but they don’t. They told a story on another thread on this governor about their own dog (which I initially misread) which included this part:
https://lemmy.world/comment/9683664
That doesn’t sound like treating them as family to me.
Edit: Forgot the “not” up there. Kind of important.
What the fuck… Not only is this animal cruelty but it also shows the incredibly fucked up view that person has on what “family” means.
Yes, very much not all Americans are “bad” and it’s dumb to generalise like that, but man are they good at proving stereotypes and being completely ignorant of it. Both via the Internet and having known some Americans in real life, most of the time it doesn’t take long to discover how shitty they are.
There are definitely some very shitty pet owners around. There’s a dog we walk ours by that is out all day on a wire lead whether its family is home or not and it’s constantly pulling on it and jumping around because it’s clearly full of energy that it can’t expend. I doubt it’s enough to call the humane society and have them do anything about it unfortunately.
Our two dogs are very well-loved. They sleep on the bed with us, get the food our vet recommends (a brand called Taste of the Wild) and we have a dog door so they can run around their big yard. I’ve had four dogs in my life and I’d like to think I’ve treated all of them as well as, if not more than, I could be expected to reasonably do so.
I sure as fuck would never smother one of them any more than I’d smother a relative dying of cancer.
I personally don’t, but some dogs love it. It’s their safe space.
My dogs have always been crate trained. Its not like they are in there all day. They ride in a crate in the car for their safety. They can go lay in it whenever they want. Some do, some don’t.
I’ve certainly never needed or wanted to crate a dog, my dogs sleep in bed with me every night. Some dogs are destructively anxious when alone and need it unfortunately. I only know one person who does crate their dog (their dog is like I described above), and they hate that they need to. It’s not as common as you think in my experience at least.
I’ll admit I wasn’t aware that was an American-only thing though.
Its actually illegal to do so in Sweden.
same.
This shows you have a fundamental ignorance of this subject matter. It’s not American practice, for starters, and it’s certainly not cruel if you’re doing it right.
Really? FYI, a dogs crate is where they feel safest when their humans are gone. It’s one thing if you crate them 24/7 but otherwise, no, it’s not a bad thing. Do some research before you jump into this debate choom, or you’re gonna get demolished.
Edit: and, for the record, my dogs both sleep with me. Only crated when me or my partner are both not home
yes, it’s true, tons of books say it’s ok. my folks raised dogs, i’ve had a number of dogs myself. never crated them. until dogs can be interviewed, im team “lets don’t lock them up for hours all alone.” just because humans write books saying this and that doesn’t make it true. dr spock wrote books saying it was bad to hold babies when they cried. it’s not. science used to be near uninamous that animals and insects didn’t have emotions. then it was “emotions like we do.” now…it’s turning out they do. research isn’t the be-all and end-all.
Why would a dog feel safe being locked into a cage compared to being free to roam the house and find a comfy spot?
Literally never heard of anyone doing that here, it would even be illegal.
I would imagine that if you’ve never heard of anybody doing that where you live, it’s a culture thing. Certain places have different practices on how they handle dogs. I want to stress though, much of the US doesn’t just do it because it’s simple and easy without any regard to the animal (at least not any good dog owners). To you, it may look like a prison, but to a dog properly crate trained, it’s more like a safe and comfy bed they can relax in. The positive effects crating can have on a dog is heavily backed by science, and I’d recommend looking into it, it’s actually kinda fascinating.
Of course, that all assumes it’s being done properly. Crates are a tool, and like any tool, they can be misused and abused. So it’s not always where they feel safest, it all depends on how you train them and certain issues a dog might have (claustrophobia, heavy anxiety, etc.). Generally, from what I understand, you never want to associate the crate with negative emotions or consequences (i.e. don’t send your dog to the crate as punishment). It’s supposed to be a safe place, not a jail cell.
Google it if you’re curious. The science is there.