Warning for Dog Owners

I posted this here because I don't want this to be a BooHoo type of thread, but more of a sharing of a hard lesson.

My wife's and son's terrier was killed this week. We found him strangled in his crate. No, he didnt get hung up on his collar, we take that off before he was crated.

We had the typical wire crate sold at any of the big box pet stores. He had broke the wire hooks holding the panels together, creating enough of a gap to get his head through, but not back out. He ended up strangling himself in what was supposed to be his "safe" area.

His crate was in perfect shape when I put him in it before work, two hours later, my family came home and found him. He did the damage in that short of time. He had developed some seperation issues in the weeks prior, but we had worked through most of that. He never had a problem being in his crate, he prefered it.

My solution to prevent future problems (when we get another dog) is to use a heavy duty zip ties to reinforce the construction of the crate.

I am sharing this so you guys who crate your dogs will double and triple check the crates, and reinforce no matter the condition of the crate. In fact, if there is any signs of weakness, replace it!

Sixto, I'm sorry for your loss. It must have traumatic. You are so right that we are the only protectors of man's best friend. They love us and it is our duty to be the pack leader and protect them, thanks for the heads up.

Thanks for sharing.......I never would have thought that could happen.

I'm sorry for your family's loss....

That's terrible. Sincere condolences.

As for crates, I find these work really well:

http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c..._2016_50913599

http://www.thepetstoreonline.com/devake.html

And they don't have panel joints to work loose and cause the problem you encountered.

Matt

Yup, thats the type I will buy for my next dog. I liked the wire cage because it folded down making for easy transport... but I never once used that feature anyway.

Sorry for your loss. I had a similiar experience, but not a fatality with one of my dogs. I switched to the Port-A-Crate, which has a tubed frame and canvas for walls. Work's very well, breaks down quickly for transport and can be washed out with a hose if required.

Port-A-Crate P2 Indoor/Outdoor Pet Home - Crates & Kennels - Dog - PetSmart

Wow that Sux,Heres another heads up those little red balls with knobs and a bell inside with one hole in them have caused a big problem in several cases the dogs created a suction which pulled their tongue in the hole and cut off circulation in at least one case the dog had to have his tongue amputated and now has trouble eating and dissipating heat he can only go for short walks before he overheats.I believe the company name is "four paws"you can google it it's really sad,the company told me they pulled the toy off the shelf but when i emailed them back about what they were gonna do about the guys $5000.00 vet bill no response

So sorry Sixto, and thanks for passing along the information!

Wow...sorry to hear about that.

Very sorry about your terrible loss. Our Border Collie had a fear of lound noises, thunder, fire crackers, etc., and also suffered from seperation anxiety. We would have to crate him when we went out and one time when we got back we found the front of the wire crate bent badly out of shape. His mouth was bleeding and he broke one of his front teeth. We were lucky he didn't suffer a more serious injury.

We wound up using a different type of crate.

Fortunately, our other two dogs dont have to be crated.

sorry for the loss

Tough loss, so sorry.

Sorry about the dog. I guess if you use plastic ties, just make sure they can't chew on them and get through them, or you would be in the same boat as without them.

Mine are outside dogs, so don't have to worry about the crate issue, but would be terrible to come home and find they got into something outside with the same results. Luckily have never had that happen.

Sorry for your loss. Dogs are always hard to part with, especially the great ones.

I use a couple of Evenflo "baby gates" to keep them confined to an area where they are free to relax and be at ease but off of the good furniture when I'm not around.

Sorry about the loss of your dog...tough thing to find...especially tough on a young kid.