Locking your dog in a closet?!?!?!?!

[Christina and Cooper plus Benny]

So one of my Facebook friends stated that her dog had got outside of her fence AGAIN and ran over to the neighbors and barked, and wouldn't come when called, and basically caused a big commotion for over 30 minutes until my friend could catch her.  My friend put the dog in her crate for a timeout ~ which she does not normally do, as she doesn't believe in using the crate as punishment.  Anyway, one of her other friends said to lock the dog in a closet for 10 minutes as discipline!  I said that is borderline abuse!  I would NEVER lock Coop in a closet!  The girl said Caesar Milan said to do it as it separates the dog from you and is punishment.  I guess if you believe that, you could put the dog in the bedroom or something, but to me, locking a dog in a closet is HORRIBLE, and I would never do that!  Am I crazy or is she????   The very thought of a dog being locked in a closet to me turns my stomach....

[F, Calla & Luca]

Sounds awful to me. I would expect the dog might retaliate by destroying things. When Calla has done what you friend's dog did, without the barking and commotion, I have leashed her to something near us or put her in her crate. My dogs have no confusion about going in their crates for a time out, so to speak, or because I'm going out. They both go in their crates readily when I leave, of course, they do get a treat : )

[Melissa]

That sounds terrible! Would she lock her child in the closet as well? If she did, that WOULD be called abuse, so to me it should be the same since our doodles are our children. I think a timeout in the crate is just fine. We have a small pen area for Buddy and when he is out with us in the house, he acts up a bit, I put him back in his pen. That usually calms him just fine.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Solid barriers can make a dog nuts. Even putting dogs in a room behind a closed door is not recommended for most.
To separate the dog from you, why not go into another room yourself and close the door? That's usually pretty effective.
However, the whole idea is silly, because the dog won't relate anything that happens (crate, closet, separation, etc) to the incident outside, and it won't do a thing toward teaching the dog any lessons that will help prevent this kind of incident in the future.
First, she needs to work on her dog's recall. Second, if the dog is getting outside the fence, there's a problem, and it's life-threatening. That needs to be addressed before anything else.

[Christina and Cooper plus Benny]

Thank you Karen! I completely agree, and just got off the phone with my dad because I was so upset about the thought of locking a dog in the closet and we discussed it, and he said the same thing you did....that a dog wouldn't know why they are in the closet, etc. Personally, I feel like this would ADD to a dog's poor behavior! I have to seriously wonder if Caser Millan did promote this punishment? I have my doubts, but don't really know a thing about him, so who knows?!?!?! In addition, the girl that suggested locking the dog in the closet is supposedly a dog trainer! Yikes! I sure wouldn't be taking my dog to her!!!! And yes, I told her she needed to get the fence fixed once and and for all.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

I totally agree with Karen!!!!

[Adina P]

Hmmm...odd. I agree with Karen that the timing probably would render such a 'punishment' totally useless. Now, whether the dog freaked out or not would depend on the dog. A dog wouldn't have the concept of "OMD I've been shut in a CLOSET! how scary!!!" If a dog was more or less freaked out by small, dark spaces it could be scary. If not, it wouldn't be that traumatic. I have a feeling, Rosco would probably just end up lying down and napping after a few barks. The only way I could see it being effective is if it was an IMMEDIATE consequence to an undesired behavior...and I mean IMMEDIATE. But then again...a crate would be so much more appropriate and less dangerous!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jack would absolutely lose his mind if I put him in a closet. He still won't walk all the way into a bathroom, and I am absolutely sure someone closed him up in a bathroom at some point in his life.

[Adina P]

Rosco is cautious about bathrooms too...but only because that's where baths come from ;-)

[Kim]

Allie LOVES bathrooms - only if one of us is in the shower, as she loves to steal underwear. LOL.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Well Peri likes to try to jump IN the shower with me!!!!! Silly dood - she loves baths, water, whatever....

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree with everyone that after this whole scene of chasing and then catching the dog, it's too late for the dog to relate the misbehavior to the "punishment". Using the crate as a "calming down" period makes total sense to me. I think closing the dog in a closet would cause anxiety for most dogs, and that is something I would never even consider. It will certainly do nothing to eliminate this behavior going forward, and to me it seems extreme and cruel. I think your neighbor needs to first do something about this fence. If the dog is able to get past it rregularly, it needs to be repaired. That's the simple answer. If a dog can get out of their yard, why wouldn't they? And, of course, the recall is so important....and that means training, lots of training. I can just imagine the picture of people chasing the dog while he is running and barking...I'm sure to him this was a really fun game. It's frustrating when people blame and punish their dogs for things that are really their own responsibility. You are clearly NOT crazy!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I agree with all statements - I also think that the best discipline is a little "timeout" in the crate (even though Peri loves her crate - go figure, she knows when she is in trouble) OR me going to my bedroom and shutting the door. She can't stand being away from us........