When to stop crating?

Hi everyone! Grover is 8 months old now and I was wonder when everyone here stopped crating thier dogs during the day/ at night?
Right now Grove is crated at night and all day and anytime we can't be watching him. He is pretty mischievous, but totally potty trained.
So when did you make the transition?

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Permalink Reply by MagnoliaFly on September 17, 2008 at 10:16am

I waited until we were through both chewing stages (10 months or so for us) and hadn't had an accident in several months before trying it out. I put a gate to block off access to downstairs and Bernie has done well. She usually sleeps on the floor beside the bed. I do leave several chew bones and things around the upstairs so if she gets the urge she has her stuff there to chew on.

My puppy is still going through chewing stages so it'll be several months before he's allowed to roam around freely 100% of the time. We let him sleep on our bed on occasion but not very often.

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Permalink Reply by Becky S on September 19, 2008 at 9:02pm

The first time we let Brody stay in the house not in his crate (usually he's in the fenced in back yard) was when he was about 18 months old and it was way below zero out. I jsut couldn't see putting him in the crate and came home at lunch to check on him. He did great, so we have no problem letting him have run of the house when we're gone. He still puts himself in his crate each night when he hears the news come on, so likes to sleep there. Lilly needless to say at 4 1/2 months has not been allowed to be out of the crate when we can't watch her!

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Permalink Reply by Ju Lo on September 22, 2008 at 6:11pm

You know, I was commenting on my blog earlier today...Theo actually likes being put to bed in his crate at night. He does his adorable happy ears back trot straight into his crate when I tell him its time for bed. If he likes it, I'm wondering if I'll ever change it. :)

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Permalink Reply by Avyon on September 26, 2008 at 6:25pm

Roxi hops in by herself sometimes too heheh we'll go downstairs and she'll be passed out in her crate.

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Permalink Reply by Laura & Lola on September 26, 2008 at 9:27pm

Lola is a year & a half now and we still crate her during the day & night.

During the day my husband & I both get to come home for our lunches, so she's out of her crate for at least from 11:30 to 1:30, then he's home at 4pm. Plus, all she does is sleep all day, so she doesn't need access to the whole house to snooze!!

And luckily, she doesn't like to sleep in bed with us (she used to her own space), and when she has been able to be outside of her crate at night, she goes into it anyway. The crate is in our room at night, so I think that helps too.

She has a pretty big crate & she seems to like it, so we haven't changed a thing :)

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Permalink Reply by Jessica on September 28, 2008 at 3:06pm

I stopped crating Ein at 16 weeks and moved him into the bathroom for 4 weeks. He has free range now (5 months). I was fortunate to have my fiancee's mother watch the puppy during the day though. We keep training pads out when no one is home, and he uses them.

He is good at letting us know when he needs to go outside and rarely has accidents.