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?
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?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Natalie, Lance &Tucker on
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We stopped crating Lance at night approximately a year ago or so (if my memory serves me correctly, he will be three in October).....for awhile we let him sleep in the bedroom with my daughter with a gate up at the door so he couldnt get into mischief, the room was totally dog proofed. I really didnt want to get him used to that idea as I never thought I would have allowed it to begin with, so we gated off a section of an extra bedroom and made it into a sleep area for him a gate in the doorway and another gate blocking the bedroom so he cant get into the room. We thought maybe his crate was getting too small for him and he could stretch out in his area but he curled up in the corner!! So much for stretching out! Leaving him out of his crate while we were gone, I thought would never ever happen, cause he is such the chewer. I accidentally forgot to close his crate door one day when I left for work and came home to everything being ok....mind you the living/dining room area, upstairs was all gated off. We slowly let him stay out for a couple hours at a time, we have never left him all day out. Maybe 3-4 hours at a time. We still will gate Lance in the kitchen area instead of giving him free roam. I would test Grover for 15 min. and then increase the time as he gains your trust.
Although today I was getting ready to go to work and told Lance to go in the kitchen as I was putting on my shoes and he went into his crate! I think he likes the crate better than the kitchen! Although he is not fond of the gate it scares him although he will go in the kitchen with the gate up but I need to have a treat ready so he will pass the gate! When I come home he is laying by the gate waiting for me, he is so silly!
I almost put up a post about when to stop crating today after he went into his crate instead of the kitchen, because he just made me laugh!
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Permalink Reply by Sam on
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My crew usually is crate free at night at this time. Generally when the house is quiet they are more apt to sleep. Do remember to pick up things and probably keep them in a room where someone is sleeping. A few do occasionally wish to get in to mischief at night but most of mine have been pretty good. Generally they are clean at night as well.
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Permalink Reply by Amanda on
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Dax is a little over 7 months old now, he still sleeps in his crate and stays in there all day while me and my boyfriend are at work. Any time either of us are home, he's out and running around. We don't let him into any bedrooms, pretty much he's got the kitchen, living room, and hallways, and he knows this because if we go into a bedroom, he'll stop at the door and wait for us. We're beginning to trust him a little more because he hasn't had an accident inside in a couple months, and he doesn't really chew things up if he's got something to do, like if we give him one of his bones, so we don't watch him 100% while we're home, we just kind of let him roam. We're pretty much doing the same thing as Natalie; when we leave (only if we're just leaving for a couple hours or so, not leaving for work or anything) we'll leave him out, and we do it for longer and longer periods of time to get him used to staying alone out of his crate. So far he's doing really well with it, but the longest I've ever left him so far was about 2.5 hours. But hey, progress is progress. I know it'll probably be a while before we can leave him out all the time, but I figured this was the best way (for Dax, not for all dogs) to get him used to being alone. Hope it helps! Oh and if you're nervous about completely leaving him, I started by just leaving him out while I was in the shower, or just go into another room and close the door so he can't follow you in(I couldn't do this though, if he's anything like Dax he'll just sit on the other side of the door and wait for you to come out).
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Permalink Reply by CorgiLover on
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I stopped crating Chloe at about 7-8 months? She sleeps on my bed and I put a baby gate in front of the door so she cant escape. She does great and loves is much more than the crate. My pillow is much more comfortable than her crate floor :).
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Permalink Reply by Avyon on
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I asked the same question about a year ago and a smart member on here told me that you just know :) One day you will get curious and feel confident enough to leave your pup alone for an hour or two and come back and they'll be sitting they're going "look mom/dad! I'm all growned up!" I was a worry wart until one day we accidentally left her crate open for a whole day and came home to a "I just woke up whatdoyahwant?" puppy lol
First off make sure they don't get into any trouble while your at home. If thats not an issue then I would try small leavings.. 30.... then an hour.... then two.... and let it grow. It may take a few tries and wait a little while between failed attempts.
just for comfort we still crate roxi at night but she hops into her bed by herself now so its not big deal.. mostly for the roommates in the morning so she doesn't bother them.
goodluck :)
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Permalink Reply by Madog on
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What a good answer. Madog has been crated 3 times to prove he can do it but other than that we don't bother. He really can't get into too much trouble.
And I also have a ton of toys for him.so the odds are that he is going to chew something of his and not mine.
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Permalink Reply by Parker on
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Thanks for all the replies everyone! I think we're going to start with leaving him with us in the bedroom at night and see how that helps. Grover is a CHEWER. But he has never really chewed up anything that wasn't his, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't. :)
We don't really have a good room to shut him in during the day though. I'm thinking of gating off the living room and the kitchen to start with and see how that goes. I think I could trust him at night in our bedroom because he does usually sleep at the end of the bed in the morning when we let him out to potty and then go back to bed.
Another issue though is our litter box. We have an older cat (9 or 10 yrs, we're not sure cause he was a hand me down cat) and we don't want him to have to climb on top of something everytime he has to go to the bathroom. I'm considering trying putting his litter box in a big tub and cutting a circle hole in the top for him to get in and out of. Once the litter box isn't a worry anymore, maybe we can trust Grove more to have free roam of the house.
Ahhh, the joys of puppy parenthood! :)
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Permalink Reply by Lou Ann Lemaster on
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The litter box may always be a problem with your dog. I bet he has discovered it in the past and just loved the "tootsie rolls" that were in there...LOL! Lucky for us, we have spare rooms upstairs to put the box in for the cat. Duncan doesn't go upstairs, was never allowed, neither does Chloe.
So, you may have to find a quiet place to put the box and put a gate to that room's entry.
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Permalink Reply by Carmen on
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We still crate our dogs at night. We would let them sleep with us, but then Trunks puked on me one night. That was the end of it. Plus, we sleep better without them. Two corgis take up the same amount of room as a large human! We still snuggle with them on the bed, but we are all happier with our arrangement.
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Yeah... um... That was awful. I started screaming and gagging. John thought he had rolled over on one of the dogs and killed them. Looking back it is a little bit funny.
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Permalink Reply by Ju Lo on
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My Theo is 9 months and we still crate him at night, though we could probably get away with not. I agree with the "you just know" comment. It's when you trust your dog enough to try it.
If Grover is a chewer, make sure he has so many chew toys he won't know what to do with them all! Make sure he has everything he needs to be entertained and comfortable and he shouldn't go looking for trouble elsewhere. I would definitely try just a confined space at first. Going from a crate to one room is a step. Then maybe two rooms, or the upstairs or downstairs only. Work in steps until he has earned your trust enough to not need gates or blocks.
I find that Theo is still fine with being crated at night because he lets me know when he wants out. He's usually the only alarm clock I need. When he has had enough of his morning lounging he just lets out a few soft woofs and I'm up to let him out and to start my day. It's worked out well for both of us. During the day I tried letting him out of his pen and into one room while I was gone during the day. Some days it worked well and he was an angel, but other days he got into things (like my flat of water bottles from Costco! Oh the mess!). I think he was just too young at the time.
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