When I got Archie he was completely crate trained. He enjoys his crate, and never gives me a bad time about going in there. I've kept him with the same procedure with which he was raised, crate throughtout the night, and whenever I"m not at home. Most of the time I take him to work, but if I know it's gonna be a hectic day, I crate him (at home) and let him out at lunchtime. My question to you guys is I've been tossing around the idea of leaving him loose in the house during the daytime, if I leave for a while, or on the days I leave him home from work. GOOD IDEA..... OR leave it the way it is? I walk him twice a day, and he gets plenty of excercise playing with his older brother, I guess I just was kind of fantasizing coming home and having him greet me, rather than waiting for me to let him out>>   THANKS,  KRISTIN & ARCHIE

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Both of mine are crate trained, but they are both loose pretty much 24/7. I prefer them loose, for a wide variety of reasons. Boredom relief, fire, burglars, etc.

When I do need to leave them locked up for long periods, I put them in an ex-pen. We just had contractors here last week, and they were in the ex-pan (together) all day for two days. It lets them stretch their legs and have access to water, while still keeping them safely confined.
Wanted to add that another benefit of a loose dog is if they get a tummy upset, I only have to clean the floor and not worry about a dog being confined in his or her own excrement all day.
I always crate the first year at least and then gradually allow free rein. Izzy managed to chew up a few small things like coasters etc. My husband insists on having the dogs sleep with us so they are in bed with us at night with Izzy laying on his pillow gazing lovingly into his eyes. My husband loves the hero worship LOL. Sparty lays stretched out against my back or on my legs and growls if my husband bumps him, it kind of balances the hero worship. Unfortunately our doberman has a chewing habit developed before we got her (3 obstruction surgeries) so for her safety and our house's she is in her kennel anytime we are gone and at bedtime.
Ours were always crated for the first year or more, but we eventually started leaving the crate doors open.
You want to dog-proof your house -- keep the garbage locked away, etc. -- you don't want them chewing on wires, or getting the cat to knock beef bones off the kitchen counters -- try to spot any hazards, ropes or venetian blind cords they could get tangled in, edibles or almost-edibles within almost-reach.

They are better watchdogs when they're free. Ours do not bark at intruders/visitors while they're in the crates.
We used to crate them at night, too, but they've been on the bed for years now.

Only time I HAVE to crate them is when I vacuum, of course.
Oh yes...the vacuum and the steam mop...Crate time for life, I'm sure! You'd think the hot steam would keep a curious corgi away...Not so far!
All my corgis were crate trained for sleeping and we have a doggy door leading to fenced area that we can close off and leave them outside during the day, until they prove themselves ready to have the run of the house. At a certain age, we would take the door off the crates and several of my corgis chose to sleep in the crate. Lucy has had the run of the house and is completely trustworthy. Lucy sleeps on our bed. Rafa sleeps in his crate in our room. After several weeks of dry crate, I gave him several chances to sleep with us & he always chooses his crate; which is actually great for Lucy. Her alone time with us is safe! When Lucy was about 2 yrs. old, we got a new bed and it was much higher than our old one. We got doggy steps for her and I highly recommend this. I decided to get them before she needs them. We had 2 corgis with DM and we try to protect our corgis from themselves whenever we can!
Noodles was crated until he decided one day he no longer needed it and that was when he was about 1.5 years old. We left the crate out for him in case he wanted to go in it, but we never found any of his blankets touched inside the crate and he was always on one of the couches when we got home. I think he enjoys being free during the day and I know I feel better. If he wants to play with his toys, then he can and he isn't couped up all day long. I love the fact that he greets me at the door most of the time, but other times he will remain in his spot (on one of the couches) and just lay there waiting for you to come over and give him kisses with his bunny butt shaking the whole time.
we actually only crated trained carter for the first year. he was only crated while we were gone for the first year. at night we only crated him for the first 6 months. he actually learned that when he had to potty in the morning he would wake up and wake us up by licking our faces. the best way to go about it is to leave him in a small section for a small amount of time while your not home. just to make sure he doesn't rip anything or chew on anything. =D carter greets us now and actually waits at the front door for us to come home =D
Aww Joe & Sammie. Your story about licking your face reminded me of the first time we spent a night in a hotel with Lucy. She, at this time had run of our house and a doggy door to a fenced area with wood shavings (like a doggy litter box) so she could "go" on demand at home. At the hotel, I was awakened in the morning by a kiss on the face from Lucy. She needed to go out. Not a cry or bark, just a kiss. How sweet. I forgot about this until I read your sweet story about Carter's wake-up kisses. Thanks for sharing.
Penny is 1 1/2 now and I have tried leaving her out when I'm not home, but almost every time I have she gets diaherra. I have a back porch (where I keep her crate) and tried just having her in there thinking a smaller space would be better but had the same results. I work 8 hours a day so I go home at lunch everyday to let her out and play fetch in the back yard. She doesn't mind her crate, in fact when I'm getting ready in the morning she is in the crate waiting for her treat before I get downstairs...so maybe I shouldn't worry about it...but I would love to let her have more freedom.
Reading this is very helpful. I will be getting my new corgi in a few weeks and I forgot the whole drama it is with going through the whole having to train the new little one the whole process. Honestly though I am looking forward to the whole trials and tribulations of crate-training her and getting myself trained again in the whole process. I live in an apartment now, so don't have the luxury of a backyard for my girl to stay in when I leave for work - any advice for crate-training for the days? I've only ever had my dogs in them at night or when we were eating.
Krystie, I should clarify that I have never left a puppy all day in a crate. Depending on the age, they need to be able to relieve themselves regularly. When I did have to do that I closed them in the kitchen with newspapers but coming home to let them out works better.

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