when to stop crating your dog?!!

hi all!

i'm wondering when to stop crating my dog during the day. my vet says her dogs are 3 and 4 years old and she crates them 14 hrs a day every day (she also take them on about 3 hours of walking a day as well). needless to day, my shih tzu can't walk three hours, much less would he want to! ha ha!

but he does stay in his crate during the day for about 10 hours. he gets in when i tell him too and seems to like it. he's quiet and sleeps all day (as far as i can tell) and is calm when i come home.

he's one year old and is still getting potty trained (he won't bark to be let outside, but is on enough of a schedule that that is less of a problem). however, when i've left him at home alone in the kitchen (with access to his crate and water, etc. and with a few toys) he's FRANITC when i leave for work and FRANTIC when i come back. he also tore up a pee pad i left him (which he ended up not needing to use) so that could be anxiety or just good doggie fun, i'm not sure.

when did you stop crating your dog? or is he still crated? have you heard whether it's good or bad to never stop crating them during the day?

i just wanted to get some good discussion going and here everyone's opinions

itmustbepuppylove

 

My first dog Max we never crated, we would just put up a gate and he would have free roam of the laundry room. He was never destructive and would always wait until you got home to do his business.

On the other hand Rocky is usually always crated when we're not home. Not because he's destructive but because he's very curious and likes to get into thing (usually the things he' not supposed to be into).

I guess it just depends on the dog.

 

I think as long as your dog seems ok with being in the crate, you can continue to leave him in there. I think you should usually wait until you can totally trust the dog before they can come out. and all dogs are different it isn;t always the same age.
But I think 14 hours seems like an eternity to be left in a crate! is that 14 hours total in a day? or they are in for 14 hours (while the vet is working or whatever) then come out at night?
I also think 10 is a pretty long day to be in a crate. do you check on him someotime durig the day?

 

Is the 10 hours continuous time, or total time? My preference was to leave my dog crated as long as she would tolerate it. But she was only crated for 3-4 hours, then out for lunch, then another 3 hours or so. At 9 months old, she started having problems with the crate, so we started to leave her out, confined to one room. We have had some issues and had to "redecorate" the room to prevent further issues, but all in all it seems to work. A second dog also helps, I think.

However, both my dogs are still crated at night. They love their crates at night and go right in when I give the command. They sleep quietly all night and wait patiently in the morning to be released, even on an erratic schedule. Good doggies!

 

So far Toby loves his crate and is in no hurry to come out when we get up in the morning--and when he's tired, he puts himself to bed in it--it's in our family room at the end of a sofa and I'm thinking (seriously!) of putting a sheet of plywood and a tablecloth over it and using it as an end table, with the access door available to him, permanently!

 

at my old apt. Luthers crate was under the entertainment center and I put a table cloth over and took off the door and he loved it, it was his own space, the cats rarely went in there to bother him, so he could escape from the world in there!

 

I've already done that with Olsen's crate. I got a prefinished shelf from Home Depot and put a table cloth over the crate, then put the shelf on top of that. When my daughters came for the holidays, they didn't even know it was a crate until I told Olsen to go to bed and he went in.

 

Can I quote you guys? My daughters think I'm crazy--they can't wait to toss the crate and start treating Toby like a "normal" dog!

 

My dogs have always loved their crates (well maybe not the first couple of times), They always have acces to them, sleep in them, now with the doors left open), its the first place they go to whenever theres been an earthquake or storm...its their 'comfort zone'...another thing is if theres been any 'issues' ....like one of them has helped herself to my cup of tea that I 'foolishly' left on the coffee table....and I suddenly walk in the room, they will all go to their crates before I even notice....golden rule...once your dog is in the crate, no negativity...Ive heard of people pulling a dog out of a crate to 'punish it' for something like peeing on the floor or chewing something up, Im a firm believer in every dog should have a safe place to be especially in times of stress....they learn pretty quick that the crate is a good thing.

 

I still crate Dreamer during the day and sometimes at night if our family goes out to dinner or something. Dreamer is 9 months now and he doesnt have a problem with going in his crate when we all leave for work and school. But Dreamer isnt completely potty trained either so until then he will continue to be in his crate during the day. I wish he was potty trained and obedient enough to leave out all day without any supervision.

 

There's a good chance I will be going back to work in September. I will be gone from 7:30 to 3:00 and it will be impossible for me to come home for lunch. My puppy will be 9 months old by then. Can I leave her in her crate that long without a potty break? I can't see being able to trust her in the house alone and we have no good place to lock her up other than her crate.

Any suggestions?

 

At 9 months it's possible she will be able to hold it that long. If not, can you have a neighbor come over and let her out in the middle of the day? A dogwalker? Do you have a laundry room, bathroom, or kitchen where you can confine her? How about looking for a doggie daycare? An ex-pen with a litter box or puppy pad?

As far as the crates and "normal" dogs go - crates ARE normal! It's a den. I really wish my dogs had access to their crates all day. I'm sure I would find them sleeping in them often. As it is, the crates are in my bedroom so they only have access at night, when they have no choice. However, they are VERY excited when I ask them if they want to go to bed and run to my door anxiously waiting for me to open it and then hop right into their crates.



At agility trials, Nala will go into her crate of her own accord to rest or chew on a bone. I'll be sitting by the crates relaxing with her on a leash and next thing I know, she's curled up in her crate happy as punch.

I have thought about getting two more crates and taking the doors off and leaving them in the family room (where the dogs are confined when we are not home), but I do worry that they might argue over them when I can't supervise. Nala tends to walk into any crate at all - doesn't have to be hers - and that seems to offend many other dogs. Besides, we are pretty much out of space in that room!

 

No argument here about "normal" (that's why I put in in quotes)--unfortunately, around here what is perceived as "normal" is leaving the dog unattended outside or in the garage all day. So the kids get annoyed when scheduling demands require they be home at a certain time to take our pup out to potty, etc. But then again, through the years they've had to put up with lots of common-sense rules their friends don't have, and they've managed to survive despite it all. :lol: