How long in the Crate?

[kcsheperd 13]

Well I've been crating Payslee & Sawyer when I leave the house for small amounts of time..(Like 2 to 3 hours)..They are 17 & 18 weeks old now..They seem to do pretty well in there, and seem happy..and go pee pee the second I take them outside..During the day I leave Pays in her EX pen in the kitchen, and Sawyer in the kitchen (outside the EX pen) with baby gates..So I have some questions:

1) When can they begin to just stay in their crate while I'm gone to work? (for 6-8 hours) and would they like that better than their EX pen & Kitchen time?

2) When can I begin to just let them be together in the EX pen, or contained in the kitchen? Right now I'm separating them, but they want to be together..I just worry about them playing too rough while I'm gone..although I don't know how much they actually PLAY when I'm not there..

Whadda ya think? Thankie..

[enchantedmountain 2]

They are old enough, my cheri would hold it all day from the time she was 10 weeks. You may have a couple of accidents at first, but they are old enough to hold it, they will just need to learn to. Everybaby is diiferent, I have found that the smaller babies take a little longer, because they have a smaller bladder. Good luck with them! They are a couple of cutie's!

[tzu_delight 2]

I don't know much about the crate thing but I wouldn't worry about them playing tooo rough! Mox is way bigger than my little Stewie and they play pretty hard most of the time. I know they do it when I am gone but they are both ok! I don't think they would hurt each other! :chickendance:

[kcsheperd 13]

Well I think they would be happier if they were in there together, but I could be wrong..I know some folks suggested I separate them in the beginning to see how they would do, but they seem to be Best Friends now..and like I said, I'm not sure how much actual 'playing' goes on while I'm gone..

[CrazyTzuLady 16]

I don't know about the crate either because I have never used one but I have never separated mine when I leave even when Gizmo and Delila were little they were always together. I have never had a problem with any of them getting hurt. They are even left with the two bigger dogs and still no problems and let me tell you Gizmo used to play really rough with Nikki my lab/husky x.

[TheShihtzuation 0]

During the day, I never let Pokey stay in his crate more than the most, 3 hours.. but that's because I'm usually home to take him out every 3 hours.

At night time, he goes in the crate for bed around 9/10 .. and then around 2am I take him out and for the past few nights even though he already 'pooed' out his dinner a few hours earlier, he goes poopy AND peepy.. at 2am.. in the freezing cold..

Myself has been wondering when these midnight peepee (and now poopoo) runs (no pun intended at all) can stop. Since I know he usually has to go at that time and WILL go I've been afraid to leave him in the crate to see what happens. Even on nights when I'm dead ass tired, I still bundle both of us up to take him out.

I've been thinking about giving him the kitchen or the hallway for his play area/sleep area too.. and since he loves the crate leaving it in there with the door open. Maybe this week we'll try an experiment and see if he can hold it.

KC - are they too young to try and procreate?

Edited February 2, 2009 by thepupstuff

[kcsheperd 13]

About the procreation.. Hmm.. I think they are.. they are not 6 months old yet, and I thought that is when they were supposed to begin to be 'active'..lol..but that is a great question. So far there is no humping, or marking from either of them..So I don't know..Are they too young?

As for Poke's late night 'runs'.. I've found myself waking up to take my babies out, but not THEM waking up and wanting to go up. Its usually me nudging them awake and taking them out, which leads me to believe that they probably would have stayed asleep if I had left them alone, and that they could probably make it through the night just fine..Does he wake you up to go out, or do you wake HIM up to go out?

[TheShihtzuation 0]

About the procreation.. Hmm.. I think they are.. they are not 6 months old yet, and I thought that is when they were supposed to begin to be 'active'..lol..but that is a great question. So far there is no humping, or marking from either of them..So I don't know..Are they too young?

As for Poke's late night 'runs'.. I've found myself waking up to take my babies out, but not THEM waking up and wanting to go up. Its usually me nudging them awake and taking them out, which leads me to believe that they probably would have stayed asleep if I had left them alone, and that they could probably make it through the night just fine..Does he wake you up to go out, or do you wake HIM up to go out?

No, I literally have to drag him out of his crate to go peepee at that time. This is him everynight until we actually get outside and the cold air wakes him up:

[tashi love 5]

As a rule of thumb they can be left in the crate one hour longer than their age in months, so a 4 month old could be left for 5 hours.

[Stacey 7]

well here's my philophy..... if pups dont wake me up to go potties.... i dont take them to potty until i get up

I take them to potty right before bed, they hold it all night long, they have been holding it all night long since their beginnings of time.

they usually hold it 6 to 9 hours during the time we are sleeping. some days its 6 some days its 9 just depends.... today i actually woke up on my own. weeeeee

althought i dont mind wet tongue up my nose every morning from lea i just would like some mornings to sleep in.

and if you let htem hold it even through out the night....... it conditions their bladder for day time too. They dont need to be taken out just when they think they need to go...i usually try to make them wait about 30 mins.... so they realize hey sometimes I need to hold it. Does that make sense? It streches their bladder so they can hold it longer and longer, but yet dont hold it too long that they get infections from holding.

Lea is just now holding hers during the day longer and I dont have to go outside as much and she is 6 months old and 5lbs.

I have never left the pups for longer than a couple of hours but im sure they would do fine in their crates with no one home. They would just sleep. Its their space and they love it. They willing go in the crate when I say the command "get in the box"

[kcsheperd 13]

HAHAHA! Thats what Sawyer looks like when I wake him up in the night, and I don't even make him wear a jacket! He's like ''uh..wha happen?".. So I think its a good rule of thumb that if they don't wake you up needing to go out, then I wouldn't wake them up to go out..Pays wakes me up in the night when she needs to go..Also, Poke's mom, can I ask your first name so we know how to address you?

Can I still leave mine together at 17 weeks & 18 weeks without them procreating?

[tzukeeper 12]

well here's my philophy..... if pups dont wake me up to go potties.... i dont take them to potty until i get upI take them to potty right before bed, they hold it all night long, they have been holding it all night long since their beginnings of time.

they usually hold it 6 to 9 hours during the time we are sleeping. some days its 6 some days its 9 just depends.... today i actually woke up on my own. weeeeee

althought i dont mind wet tongue up my nose every morning from lea i just would like some mornings to sleep in.

and if you let htem hold it even through out the night....... it conditions their bladder for day time too. They dont need to be taken out just when they think they need to go...i usually try to make them wait about 30 mins.... so they realize hey sometimes I need to hold it. Does that make sense? It streches their bladder so they can hold it longer and longer, but yet dont hold it too long that they get infections from holding.

Lea is just now holding hers during the day longer and I dont have to go outside as much and she is 6 months old and 5lbs.

I have never left the pups for longer than a couple of hours but im sure they would do fine in their crates with no one home. They would just sleep. Its their space and they love it. They willing go in the crate when I say the command "get in the box"

AMEN TO THAT! Thats like people that wake their skin babies up to feed them. Let sleeping babies lie! :sleep_1:

[Sunlite 9,105]

As Devon stated, you can expect them to hold it 1 hr longer than their age, so a 4 month old puppy can hold it for 5 hrs. As for separating, I think they can be left together if they're getting along fine. I would not wake up a puppy to go potty as they may be able to go through the night. As for procreation, my Baby went into her first heat early, at the age of just over 5 months old.

[tzuhouse 4]

I never woke mine up to take them out to potty. If they woke up, they would whine, but that only lasted a few days and they slept through the night. Once in a blue moon one will wake me in the middle of the night to go out, but very rare

KC, I bet they will play a bit when you leave and then sleep the rest of the time, til they hear you come back home. That is what mine do. They are pretty young to worry about baby makin.....BUT having said that, IF you do leave them together, you better watch for humpin and stuf and when that starts better keep them apart til you spay and neuter.