General Crate Training Question

[meganpatricia 0]

My apologies if this has already been addressed at length elsewhere, but I was just curious about something... I am doing crate training with Toby, whenever I leave the house he goes in his crate with a treat and his favorite chewies. He barks for about 15 minutes (from what I can tell) and then settles down (laziest puppy ever, thank heaven!). If he is with me I walk him every 2 hours or so to make sure we dont have accidents in the house.

My question is, does there come a point when it is ok to leave them free in the house when you are gone? Has anyone else done that transition? And how did you know it was 'time' if so? Toby seems to be able to hold it for pretty long periods of time in his crate, he doesn't wake in the night and ask to come out.

[mom2Gizmo 24]

My almost 9 year old mutt used a crate until she was only about 6 months old. I took her out of the crate because she was an exceptionally well behaved pup. She never destroyed anything, never chewed much, was perfectly housetrained and had no separation anxiety. My shih tzu is almost 2 years old and I still use a crate for him when I'm gone. The reasons are that he will still occassionally chew on things, he occassionally lifts his leg, but the biggest one is that he doesn't understand all the time that my cats are not dogs and have no desire to play and roughhouse with him. My cats are older, ages 10 and 12, and they deserve peace when I'm not home...lol. So really, it depends on your dog and your situation. My shih tzu will sometimes go in his crate on his own, so they do like their crates sometimes. Toby is absolutely adoreable, I have to say.

[tzuhouse 4]

Oh yes, there DOES come a time....BUT, there are so many things to consider first. You MUST totally puppy proof your house OR area where he will be "loose". Plus, in a crate, they have an instinct to NOT soil their "den"...but loose in a much larger area, could totally change the dynamics for Toby....he would no longer be in his "den" area and therefore, not feel the need to "NOT" soil the area....so, you just have to play it by ear. My puppy is 7 months old, but he was house trained by 4 months to where he went to the door to let us know he needed to go out. I still confined him when leaving the house. Then about 6 months, I started leaving all 3 in our laundry room....I know, not fair to the older ones, but the don't seem to care....and that worked fine with no accidents for up to 5 hours, now I have JUST recently started allowing him access to our hearth room/kitchen area for when we are not going to be gone longer than about 3 hours. We have a pretty big house, and I have never given any of our dogs full access when we are gone, just too much to get in to and too much I can't puppy proof. I would just never forgive myself if I came home and realized I had left one lamp cord or something down and he was hurt by it....so it is just easier and in my opinion safer to confine them until you KNOW FOR A FACT they will not damage anything OR themselves while you are gone.

A lot is just trial and error....LITTLE baby steps at a time is the route I take.

Toby is soooo cute....and so is Ming

[FairyTail Josette 14]

Each dog is different. Puppy proof the area Toby will be in. Start slowly, by putting Toby and his crate in your laundry room or bathroom, etc. Go away for only an hour the first time, expanding the time little by little. See how he does. Then, progress to a baby gate with a bigger area/one room. Eventually, expanding to 2 and then 3 rooms and a little longer period each time. If Toby has any issues, go back a step. Take the whole process at a slow rate and you will have success. All three of my furbabies have run of the house when we are gone with no problems. Also, leave on a radio or tv if possible. I puppy proofed the house for a loooong time with Josey, so, there were no surprises. She's almost 3 yrs old and still acts very much like a puppy.

[BusterBoo 4]

Buster will be 4 yrs old (next week) and he still goes in his crate and is very content in there. I work all day, he goes in before I leave for work and when I get home he is in no rush to get out. He is safe, he has food, water, chewies, blankies, and can get up and walk around.

I keep telling myself I will try and let him loose during the day (after I have dog-proofed the house) but he goes in his crate when I grab my purse and never complains....so..... :)

[meganpatricia 0]

Buster will be 4 yrs old (next week) and he still goes in his crate and is very content in there. I work all day, he goes in before I leave for work and when I get home he is in no rush to get out. He is safe, he has food, water, chewies, blankies, and can get up and walk around.

I keep telling myself I will try and let him loose during the day (after I have dog-proofed the house) but he goes in his crate when I grab my purse and never complains....so.....

Hm, that is interesting. Toby is in a smaller crate with not enough room for food and water- I was told for potty training they should have 'only enough room to get up and turn around'. The crate I have did come with a small tray for food and treats, but the one time I tried to use it (so far) he sent all the food flying all over his crate, presumably during the 10 minute 'panic' phase he seems to have before settling down. I guess I should just count my blessings that he is ok holding it, and maybe at some point he will be as happy as Buster about going to his crate. Not that he minds it SO much, but there are certainly some complaints.

Thanks everyone for the compliments on my little man (men). He certainly knows how cute he is, and if he sees someone who doesnt seem to have noticed it, he is not shy to go right up to them and make them take notice ;p