How many hours per day should I keep my puppy crated?

Question

I am house training my 3-month-old toy pomapoo puppy. I want to outline his current schedule and get feedback as to whether or not he spends too much time in his crate (he's doing pretty well with his training and almost never soils his crate):

6:45 - 7:15am: walk & play
7:30am: food in crate
7:30 - 11:30am: crated w/ toys
11:30 - 11:45am: outside walk
11:45: food in crate
12:00 - 3:00pm: crated w/ toys
3:00pm: food in crate
3:30 - 4:30pm: outside walk & play
4:30 - 5pm: inside play
5pm - 7pm: crated w/ toys
7:00: food in crate
7:15pm - 7:45pm: outside walk
7:45 - 9:30pm: inside play
9:30 - 9:45pm: final ouside walk
10:00pm - 6:45am: crated for bed

Answer 1

What a sad life your poor pup leads. And how is he ever to learn to behave and sleep himself if you have him so regimented.The only time I crated my puppy was at night time because he would have stayed up forever if he wasn't sent to bed. Other than that, he was left to his own devices so he could learn to sleep when tired, behave when he wasn't getting any attention and be toilet trained. You could cause constipation problems in the pup because dogs try not to mess their own den/crate so he's probably keeping it all in instead of going when he needs to.

Leave the crate door open and let him chose when he wants to go to his den. After all, it should be his den, not his punishment for when you get bored of him.

Answer 2

I would think that is too much time spent in a crate. I added it up and that is only 4 hours and 45 mins that the puppy is NOT in it's crate. If crate trained properly, they will NEVER potty in their crate.

I understand that you don't want puppy to have the run of the house. Maybe a better solution would be to get a baby gate or two. So where the puppy is now "crated w/ toys" it can at least in an area to run around and play with those toys. Then only crate the puppy at night, OR when you will not be home.

Answer 3

Hi,
A quick scan of your schedule looks OK. The puppy should be in the crate for as few hours as possible... The puppy should not be abandoned in it for endless hours at a time. The crate should also be in the main area of the house where the members of your family are most of the time (a kitchen, den, living room, etc), but should be in a safe place and not in a place that is too loud (puppies can get scared very easily).

HOWEVER, as we are all human, it is not humanely possible to watch our dogs 24/7 (and trust me, my dog, when she was a puppy, would eat EVERYTHING all over the house). The crate is a safe and comforting place for a young puppy. If your dog is not yet housebroken, the crate will stop accidents from happening all over the house and will also allow you to demonstrate to the dog that the bathroom is outside, or where ever you want the bathroom to be (by taking the dog out of the crate first thing in the morning, having the dog do whatever it has to do outside and then offering endless praise when the business is done). In fact, a lot of people have told me that their dogs were housebroken faster when using the crat. Dogs will not usually urinate on themselves in the crate (even though mine sometimes had the rare accident in there).

Hope this helps...Good luck :)

Answer 4

RE: what number of hours per day can a dog be in his crate? We lately bought a puppy (9 weeks historical) and i am crate training on the advice of a couple of pals. I drew up a time table of feeding occasions, potty breaks, crate time, and playtime/walks in an effort to hold the family prepared. My hubby says there's an excessive amount of crate time. I've him in his crate from...

Answer 5

I'm not sure about little dogs, but I never crated mine - she's a large breed.

She's awesome because she's learned how to behave in the house. She was penned in a room when I wasn't home (didn't work well as she was an escape artist), otherwise I kept her out and watched her same as a child and taught her what she was allowed to do and what she wasn't. Took a lot of time and patience, but I now have a dog that has no separation anxiety, can be left alone without needing any crating, I can leave my shoes out and they're still useable when I get home.

I think a lot of people crate because they couldn't be bothered with the work it takes to train a dog how to behave inside.

Answer 6

Keeping a dog in a Crate is not a form of torture. as a matter of fact the dog views it as its den. It is a decent way to train the dog.

To answer your question though.. it is a little bit too long to have him in there. There is only two cases when the dog should be Crated, Night time and while your at work. Having his food away from the crate is also better than keeping it in.

Answer 7

RE: what number hours in step with day can a domestic dog be in his crate? We those days have been given a domestic dog (9 weeks previous) and that i'm crate training on the advice of numerous acquaintances. I drew up a time table of feeding circumstances, potty breaks, crate time, and playtime/walks with the intention to maintain the enjoyed ones prepared. My hubby says there's too plenty crate time. I certainly have him in his crate from...

Answer 8

Crate training is not something a toy breeds do well with. Get an expen, or block off an area by the bathroom, kitchen etc. They can't hold their bladders that long, so trying to force a little one is near impossible. Only place in expen when you can not be there to watch him. There is no reason to box him up for so many hours. He will rest. leave the crate dow in the expen door off with his bed inside. It will help him down the way to see crates are good not bad.

Answer 9

It's good for growing dogs to get plenty of exersise, so I would say let the puppy stay out of the crate on a little running leash in the yard until bed time, but make sure you keep the puppy cool with ice in his water, and spend good quality time with it because after all it is still a baby!

Answer 10

sounds like a good schedule. He has a good balance of play and out time with "quiet time". When he's in playing quietly he's *NOT* learning to be destructive. He's NOT learning to bark endlessly or chew or tear things apart.
I've had some that - for those reasons - any time I wasn't fully paying attention to them and they were inside they were in their crates. And the way you're doing it it isn't punishment...it's his den. HIS SPACE. He gets rewards there (food and toys). He's got plenty of interaction.
Sounds like a good schedule which will lead to a happy well adjusted dog. If more people used a schedule like this there'd be less dogs given up for being "too destructive" or "won't housebreak" or other reasons.