Question for people who crate train their pooch...?

Question

When you crate train your dog, does that become their permanent sleeping place at night? I've heard you can remove the door once they're potty trained, but doesn't that defeat the whole point of having them in the crate? And if not, wouldn't a dog bed be fine, since they could wander out of their crate anyways? I'm asking this because my dog is pretty well potty trained, she defenetly lets you know when she needs to go outside. Her normal nightly routine is as follows: falls asleep between 8-9pm, usually wakes up around 5:30am, I take her out then I go back to sleep on the couch with her until around 7am. I know I have created a bad habit for her by doing this, but she is so sweet & cuddly in the morning and I can either go back to sleep for a little while or I can listen to her cry. We are going to put the crate in our room tonight and I'll put her back in it after she goes outside, hopefully that'll work. I've gotten a bit off track, but I think I got the basic question asked...

Answer 1

We crate trained mine for potty training reasons. She sleeps in the bed with us at night. She goes in her house (crate) when we are gone and when she is naughty. We leave it open when we are here and she goes in there and snoozes every once in awhile. It is her little den.

Answer 2

Ok. Now I have a lot to say! Before I start I just want to let you know that my dog LOVES his crate and walks into it by himself to sleep at night. I wouldn't close the door ever when my dog is in the crate at night because I do believe that part of the purpose of the crate is safety for the dog. For example my dog is small and there are so many things in the house that he could knock down onto himself or chemicals that he could swallow but if he is in his crate then he is safe from all of those things. Now I'm going to tell you how to crate train your dog. First of all I don't think that your dog's crate should be placed in your room, atleast during the training period. Your dog should, however always be within earshot. The reason that it would not be a good idea during training time is that if you ever have to put the crate in a different room for a night or so your dog will probably not take it well at all. Just so you know you may think that your dog should have a large crate with plenty of room but a dog should only have a crate just large enough that they can sleep in it comfortably it will otherwise feel comfortable "doing her business" in the crate as the crate will be large enough for it to seperate herself from her own feces. Also sometimes even dogs that are VERY well potty-trained will soil their crate after they get in it while they are still being trained as they think you will get them out of their crate if they do so. Put her into her crate and lie down next to the crate untill she is in a position where you can sneak out. After that all you have to do is slowly wean her out of you being there all together and voila your dog is crate-trained!!There is a lot more but I have to remember exactly what I did with my dog so that I don't give you the wrong information!! I'll edit you more info later!

Answer 3

I have had dozens of dogs over the years and the ONLY times I used a crate were with young puppies not yet housetrained and still in the chewing/teething stages. My dogs have always had the run of the house once reliably housetrained and not chewing things.

I see no reason in the world for you to keep your dog confined to a crate. A few dogs do prefer to sleep in a more enclosed space but the majority would be much happier sleeping on a dog bed close to where their family is. A lot of people seem to be thinking that crate training should last throughout a dog's life, rather than simply be a tool to help in housetraining a puppy.

Answer 4

Crate training is useful for potty training, but also for chew training. The crate helps you ensure that your new dog or puppy doesn't get into trouble when you're not around. Other perks, of course, are that the dog learns that the crate is their safety zone, and this is a real boon when they want to get away to be on their own or when you have guests or service people or other visitors to the house where you'd like the dog not to be underfoot.

It's all about your comfort level when you want to start leaving the door open for the dog to have free rein of the house. Just remember that potty training is part of it, but make sure that your dog or pup is really ready for full unsupervised access to everything before you start giving the extra house privileges. It's much easier to spend a little extra time now to get those good habits good and solid than it is to try to fix bad habits later, but you know your dog better than anyone.

One note: my dogs are rarely ever restricted to their crates, but I always feed them in their crates. These keeps the crates as a super awesome place for them to be, and they loooove their crates.

Answer 5

We have 4 dogs and each of them have their own crate. They are in their crates at night usually from 11-7 then my wife takes them out in the mornings and lets them outside and get some food and water, then they are back in their crates from 9-2. Put a blanket or two in there with your dog and make sure they stay warm enough. But dogs like the feeling of safety they get from being in their crate. So to answer your question, yes the crate does become their permanent sleeping place at night if you allow them to use it as such.

Answer 6

When we first got Fred I created him because he was just so small. I would only use the create at night and when we wasn't home. Everytime I wanted him to go to his create I would tell him to go to his "room" after he was potty train I just left the door open and he would go in an sleep all the time. I still send him to his room when we aren't going to be home (he is only 2) but he loves it and don't think of as a bad thing..Now he sleeps with me every night or at least most of it...

Answer 7

We have a maltese and she uses her crate when she comes in and is wet or dirty. The door is left open and she has been taught to go in (from outside) and stay there until we say okay come on. She sleeps with us at night and stays in her crate door closed when we're out. But it really is up to you how you want to use it and when. Just be consistant!

Answer 8

it's funny I break the rules also with my dogs...I can't help it they look at me with those big brown eyes and i melt, I think you're ok after she's been potty trained, mine roam the house when we're home, they used to sleep with me and wake me when they needed to potty, they're very good about going outside but hey accidents happen, I think a dog bed should be fine, mine have their beds and I use a baby gate to close off the area so they don't have an accident on the carpet but routine isa important and it sounds like you've got it down.....I think you're doing just fine...she's ready for her "big Girl" bed..heheh

Answer 9

No i use that when they do somethng bad or i have company so they dont be jumping all over them, but there are times they go take naps in their crates but i dont put a bed or anything in it.

Answer 10

when i crate trained my dog we took the crate out every night...but she got sad so we put it back.Dont worry they will grow out of it