Once crate trained; always crate trained?

Question

My four month old lab, Diesel has been truly a crate training success.
We have a small house, and when he's awake during the night he wakes us all up flopping around and playing with his blanket inside his crate. I would like to leave the door open so he can go play when he's restless without making all the metal noises. Or even let him sleep on a doggie bed instead of in the crate.My question is this:

Will he always need his crate closed? If I leave the crate door open for him to roam at night, will he go back to using the bathroom in my floor? Will he ever be able to not use a crate and still be house broken?

He hasn't done his business in the house in over two weeks...woo hoo!!


Any opinions or personal experience appreciated!

I should probably add that he holds his bladder for up to eight hours now.

we don't go to bed til around 10, but no matter where the dog is, he lays down at 8 to sleep. Usually not in his crate but in whatever room we're in. Then we take him out to potty around 10, then crate him. he wakes up around 3 or 4 and begins playing. (I've tried taking him out to pee but he comes back in and still wants to play)

Answer 1

I am glad to hear about Diesel's success! Crate training is a great way to housebreak a puppy. I would wait another two weeks before letting him roam out of the crate - just to insure that the behavior is reinforced.

After a month since the start of training, if he has not messed in the house, it should be fine to leave the door open. He will know that the crate is a safe place to go and sleep, but it shouldn't be required anymore. We no longer crate our dogs at night, but they both usually end up sleeping in there anyway. We do crate them, however, whenever we leave the house - so they don't get into too much trouble.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I would personally keep him in the crate still. He is still a puppy and if you were to let him roam freely he may very well get used to it and forget about the training he already has. Dogs are like kids, give them an inch and they take a mile. Keep him in the crate until he is fully trained not to go potty in the house or do anything destructive. My Pomeranian is much older than your dog, but since I've had her I've been training her since she never was trained as a puppy. It's tough sometimes to do things to train and discipline them, but don't let them get dominance over you. I also keep my dog in the kitchen while I'm gone or if I've gone to bed with a bed, food and water. It may sound harsh to some people, but it's the only way I can break her of thinking its okay to roam the house and poop and pee where she pleases. If you haven't noticed, dogs will usually not go potty in confined areas, so continuing the crate will be best I think. If he is up at night making a lot of noise, maybe try to exhaust him of his energy throughout the day, if that doesn't work and is truely bothersome, you may want to consider disciplining him if you are okay with that. Well good luck and he is still a puppy, it'll me a few more months before he calms down and is fully trained.

Answer 3

My lab was crated as a puppy as well and she did great. Once I trusted her in the potty department, I did leave the door open and she pretty much stayed put. Then she graduated to a dog bed. She is now almost 7 and you can't even bribe her to go back into a kennel, but she doesn't need one, she is a wonderful dog. My other lab on the other hand, loves her crate and because of her tendency to act out and chew things up she has to be in it when no one is home, but she doesn't sleep in it, she sleeps in our room on her bed. Dogs who are raised as part of the family tend to learn schedules and do really well and sleep through the night whereever they are, though they do take time to get used to it and patience is always required. My concern would be that he is only 4 months and potty trained for 2 weeks. Accidents will happen and you may want to wait a little longer. And being a lab, the chewing thing is a concern, they are chewers and some will do it for a few years. But I say it doesn't hurt to try and if he does something naughty, he goes back in the crate until his next test.

Answer 4

At four months old he is too young to be trusted. he knows not to pee in his crate but if you let him out he may pee on the carpet or somewhere else. Then you will have to start training all over again! I thought my pup was trained and took him out too early, and then we went back to strict training to get him used to not peeing in the house. Even though at 4 months he may understand not to go in the crate his bladder is still too small for him to hold it if he has the opportunity to go outside the crate.

Maybe if you took him for a run or walk before bed he would sleep easier at night. Or, give him quieter toys he can chew on without moving around a lot like a kong - and use a pad instead of blanket so he will be less inclined to play with it.

Answer 5

Well, I just got two puppies and had to crate train them, too. I would suggest letting him go in the garage or outside at night since he is so big.
If you don't like that option, I think you should just try leaving the door of his crate open for a couple nights and make sure to give the WHOLE house a checkover every day after you get up. If he didn't go to the bathroom in the house, then it's safe. If he did, you might try getting hima large platic cage.


Good Luck ;)

Answer 6

ALL my dogs are crate trained..and yes, leave the door closed at night. Make sure your crate grows in size along with your puppy..
Crate training is awesome..its a natural type of habitat, since our canine buddies are "den dwellers"..its their own personal cave. I feed my large breed dogs in their crates at bedtime..i open the door and they make a bee-line for their houses. I feed puppies under the age of six month at 5 0r 6ish p.m....let them out about 10 pm and they sleep all thru the night(until 7 or 8 am) without needing to go potty. Then I take the puppies to their designated potty place...kinda keeps it all together, if you know what I mean..may you be blessed with lots and lots of wonderful years with your lab dog.

Answer 7

good question, it's tough to say what he will do. There is a possiblility he may start doing his business in the house, it's only been two weeks since he hasn't. You may want to just try it, maybe put him in his crate as normal but leave the door open. But also block off a certain area where he is, so he can't completely roam free.
I keep my dogs in the kitchen, for example, so I can block them off from going to the rest of the house but they also have a their beds to sleep in if they want. Just a suggestion

Answer 8

Two weeks isn't quite long enough, but over time your dog will get habituated to going to the bathroom outside.

Try leaving the door open during the day and see what your puppy does.

I successfully trained several dogs to crates and they always liked to return to them to sleep or just rest.

Good luck.

Answer 9

Well with my experience, i found that even with the crate door open my dog would stay in it no matter what until i got up and started moving around.

Try it out see what happens

Answer 10

He won't always need his crate closed at night... He isn't likely to go back to using the floor, unless he wasn't entirely housetrained. If the crate itself is what stops him from peeing in the house, then he'll be free to pee in the house.
The only way to find out is to let him stay out one night.
As long as he knows how to tell you that he needs to go out, and you listen to him, even if you are sound asleep, he's likely to be fine.