Is it a good idea to Un-crate our dog?

Question

Hi, me and my roomate have a 8 month old mutt (looks like a golden lab). Until now, she has been kept in her crate during the day while we are at work (9am-4pm) and at night (11pm-6am). One of us comes home for lunch to let her out for 30 mins. We were thinking of starting to let her out of her crate during the day while we are at work. She usually waits until we take her out to do her business, but she has had a few accidents, the most recent being about 2 weeks ago. As far as chewing, she still has a habit of eating non-edible things.
Is it a good idea to start leaving her out of her crate so she can not be cooped up all day? Or is she too young to trust to not tear up or mess up the house?

Answer 1

I went through the process of "un-crating" my dog very gradually. I started with very brief periods of time, like 15 minutes while running to get something from the store to see how she would do. It took a while and at first about an hour or two was as long as she could go without getting a little mischevious. But over time she learned, we "weened" her off her crate over the course of about 6 months I would say.
She still loves her crate and sleeps in there most nights with the door open.

You could start at night and see how that goes. That way you are home and maybe would here if she made a lot of trouble!

Answer 2

Although some people think that keeping an animal crated during the times that nobody is home, if the dog is trained that way, it will remain the best solution for all of you, especially if they get bored and chew things while they are alone.

My dog, who was a rescue animal, was crate trained when she was young, with her first owner and then was adopted by my Dad when her original owner had to go into a nursing home, and then I took her into my home when my Dad passed away.

She prefers the crate, and although she is out when someone is home, if she wants some quiet time away from the activity of the household, she will actually go and lie down in her crate with the door wide open, just for some private quiet time.

Most dogs will not have accidents in their crate, unless they are sick or have been left alone too long without being walked. Your dog is young and should probably still be crated until she is at least a year old or more.

If she is a chewer, it is much safer to keep her crated while she is alone, or you may have a lot of destruction on your hands from boredom.

Good luck and enjoy your dog, my family and I had a lab husky cross for seventeen years, and she was a tremendous asset to out family. She had her moments of chewing also, especially when she was younger, and I still own some furniture with puppy teeth marks....

Have a great day.

Answer 3

Put some lemon juice the kind you get for pancakes spray it on the items the dog will chew re apply when needed this will stop the dog chewing.
Your dog will always have the odd accident if your not there to train it to the max.
Put some paper down so @ least if it did have an accident it would be on that & easy to pick up, Use normal washing liquid used for washing clothes to clean up any wee/poo & sprinkle with bi carbonate of soda over the mark to absorb any smell.
My dogs have never been in creates & have never chewed, so I am lucky about the chewing but I am with my dogs a lot though.
I don't think it is fair on the pet to be stuck in a cage all day, sorry but thats how I feel, you don't see people doing it with cats do you, & they can rip off your paper mark around the house just like a dog can do.
I would say let her out for the night leave the cage door open so if it wants to go in there @ least it is open, move some things she/he could eat that could end up being taken to the vets for & just put a little trust in the dog, I am sure you will be surprised.
If you dog has been good through the night leave the door open for good, it cant stay in there all its life you & the dog have to gain trust. By 8 month old the dog should be fully house trained it may just need out a bit more maybe you could ask your neighbour.
your dog should be fed twice a day with fresh water available all day

Answer 4

You answered your own question by stating things that she has been doing, i.e. a few accidents and eating non-edible things. She is too young to be left alone in the house. Bigger dogs tend to mature slower, so I would wait until she is at least 13-15 months old and then start leaving her out of her crate for short periods. For example, when you go on an errand. Gradually extend the time period until you think you can trust her. Do not leave anything out that she can get a hold of - shoes, remotes, toilet paper, plants, etc., or you are asking for a problem.

What is the reason you want to be stay out of her crate? The crate isn't mean and it's not a punishment. My show dogs are never left alone in the house for very long. If I leave them inside, they are crated. My dogs are not crated at night, though many of my friends' dogs are.

As long as your dog is getting enough exercise during the periods when she is out of her crate, i.e. walks, play time, etc., the time in the crate doesn't hurt her.

Answer 5

Since she can't be 100% trusted to not chew things and have a few accidents, I don't suggest letting her have free-run of the house. I understand you don't want to keep her crated all the time, so instead you could try this: Get an exercising pen, or put a baby gate up to keep her in one small room such as a bathroom or laundry room. You can put her crate in that area so that if she chooses, she can go in there. You can put toys in there so she won't get too bored. That way, she's still confined to a specific area, but has more freedom.

Answer 6

I had the same problem. Instead of keeping her in a crate why not put a gate across the kitchen area so she has some "roaming" room and can't hurt anything. If the opening is wider than say 36" you can go to home depot and get some fencing. Do you have a back fenced yard? CAn you install a doggie dog and still fence off the entrance area so she doesn't have use of the whole house? Good Luck BUT please don't leave her in a crate all dog. Thats terrible.

Answer 7

I personally do not believe dogs should be crated that much. When they have minimal social interaction they tend to have behavioral problems such as: using the house as a restroom, chewing inappropriate things, digging, snapping, growling, etc. If you have a small room such as a bathroom or den that can be easily puppy proofed and gated or otherwise secured, I would recommend putting your dog in that area during the day.

Remember to supply your dog with fresh water, a puppy pad if the dog is paper trained, safe toys (you don't want to give your dog anything that they can chew off pieces of), a blanket and or a bed. You may even consider placing the dogs crate in the room with them and securing the door of the crate so it cannot open. I also like to have the radio turned on for my dog while I'm away.

I hope that helps. Good Luck!

Answer 8

I would say your pup's not ready for that freedom yet. We use crating on our young dogs and then when they are older and beyond the chewing phase (which can last until the age of 3 yrs old) to protect the dog and our home. With our current 1 yr old Border Collie, we were able to begin allowing her to roam at nite without issue around 6 or 7 months of age. Mind you, each dog is different as to when allowing this would be appropriate. We still confine her tho if we need to leave the home. In our case, we have a dutch door to our kitchen and can easily contain her there on the occasions we need to leave the house.

So you might give a try at nite time first. Since this is normal sleeping hours for your dog, it is possible that nite time will go by without issue.

I had to keep my American Eskimo crated when not supervised until she was 3 yrs old. She had terrible destructive chewing behavior, which I learned from the vet is actually not unusual. Even tho they have all their adult teeth, until 3 yrs old, the teeth are shifting within the jaw line into proper place and as long as this is happening, that urge to chew WILL be present and can result in that destructive chewing.

Answer 9

I have a 6 month old lab mix and we have let her have the run of the house when it is bed time. She is real good about not messing in the house. I would do small amounts of time leaving her out. For example (this is what we are doing for our pup), leave the house (just stand outside the door or walk around the block) and then come back. Reward for good behavior. This has, so far, worked for us and from my understanding, labs are pretty smart dogs and always wanting to please. Just be patient and eventually she will be trustworthy outside the crate.

Answer 10

I crate train my 11 week pit i fist started to crate him at night, he did great not going to the bathroom in the crate so i leave him out at night. I would try it put her in a small room like a bathroom put her crate in there with the door open, see how she does. Make sure you put toys and stuff in there, shes still a puppy, or get the Grinnick apple bitter spray and spray it on the stuff you dont want her to chew before you leave. I think she will be fine! good luck!