Those who crate trained their dogs

DH and I are crate training our puppy who is going to be 1 yr old this month...we have only had her since September.
We leave her in her crate when we leave the house and at night...we only left her out of her crate once while we ran to the post office and she had an accident...this was two months ago.

at what age did you start to leave your puppy out of the crate...I'm thinking maybe we will start at night, b/c she likes to cuddle and sleep on the bed with us...but I'm not sure. Should we try another short trip first?

Any ideas? She hasn't had an accident in a long time, so I'm thinking we can start to trust her.

Re: Those who crate trained their dogs

we started out with short intervals...then longer and then longer....until he was always out.

I will admit, if it is too long, he will still make a mistake, and the poor thing, its usually near the door-like he wanted to tell us he had to go out---we dont yell at him...(luckily we have hardwood floors)

Re: Those who crate trained their dogs

I didnt crate train but I would suggest getting a baby gate and maybe blocking off your kitchen or a room/hallway you feel is safe for him.

Re: Those who crate trained their dogs

Re: Those who crate trained their dogs

Sadly, we are still unable to leave Misty out of the crate when we are not home because she gets destructive after a couple of hours. But, she is a Weimeraner and they are notorious for seperation anxiety. Any other dog I would say leave her for an hour, then two, etc. At night is good too as long as the dog will tell you if she needs to go.

Re: Those who crate trained their dogs

ok...so we took a risk and left Morgans crate open last night

She went in her "home" all by herself and stayed there all night...no accidents

I def think we are going to start leaving her out during the day...I was so proud of her this morning

Re: Those who crate trained their dogs

Tiny is now 1 year and a few months and we still crate him when ever we are not at home and when we are asleep.
Scott

Re: Those who crate trained their dogs

Bella is going to be a year old tomorrow and she is in her crate whenever we are not home, but she sleeps with us in our room at night. I don't think she will ever get out of her crate, she gets into too much mischief when we are home watching her, I can't imagine what she would do if she was by herself all day!!! I would love to get rid of the crate, but it works for us right now, and she doesn't seem to mind it.

Re: Those who crate trained their dogs

Re: Those who crate trained their dogs

I still crate my dogs at night at when we are not home. They are two little to leave unattended. My yorkies are 4 lbs. and 6 lbs. and are trouble makers. If I run out quickly (less than an hr) they are usually ok, but they actually like being in their crates when they are alone. I think it is a security thing.

Re: Those who crate trained their dogs

Misty hasn't been in the crate at night since she was nine months old...she sleeps with us and wakes one of us if she has to go out.
She does get crated if we aren't going to be home for more than six hours...she tends to get very destructive after a while...anything under six hours she is fine.