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When-How to end Crating? by Ruben

ORIGINAL MESSAGE: I've been crating my puppy for a few months now and as she is getting older, I notice that she is more and more hyper in the crate while we are gone. When should one stop crating during the day and trust her with appliances? My main concern is that she doesn't hurt herself. Also I guess I should begin with 1 hour at a time.

DISCUSSION:

In a word - NEVER! If you feel that your dog needs more space you might want to try a pen or closing her in a small room, but the crate must remain a part of her life for several reasons: 1)safety 2)security 3) transportation What do you mean "hyper in the crate while you are gone"? I've never seen a a dog that wasn't anxious to get out of their crate. How old is your dog? Leslie R

Ruben, you didn't mention the age of your baby but I'll assume you got her at 12 weeks and you say you have her a few months so I'm guessing around 5 or 6 months. The way that I did crate training was only at nightime for sleeping. I confined Bailey to the kitchen area (making sure it was absolutley puppyproofed)during the day and when I came home she could play in the living room with me watching every minute until time for bed. If she looked like she was ready to go potty I'd quickly get her to the PuppyJohn or try and walk her every hour or so. When Bailey was about 6-7 months and always slept well in her crate before, I noticed too that she was restless and decided to give it a try with her in my bed. Well, she's been there every night since and never an accident. She is 8 months old now but I'm not yet comfortable with giving her full run of the house yet since she still chews quite a bit. Anyway, I think if you feel your little one is ready then thats when you should try giving her more freedom. If you have had her confined to the crate all day I'd say she needs some space to play. Each one is different and you have to judge what your baby's maturity level is as well as see if she really is trained. What do you do in the evening? Best of Luck to you and your little fluffball. Robin D.

I'm certainly no expert so don't anyone get mad at me but I don't feel it is always necessary to crate your Maltese for life. We started out by crating our puppy whenever we were gone, which included all day while we were at work. By the time she was perhaps 4 months old, we left her out of the crate but kept her in a confined area. (Our kitchen area which is pretty small). After she was accident free for about a month or so and we felt she knew she shouldn't chew on the furniture, we let her have the run of the house. We have not had any regrets. Angel has never chewed on, went potty on, or otherwise destroyed anything in our absence. I guess this wouldn't work with everyone, but for us it has worked out fine. It is just a matter of watching your dog; you probably will be able to tell what he or she is ready for. Sandee

Reuben, The "clue" to leaving her out of her crate is whenver you are sure she is 100% potty trained and 100% through the inquisitive, think I'll chew on that (electric cord, phone cord, chair, end table, etc.) phase. It also isn't a bad idea that when you are sure it will work to leave her crate available for her "safe" place (door open). Both of my kids have free run of the house and there isn't any problrem...Luce has had run of the house since she was about 8 mo. You might also want to find transition period of leaving the kiddo penned and the crate inside the pen with the door open so she can come and go. Hope this helps. cathy brown

We got our maltese when he was 3 months old & he is now going to be a year this end of Febuary. We still crate him. During the day when we are not home he is in his home when we come home we let him out & put him out to go to the bathroom & when he comes in to the house he is a little wild but he soon calms down. During the evening when we are sitting watching tv he will be on the couch w/ us but then he will jump down & go in his crate. I leave it open so that he knows he can go in there at anytime & that it is not punishment. If we have company over & he gets tired of being around him he would just go there all by himself & it's like we don't even have a dog. At first I felt bad about that but he really does seem to enjoy it. So I just let him. Is this wrong? Anissa

We almost never crate Brittney. Most of the time we've had her ( 7 mos) one of us has been home. We do "pen" her up downstairs when we go out and make sure that evrything is safely out of reach. She potty trained inside very well with the pee pee pads and we haven't had an accident after the first month. David, Cindy, Brittney

Ruben, I apologize for the first response I posted - I really sound like a shrew! I keep Phoebe in a pen, with a bed and toys and wee pads - she sleeps in her crate at night, after the first week when I determined that she would not shred her wee pads and so on I leave her in the pen when we leave. I do give her free time, but she still chews anything and everything! Her free time is strictly supervised. All the other posters are right about giving your baby more space. Phoebe's crate stays open in our bedroom and often when she is in there playing she will go in there. Leslie R

I keep Bacci (6 months) in his cage when I am not at home. At night when I come home I take him out and then he has a free run of the house. I tried to leave him is the extra bedroom with lots of his toys but he chewed a hole in the rug so that was the end of that. I did get him a cage that has enough room fom him to play. I hope that this helps a litle. Good luck! Yavonda, Fergie and Bacci Yavonda

Ruben: I kept my guys in the crate for around 8 months. When I ran out for a short errand at that time, that was the test. If nothing was damaged, or no "poop" it was a success. You will ahve to judge yours individually. Try small times out and alone for a while, then increase the amount of time out. They don't need to be crated for life, they are normal when they are house-trained and not eating everything in sight! Good luck Linda

Hi, I agree with what seems a minority, as the dog earns its freedom, it can have access to more and more room. My dog started in the crate and once trained (housebreaking, no chewing, no excessive barking, etc.) I penned him in a central but restricted area. Quite honestly I left him in the penned area until he realized he could jump out. Ever since, I give him the run of house (very small house, however), unless he has some behavioral regression and then we have a refresher's course (and back he goes until he earns his way out). Good luck on whatever you decide. Diane

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