transitioning out of crate

walkerhl

Is this a good idea or am I creating a little monster? Louie has been crate trained since we got him and has loved it. He goes in there if we leave for the day, sometimes to just hang out, and to sleep at night. We had a house guest this weekend so we just let him sleep in our room on the floor and he did really well....he slept in longer and was much quieter/didn't toss and turn like he usually does. I'm debating letting this become a permanent routine. Am I doing more harm than good by allowing him crate freedom at night? Or is it typical to transition your dog out of his crate once he's shown he can behave?

NotJennay

Gloria is currently on parole for good behavior.    Very occasionally, a pair of shoes will fall victim - she's won her freedom at night and during the day - but usually she just sleeps on the couch all day and has not reverted back to having accidents or destructive chewing.   

I don't think it sounds like a bad idea to experiment with giving him more freedom if you think he's earned it. 

jen812

I think that's okay. I'd restrict him to your bedroom for a while now, at night.
Is he crated while you're at work?

sakelp

this is how we do it in our house:

We start with them in crates at night and while we're at work when they are very little and not house broken. Then when they are solid on the house breaking, and not destructive, we let them sleep in our room at night. 

THEN we transition to no crates at night and left out in our home for short periods of time when we're gone, like running errands etc. If they prove that they can handle that, then they earn freedom while we're at work as well.

This has worked for both of our dogs. They both are still fine with using a crate to travel or if we go visit family that doesn't want them roaming around while we're gone, but they do fine not being crated at our house . 

walkerhl

jen812:

I think that's okay. I'd restrict him to your bedroom for a while now, at night.
Is he crated while you're at work?

My husband works from home, so typically Louie is out during the day, unless he is on a conference call or client meeting. If we are both gone, then he's always in his crate.

This weekend we kept him confined to our bedroom. Last night, I kept the bedroom door open just to see what he would do. He left our room once for a drink of water and then came back to the foot of the bed and went back to sleep.

walkerhl

NotJennay:

Gloria is currently on parole for good behavior.    Very occasionally, a pair of shoes will fall victim

The girl likes her shoes! Louie went through a stage of wanting only our slippers. They were the kind that were all fuzzy inside.....you know, the stuff that's really super fun to tear out!

walkerhl

sakelp:

this is how we do it in our house:

We start with them in crates at night and while we're at work when they are very little and not house broken. Then when they are solid on the house breaking, and not destructive, we let them sleep in our room at night. 

THEN we transition to no crates at night and left out in our home for short periods of time when we're gone, like running errands etc. If they prove that they can handle that, then they earn freedom while we're at work as well.

This has worked for both of our dogs. They both are still fine with using a crate to travel or if we go visit family that doesn't want them roaming around while we're gone, but they do fine not being crated at our house . 

I like this idea! 

NotJennay

walkerhl:

The girl likes her shoes! Louie went through a stage of wanting only our slippers. They were the kind that were all fuzzy inside.....you know, the stuff that's really super fun to tear out!

Oh yeah, soft fuzzy shoes make the best toys.  I know, I'm torn between pride and frustration.

sandollar1010

I'm glad this was posted... I have no advice, but I am at the same point with my pup.  She does ok at night (we keep our bedroom door closed).  I'd like to start leaving her for short periods of time during the day for errands and such.  About how old were your dogs when you started to gove them a little more freedom

BrittanyKD111

We started leaving our boxer out of his crate at night sometime around 5 months. I leave the crate open and cover it with a sheet. He starts out under our bed and then moves to his crate sometime during the night. I don't trust our lab out yet but she is only 3 months old. She also LOVES her crate. As soon as you open the door to it she goes right in. And Jax (boxer) is not a fan of sharing his crate and she loves his too.
We left Jax out once on super bowl sunday when we went to a party. He went to the bathroom on the tile right in front of the back door (we left him for about 4 hours or so). And he shredded a set of blinds I left down. He loves to look out the doors and windows. We haven't left him out for more than 10 minutes or so since. We'll eventually try it again.