For those of you who have crate-trained puppies

My puppy Trogdor is 5 months old, fully housebroken and crate trained.  WI am wondering if is he old enough for me to start leaving him out of his crate during the day while I am gone (I am only ever gone for 5-6 hours at a time, if I need to be away longer I come home to let him out).  He has no problems with this in the crate but I am worried if he's outside the crate he might have accidents.  So for all of you who have crate-trained puppies in the past, how old were they when you stopped using the crate?  Thanks!

our dog is two and a half and we still put her in the crate when we are gone!  i come home at lunch everyday to let her out.  i have considered putting her in the downstairs bathroom instead, which would be more room and not as big of a deal for accidents, but haven't done that yet. 

she has "escaped" from her crate during the day (when we don't lock it properly) and about half the time she has had accidents, half not.  it's not fun walking into the house and finding a pile of poo on the entryway rug though!

i guess my advice would be that every dog is different, you could test it out one day and see how it goes, but be prepared to find an accident or two when you get home.  maybe make sure to give him less water/food that day.  i guess you just don't really know unless you try it!

Both of our dogs are crate trained with completely different results.

With our male, we started off with confining him to a smaller area - like the kitchen or bathroom so that if he got up to no good, the damage would be minimal.   He was extraordinarily easy to train though and never had an accident.

Our female will be three this year and we still have to crate her when we're gone.  She is an opportunistic pee-er and if we're not there to let her out, she finds a place to go.  She was also very hard to housetrain - partially because the people who had her before taught her to use newspaper they put in her crate and partially because she's stubborn.  She also chews things she shouldn't and can completely un-make a perfectly made bed in a matter of seconds.  We're going back to dog training this summer.  :)

My suggestion would be to confine him to a smaller, puppy-proof place.  Do you ever leave for just a couple hours?  If so, start him off there and gradually work your way up.   Don't feed him just before you leave - a dog generally has to take care of business after a meal.   And limit his water before you go.  Maybe even give him an extra special treat (if you don't already) after he uses the bathroom when you let him out.  It may be too long for him to associate it with keeping things clean while you were gone but it may not.   

Good luck!  Puppies are awesome.

Edit: typo

o my god - i have never heard of 'crate training' before. It sounds unnatural and stressful for dogs! I assume this means leaving the dog for short to extended periods in a small gated area? How awful! Our dogs have an entire backyard to run around in all day every day, and then we walk them every day in the bush or at the beach.

Surely that is like locking a horse in a coral all day? Isn't the dog bored and lonely? How is it not suffering? Sorry I dont mean to sound preachy but this is wrong to me!

gg80-- Google crate training. Dogs actually like it. The crate becomes their safe haven and where they can go when they're feeling nervous. It's not a gated area... it's a cage. It's to be used to train the dog to not go to the bathroom in the house.

I crate trained my dog. After we went 3 months without accidents, I started leaving her out when I left the house... first just up to 3 hours and then finally built up to where she is never in her crate unless my  boyfriend is over (which isn't often because we live in 5 hours apart) because there's no room for her on the bed but she tries anyway (she sleeps in my bed with me).

My puppy isn't all the way crate trained yet, so we keep her in the bathroom with a baby gate up.  Though the other day she found out how to get over the baby gate, so now we have to stack up TWO baby gates! Crazy little puppy :] She's 13 wks old. I'd feel bad leaving her in a crate for very long (which I guess is why she's not too far in her crate training yet) I think we just plan on using it for her to sleep in, and for confining her if we need to while we're home, and so she's used to it if we need to board her or something.

OK i googled it - sorry I have just never heard of it before and it sounded awful, but then obviously it wouldnt be done by so many of you nice people if it was cruel.

I understand that many people dont have yards to let their dogs live in, or maybe the weather isn't appropriate. The norm here in Australia is quite different, almost everyone has a backyard with  a dog in it! But also alot of people dont walk their dogs, either because they are lazy, don't care, don't understand how important it is, or can't control their own dog. This upsets me when I see it because the dogs that result from this are often unfit, frustrated, aggressive, and manic.

Apologies if I offended.

We crate trained our Cody, but I was never really comfortable with leaving him in a box all day.  When we were finally sure we could trust him, we let him out of the crate but confined him to an area that would be easy to clean up in case of "accidents" but gave him some room to walk around.  He how has the run of the house all day when we are at work.  The only problem we have had is if we forget to close the powder room door.  He loves to shred toilet paper so he try to limit his access to it.  Like Ali, the dog sleeps with us in our bed.  We have a king-sized bed so there's plenty of room, but he still tries to hog it.

The crate (be certain it's only big enough for your dog to stand, turn & lie down in) acts as an excellent training tool. The dog instinctively will try to avoid messing its 'den'.

Molly is just over two and I still crate her when I'm out. I have added a pad to ensure her comfort. I toyed with the idea of letting her roam free when I am away, but she has a history of chewing and I would not love having the wires of all my electronics chewed through.

GG80: don't worry - Ali is right. Crating is a humane way to naturally regulate your dog's potty habits and insures everything, including your doggeh, stays safe. :)

I half-crate trained my puppy and had wonderful results.

We used the crate specifically at night and we kept the puppy in our bedroom. If he started scratching or crying, we would take him out immediately until he finally got the idea that you 'go' outside. We had no accidents in the crate, ever.

During the day, we left him in a small room (laundry room or small bathroom) so he could move around a bit more. I worked in an office then but we made it a point to take him out first thing in the morning, one of us would come home for lunch and take him out and then again as soon as we got home from work and then again after dinner. We had a couple of accidents but in all honesty they were very few and far between.

In truth, the transition from crate to open space was fairly quick especially because he quickly outgrew the crate. We went from keeping him in small space (laundry room or bathroom) during the day to keeping him in bedroom with the door open and a baby gate up so he could see out to the rest of the house. Once we were confident he wasn't going to make a mess or hurt himself, he had full use of the house.. =)

Original Post by gg80:

o my god - i have never heard of 'crate training' before. It sounds unnatural and stressful for dogs! I assume this means leaving the dog for short to extended periods in a small gated area? How awful! Our dogs have an entire backyard to run around in all day every day, and then we walk them every day in the bush or at the beach.

Surely that is like locking a horse in a coral all day? Isn't the dog bored and lonely? How is it not suffering? Sorry I dont mean to sound preachy but this is wrong to me!

 It is really not stressful for the dog if they are trained to use it properly. My dog is 4 and when she gets bored or wants to go to sleep she goes right in without being told, its her bed and thats what we call it. We have crated her since she was a pup and had no problems with her accepting it. Although....sometimes when you tell her to "go to bed" she crawls under the bed of the room you're in and lays down quite obediently. LOL. its too funny to just see her little black nose peeking out from under the bed.

 Sometimes if it doesn't latch properly she gets the run of the house while we're gone or at night i will wake up and OMG something furry on my feet! but she doesn't have accidents in the house. She's a perfect dog, wasn't super easy to train but, thats cause she's a Scottie. She won't do it unless it's HER idea first. hehe.

oh, and my horse LOVES his corral, even when theres a foot of snow, he wants to go out and run around in it and push his nose down in it to play.

Sorry but that still sounds aweful.  Why on earth would a dog enjoy being caged?  Especially one as small as some of you suggest.  It sounds like a convenient way to not deal with real training issues or the need to provide a stimulating environment for your dog.  Your dog chews because he or she is bored because they are left alone for long periods of time.  Maybe you need to invest in a dog walker or find ways to come home more often during the day instead of caging your dog.  After all, it would be just as easy to cage children during the day, but for some crazy reason we realize that is inhumane. 

I'll suggest that you research crate training as well. It's not to be used permanently. It's to train the dog to learn where it should and shouldn't go to the bathroom. And I think you're incredibly naive to think most people can just leave work to walk their dogs in the middle of the day. 

Again, research crate training before you get your panties in a bunch over it. 

mdmoks1

totally what i was thinking but fact- dogs do get comfort from recognising a (den) area

however to leave a dog confined to this cage for more than 1 hour without a means of escape????

i would not choose to do it. we raised our dogs by gradual intro to yard, within 2 weeks.

horses tho...lol i had an insane half arab horse i must admit, she punished me for leaving her 2 hrs unattended after breakfast!

Original Post by gg80:

mdmoks1

totally what i was thinking but fact- dogs do get comfort from recognising a (den) area

however to leave a dog confined to this cage for more than 1 hour without a means of escape????

i would not choose to do it. we raised our dogs by gradual intro to yard, within 2 weeks.

horses tho...lol i had an insane half arab horse i must admit, she punished me for leaving her 2 hrs unattended after breakfast!

 I have a thoroughbred, and he is pretty well adjusted considering he's a rescue horse. Calssic retired racehorse story, abused and neglected. He had surgery on a bowed tendon and had to be on stall rest for 3 months. he went bananas. So i think thats why he loves outside. He still doesn't mind being in his stall...just not for days on end.

Original Post by gg80:

 

i would not choose to do it. we raised our dogs by gradual intro to yard, within 2 weeks.

I wish I had a yard my dog could play in. Hell, I wish I had grass nearby somewhere. Not everyone lives in that situation. I have a small apartment in the middle of Seoul which appears to have less grass than even NYC. It was either use pee pads and have my apartment reek of that smell or crate train her and take her outside. 

I love the crate training debate.

The bottom line is - she's my dog.  I walk her, (try to) train her, feed her, keep her clean, buy her toys and keep her safe.  The crate is her bed, it is not and has never been punishment.  As others have said, she goes there on her own when she wants to chew on a bone or take a nap.  It's her space.    

My dog chews because she's a handful and stubborn.  She will choose to chew the sofa cushion (or, just last night, my husband's cell phone) when her bone is laying right beside it.  And, believe me, it's not because she isn't trained and exercised. 

Comparing a child to a dog is ridiculous. 

(This debate gets my blood pressure up every time.  I hate it when people get all finger-pointy and judgemental.)

Original Post by gg80:

o my god - i have never heard of 'crate training' before. It sounds unnatural and stressful for dogs! I

Our dogs have an entire backyard to run around in all day every day,

Isn't being confined to a yard also unnatural and stressful?

My dog is 3.5 and gets crated whenever he's home alone.  If he at home by himself and not in the crate (even if I'm just taking out the trash) he starts wining and crying almost right away, but he'll hang out in his crate for hours and hours and be fine.

Original Post by jpoage:

I love the crate training debate.

The bottom line is - she's my dog.  I walk her, (try to) train her, feed her, keep her clean, buy her toys and keep her safe.  The crate is her bed, it is not and has never been punishment.  As others have said, she goes there on her own when she wants to chew on a bone or take a nap.  It's her space.    

My dog chews because she's a handful and stubborn.  She will choose to chew the sofa cushion (or, just last night, my husband's cell phone) when her bone is laying right beside it.  And, believe me, it's not because she isn't trained and exercised. 

Comparing a child to a dog is ridiculous. 

(This debate gets my blood pressure up every time.  I hate it when people get all finger-pointy and judgemental.)

 dogs ARE NOT children. agreed. They're two steps removed from a wild wolf or cyote that would rather eat your hand than let you pet them. 

as for investing in a dog walker or coming home more often during the day....really?! do you(mdmoks1) live in the real world where a commute is 45 minutes one way? Or where you really don't have much $$ for someone to babysit your dog all day at a spa? Seriously, be realistic. People who do over the top things like feeding their dog from their own plate have dogs that end up on the show "It's me or the Dog"

Crate training helps your dog learn discipline...oh wait, don't we teach kids that!? I suppose some people still do.

tblover900

kudos on spending time and $ on a neglected horse....i have worked in the animal ind and have far too many sad stories to combat the good...it makes me quite cynical...i guess thats why i got so antsy about this caged dog thing, especially the one that said it had been done for 2 1/2 years...maybe in US it's different? But in Australia if you don't have the space/time to have a dog, you don't have one. Ofcourse not everyone plays by those rules, but it is the exception to the rule, not the norm!