How to know when it's time to be out of the crate at night

[Guest maya's mom]

Maya will be 1 year old next month, and has been using a crate since the day we brought her home at 8 weeks. She is crated when we are gone from the house, and overnight while we all sleep. She has no problems going in the crate at anytime of the day, and sleeps soundly in there until we wake her up in the morning when we get up. I want to continue to keep her crated while we are gone from the house, b/c I think it's just better for her safety, and keeps my mind at ease when I am not with her. But, I am starting to wonder if I could leave her out of it during the overnight hours. Again, she walks right into it when I say "night-night", and doesn't ever whine to get out. My husband and I are not looking to allow her to sleep in our bed (it's only a double!!), but maybe should could sleep in our room somwhere. If she isn't having any issues being crated, is this something I should even consider? I admit, I would probably worry for a while that she would get up and wander off and do something naughty. Also, my husband gets up almost 2 hours before I have to, and Maya is normally kept in her crate until I wake up. So if she were in the room when he got up, I think that may cause issues. Any opinions are welcome. Just curious. Thanks!

[Sassy Girl]

If it's not broke, don't fix it...it sounds like you may be feeling a little guilty but really it's fine for your dog to sleep in her crate at night. From your post it seems she is content with her kennel, if you want to try and allow her to sleep out - just leave the crate door open at night and set up and expen around her so she is still in a controlled space to test the waters a bit....

 

In our household anyone can be subject to crate sleeping, for the most part 4 sleep out and the youngest is kenneled a few nights a week, depending on his energy level...so don't feel guilty - do what works best for you, your family and your dog...

[Lewie'sMom]

Maya’sMom, My opinion is to keep her crated. She’s still young enough to get into trouble or harm while you’re sleeping. Lewie is 16 months (tomorrow) and is still crated anytime I can’t watch him. From the day I brought him home at 9 weeks his crate has been in my bedroom and he’s always crated just fine. In fact, when he’s tired, he’ll put himself “ni-nite”.

 

I’m a firm believer in crating; it keeps the dogs and the house safe. I figure there’s no reason to change a routine that works just because of the calendar.

 

Good luck

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

Well, when Daisy was almost a year old, I decided that she needed a little more responsibility. I got a baby gate and sectioned off part of the hallway. Set up some toys, her blanked and water. Once she was trustworthy with that, I gave her more room and then eventually free reign over the house.

[ArchersMomma]

I'm glad you asked this because I was going to be asking in about 4 months! lol! I also think if it aint broke, don't fix it. But I have the same issue...not that I have a problem with crating..I just don't like them in my house...they take up a lot of space and I'd rather have Archer free....but boy do I know he has a while to go before THAT can happen. MsDaisyDuke, I really like your suggestion..I'm going to keep that in mind.

[Shetlander]

I think the two different wake up time is the trickiest aspect of your situation because Maya will need to learn to go back to sleep when your husband wakes up. But that can be done.

 

I personally like my puppies out of the crate at night as soon as I can count of them to stay put on the bed -- or in your case, in a dog bed or the floor of your bedroom without getting into trouble. It is usually very obvious very quickly whether the pup is ready. My Shelties were on the bed by 8 - 10 weeks. Quinn was about 5 or 6 months before he would go to sleep without jumping down to do who knows what. I do gate off the doorway or close the door so if the puppy does wake up during the night any rampage will be confined to the bedroom where I am likely to wake up much sooner. It sometimes helps to give the puppy a toy to chew when everyone goes to bed. My Lhasa had a bedtime ritual well into his adulthood of chewing on a Nylabone every night before fall asleep. Once in a while he still brings a toy on the bed to gnaw before nodding off.

 

So you could give it a try -- maybe on night where you won't need to get up to go to work the next day. See how she does. If she can't settle, then just put her back in the crate and try again in another month or so. If she becomes restless when your husband wakes up, maybe she can go into her crate until you wake up. I'm assuming eventually you want Maya out of the crate at night and as time goes by during the day. The only way we can know if it will work is to give it a try, with as much damage control prevention in place.

[Root Beer]

I can understand why you would consider letting her out during the night. I prefer my dogs to be free to wander the house at night once they are trustworthy, especially before the dog earns the privilege of being loose during the day. I'm not saying this is right for everyone, but it is my personal preference.

 

I start out by dog proofing the room as much as possible and then simply leaving the crate door open at night. If the dog chooses to sleep in the crate, that's fine. If he or she decides to sleep outside the crate, that's fine, too. If the dog wakes me up to play or is wandering restlessly or trying to find something to get into or has an accident, etc., I know I've given too much freedom too soon and will go back to crating for a while. Dean spent very few nights in the crate - he was 10 months old when we adopted him and within a couple of weeks he was free, but shut in the room with us at night. I started opening the bedroom door again at night about 4 months after that.

 

I go through the same procedure when it comes to leaving the dog loose during the day. I'll start by leaving the dog loose while I am outside, but on the property. Then I'll leave the dog out while I make short trips. Finally, I take the plunge and leave the dog out while I'm at work. By the time he was a year and a half old, Dean was uncrated day and night. Speedy was about 2 before he was out all the time and Maddie was 3 - the two of them used to tear things up together when they were 1 and 2 years old!

[esox]

Alex and the Labs are crated when nobody is home. Not so much because we don't trust her or the 2 labs individually, but it's amazing what the 3 of them can think of if left unattended. One of these days I will have do a post about the eating the bed incident. Other than that she's out of her crate and has been since she was 6 weeks old. As a puppy she slept on my bed and I would get up in the middle of the night to take her out. Kept the door shut. Now she sleeps on my bed or on the floor. She has a toy or two in there and gets a bedtime treat. Jackie gets up a couple hours before me and Alex will stick her nose through the cat door that's in my door if she wants to go out. She goes potty and then comes right back to bed. Usually though she stays in the room until I get up.

 

Esox

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

MsDaisyDuke, I really like your suggestion..I'm going to keep that in mind.

I also used the same process as Kristine while I was seeing if she'd be trust worthy in the house while I was gone durring the day. I again used the baby gate at first. Although it was only 4ft high, I was lucky that she was one of those dogs who just respected the barrier. I keep the crate in my room though. As ugly and big as they are, it's handy to have, especially if strangers (like my landlord) have to come into the house durring the day! I think having a trustworthy and crate trained dog is awesome! I can go on holidays and know she won't wreck the place we are staying at if we can't lug the crate with us.

 

Oh, Maya's Mom, it can work with two different schedules, but it might take a bit longer for her to get used to though. Daisy usually gets up with me (first on weekends and last on week days) once Jason is out of bed, she likes to take his spot on the pillow.

[silhouettestable]

If everything's working well as it is there's no need to change it. On the other hand, if she's used to sleeping through the night in her crate chances are she won't even notice the difference if you just start leaving the crate door open. That's what I always do once they're housebroken and past the teething stage. My husband also gets up 2 hours earlier than me, but since they're my dogs and I'm the one who does everything for them they just ignore him when he goes to work and don't get up until I do.

 

My pup Flurry is turning 1 year old on the 19th of this month and he just had the biggest test ever yesterday. I put away his crate a while ago and have tried leaving him loose in the house for increasing amounts of time, up to about 4 hours and he's been fine. Well yesterday I went away for part of the day and ended up being gone longer than I expected. I knew the others would be fine but it was a real test for him being left loose in the house for 9 hours. He passed with flying colours! Nothing was ruined, no problems they were great. I have a secure backyard in a rural area with neighbours who keep an eye on things for me so if I expect to be gone for the day I usually leave the dogs outside (they have shelter), but it was pretty miserable yesterday so I left them in. When I do that I often keep the drapes closed so it's duller, more like night time and they're more apt to just spend the time sleeping.

[bc4ever]

Scooter was crate trained from the day we got him and he took to it right away. About a year ago, (when he was three) he started resisting going in at night, and I had been considering letting him have more freedom at night anyway, so I put the baby gate in the room where the crate was and let him sleep that way for a while, then moved the gate a little farther, so he could be in the hallway. I had a baby gate at our bedroom door so he could see us. He doesn't come in our room. He is now free at night and we've never had a problem with anything being destroyed, etc. Once he's out--that's it though! I like to think he'd at least bark if he heard someone breaking in! LOL! He doesn't really roam. I always do a quick check of the house before going to bed though to be sure nothing is out that might tempt him or injure him. We've since moved the crate to the basement playroom and we crate him when we go away for any length of time. It's worked out well.

[Guest maya's mom]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Everyone had good suggestions and stories. I think for now, I will go with the "it ain't broke, don't fix it." I just know myself, and it's going to be a while before I feel comfortable leaving Maya loose in the house during the day while we are at work. And I am worried that if I start letting her loose at night, maybe she will resist going in the crate during the day. Right now, she shows no negative signs of being crated, so I don't feel bad and I know its safe. If I were to leave her loose, and God forbid she got into something that caused her harm, I would never forgive myself! I've already seen a lot of progress in her just leaving things alone while we are with her. She doesn't actively go looking for trouble, although she has started showing great interest in chewing on the bottom "fabric flaps" on our couch. She leaves it alone when we tell her No, but she always goes back for it a few minutes later. If she were free, maybe I would have no couch when I came home! But again, all of the opinions were very helpful. I love checking this board every day, for help on how to raise our first dog!

[Jedismom]

When Jedi was about a year old I started just leaving his crate open at night. He chose to continue to sleep in it for several months and now he likes to sleep on a doggie bed in the living room. We've never had a problem. I think it's easier at night because they seem to be conditioned to sleep when you sleep. It's amazing how quickly they learn your routine also. I am up before my husband, but through our routine they know I won't be doing anything with them until after I take my daughter to the bus. So my dogs just glance at me and don't bother getting up until I get back.

[ness_bc]

My girl is 7 months and she spends the night on my bed as has been doing so for a good month or so now. I guess she also gets free run of the house during the day with my older girl and yep she has destroyed a few things but mainly she is pretty good. I am the one that gets the guilt complex. It started out being a few nights here and there on the bed (Fri/Sat nights mainly when it didn't matter if she woke me up - not that she ever did). Then it became most nights. The other night I crated her and around midnight I woke up and kicked her out of the crate and bought her to bed . So now its bed every night. My older girl has a dog bed which she will sleep on by choice. I guess I am a light sleeper to and being on my bed if she wakes then I know I need to take her out etc.

[Vickkers]

I'm glad you asked this because I was going to be asking in about 4 months! lol! I also think if it aint broke, don't fix it. But I have the same issue...not that I have a problem with crating..I just don't like them in my house...they take up a lot of space and I'd rather have Archer free....but boy do I know he has a while to go before THAT can happen. MsDaisyDuke, I really like your suggestion..I'm going to keep that in mind.

 

 

I thought that too but I've found that my kids (3 yrs, 2.5yrs and 2@ 1.5 yrs) all tend to go to their crates even when I don't ask them to... Usually most of them get their doors left open and if they want to go in they will and if they don't, they don't but trust me... there will be times where (if you take the crate away) you'll WISH you had it. So, although crates are ugly... I've kept all 4 of mine and I've never regretted it.

[Lizmo]

Blaze is 9 months old and he's been sleeping out of his crate -on my bed- since he was probably about 6-7 months old. My door is shut at night so he can't roam the house, though. The only problem I've had with this is. . .he likes to get up at 6AM

 

We did have a big first last night for him. We had gone out to eat and were only going to be gone about 45 minutes, so he's been doing awesome with not chewing things up or going to the bathroom in the house. So I decided to leave him in my room uncrated. He did REALLY well. No accidents, chewed up bed, and a sleeping pup in the room when I got back

 

I think if you aren't having any problems, don't mess with it. But if you'd like to try it, it won't hurt and you can always go back to the crate.

[beachdogz]

Nothing new to add here. I do the same as everyone else. Once my adopted dog was adapted, I left the crate door open, but then baby-gated the room. She mostly sleeps in the crate anyway. Sometimes she comes out at night and stretches out somewhere, but then she goes back in sometime before morning. Doesn't seem to be a big deal to her.

[hsnrs]

My Aussie was crated from day one and still gets crated at night (at her request). She comes to get me to tuck her in. She is out with my during the day though. She was 4 yrs old in August. N

[Root Beer]

And I am worried that if I start letting her loose at night, maybe she will resist going in the crate during the day.

 

Granted, all dogs are different, but I never had any problem with this. When they were in the habit of being crated during the day, they knew exactly what I was doing as I got ready in the morning and went right into their crates as part of the routine. When they started to be loose at night, the morning part of the routine didn't change and that continued as before.

 

I'm not saying you should or shouldn't crate at night, but if you choose not to, chances are that it won't affect your dog's morning routine if you continue it as normal.

[Shetlander]

I'm not saying you should or shouldn't crate at night, but if you choose not to, chances are that it won't affect your dog's morning routine if you continue it as normal.

 

I agree. I've never seen this with any of my dogs and they were all loose at night before left uncrated during the day.

[Maralynn]

And I am worried that if I start letting her loose at night, maybe she will resist going in the crate during the day

 

Just always make the crate positive. Kipp is a food hound. He gets fed in his crate. He is always ready to go in his crate, and I think "kennel" is one of his favorite commands. In fact there have been a few days when I'm working long hours that he spent most of his day in his outdoor kennel. I bring him inside and he runs right to his other crate and stands in there 'til I feed him.

 

And half the time he sleeps out of the crate and half the time in and it really makes no difference to him.