when to stop using his crate?

[leslabelle]

My question is - at what sort of age have people stopped using a crate for a bed?

We have had Bailey sleeping in a crate overnight in the livingroom since the very first day we got him (he is now 10 months old).
He is there from about 10-10.30pm until OH gets up at 6am and we have never had any problems. He has never had a toileting accident. The only problem we ever had was that he chewed/pulled the stuffing out of 2 or 3 different beds many months ago so since then he just has a large piece of furry vet-bed (think that's what it is called) in there and he seems completely content.
We can also put him in there if we have guests and he gets a bit over excited or if we are eating and he won't give us peace/is trying to share our food he he 

We just say 'bed' and he trots into it and lies down.

He also goes in it when we are out at work or out for a couple of hours at the weekend or whatever.
He doesn't try to get out or whine or make a fuss and insdeed often will go in there himself even if we are in the house - especially when he is tired and he will sleep in there with the door open.

At night if we are in bed and not sleeping he will be through with us but doesn't seem comfy lying on the bed or even on the bedroom floor and is up and down and won't settle. As soon as one of us gets up he jumps up and trots through to his own bed in his crate. He obviously in happy in it.

It would be nice to reclaim a bit of space in the livingroom by getting rid of the crate but that is the only place he has known to be when we are out so i am not sure if he would start destroying the rest of the house if we leave him out of it.
Does anyone have any advise on what age and how to go about changing him to an ordinary bed successfully or am i gonna have to keep him in the crate for ever?

 

[Mudmagnets]

If he is completely content and causes no hassle, it would be a shame I think to deprive him of his comfort zone , would you have space to move it to another room if you do not want it in the living room. Katie's is in the kitchen, and the top makes a handy dumping ground for all sorts of things

[Top Barks]

Alfie has slpet in a crate since he arrived and will continue to do so he is just over a year now. If your dog feels safe and secure then why not put up with it?

[Sue67]

Indy's nearly 2 and a half and still sleeps in her crate.

It's her space and I think she'd be a bit lost without it, and, like smudgies mum said, so handy for dumping things on. 

[supergirl]

At 6 months Roly is still in his crate, he seems to be calmer in it if I go out.  Misha stopped using hers at 6 months, but still likes to go into Roly's if he's not using it.  I think it very much depends on the dog.  I think that Roly will be in it until he's at least a year old - of the few times I've left him out with Misha, I've regretted it.  However I know what you mean about reclaiming the space - I've found some  fabric for a cover that matches the decor so that it doesn't look like too much of an eyesore.

[ladylola]

I have monty's crate under the worktop in the kitchen, so you can't really see it. He loves his crate and always sleeps in it. I tried making him a bed on the floor but he always went back in his crate. I also have a smaller one in the lounge. I couldn't really do without them having 3 dogs. It's easier to separate them if the need arises and also a safe haven for them.

[Mudmagnets]

Katie pup gets fed in hers too with the door shut, so that the others have a chance to eat theirs in peace

[kalami]

Bella's still in hers, and think she always will, when we go to stay at friends or to holiday cottages the crate goes too, if she didn't have it, i don't think she'd ruin anything but you never know.

[leslabelle]

I think i will get some sort of new bed, maybe one of these big plastic ones so he hopefully he won't be able to cause too much damage to it and put his bedding in and see if he shows any interest in sleeping in it instead of his crate.

I don't have space anywhere else in the house to put the crate so i can't really move it from the livingroom.

I think i would like to get rid of it spacewise and also cos i think it looks nicer seeing a dog sleeping in a bed rather than a crate but he does go in there when we are eating otherwise he pesters for tit-bits constantly and also when my brother brings my nephew round who is only 5 months old it is handy to put him in the crate as he gets a bit excited and interested poking his big doggy head in baby's face he he    so it would be easier to keep it for those reasons.

Also of course there is the matter of knowing he is safe and not doing any damage to the house when we are out which is always good to know. Maybe i will leave the crate door open when we go out to see what he does.

I guess i was just hoping that someone might be able to give me some advise on picking up any signs from him that might mean that it would be a good time to get rid of the crate but i guess each cocker is different 

[Mudmagnets]

How big is the crate, could you try getting a smaller one that he will be happy and secure in, but will not take up so much space?. He is obviously ok to leave without fear of messing, so perhaps a smaller one would be ok.

[leslabelle]

We used to have a smaller crate but after a few months we had to upgrade to a bigger one (the biggest size we can get i think) as he had grown soooooooo much 

- he now is officially the biggest working cocker we have ever seen ever - when out on our travels or after having spoken to anyone about it and everyone agrees.

It's all fine - maybe we'll have a move around of the livingroom furniture and try and get it re-organised a bit so it looks a bit better and fits in more.

Thanks for all your advise

[Mudmagnets]

We used to have a smaller crate but after a few months we had to upgrade to a bigger one (the biggest size we can get i think) as he had grown soooooooo much 

- he now is officially the biggest working cocker we have ever seen ever - when out on our travels or after having spoken to anyone about it and everyone agrees.

It's all fine - maybe we'll have a move around of the livingroom furniture and try and get it re-organised a bit so it looks a bit better and fits in more.

Thanks for all your advise

Maybe you could put a cloth over it and use it as an occassional table??

[PennyB]

Mine is still up 6 years on --- both the cats and dogs use it as their den so it never managed to get folded back up