How long should you leave him in his crate?

[Billy boy]

I have read many different articles on the pros and cons of crates and how long etc, but just wanted some specific advice.

We have a 5 month old cocker and we both work so have a dog walker when we are not here. The longest he is alone at the moment is 3 hours and he is absolutely fine with that in his crate. I wanted to understand when I would start to have the dog walker come in just once a day and therefore he would be alone for up to 5 hours at a time. I have read that some leave them all day long (8hrs), but I don't feel too comfortable with that. He likes his crate, but doesn't necessarily go in to it by himself when we are around.

Any advice on when we could go down to one a day would be great!

Thanks

[Anita D]

I would have thought the dog walker could come in once a day when your pup can comfortably hold on to his toilet for that long.  He should be allowed access to the loo before he becomes distressed.

When he is older and out of the chewing stage and is toilet trained you could leave the crate door open in one room, such as the kitchen or in a sectioned off area for the long work days, obviously still with your dog walker popping in.  If you wanted to do this you'd need to get him used to this arrangement in short sessions to begin with as he will be used to being in his crate with the door shut.  Some dogs take to the new arrangement fine, others get a bit worried and need to be built up to it.

I'm a dog walker and quite often including pick up and drop off the dogs are with me for 2-3 hours so this gives them a nice break away from the house.  I encourage owners to leave a frozen kong in the freezer or a loaded kibble dispenser (from the dog's food allowance) for me to leave for the dog when I settle them back in for the afternoon.

I know it can be expensive to pay for the dog walker whilst your pup is young but it is worth it and they soon manage on 1 visit a day.  Good luck.

[Billy boy]

Thanks Anita that's a real help