Training Crate

[Brooksuk]

Fred is now nearly 5 months old and has slept in his crate with the door locked since day 1. We never have any problems with him and he will happily sleep in without making any noices until we get him up.

His crate is in his own room where he also has his own sofabed (which he sleeps on during the day), stereo etc and he is perfectly safe.

When should we start not locking the door to his crate at nightimes? I am worried that if I leave him to his own devices he will start wondering about in his own room (although completely safe) at night and may not settle down properly for the night.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

[MaxG]

Hiya,

I'd just go for it & see what happens - as long as he's in a safe environment, he'll be fine!

We had the same issue with Max (now 8mths) when he was about 4 mths old - he used to sleep in his crate in our room at night but had got to the point where he seemed restless & wanted to stretch out more, so we started leaving his crate door open but our bedroom door shut - lo & behold, he was fine - started venturing out & found a few spots in the room where  he liked to sleep & that was it - no problems at all.

Now we even leave our bedroom door open & he has the run of the house - he only ever goes in one of 3 or 4 fave spots & that's it - he sleeps right through the night quite happily - if he does move around, we certainly don't hear him unless he wants us to & then it's a case of him leaping on the bed & shoving his nose in our faces to tell us he either needs a wee or wants to get up & play!!

Sounds like you've got a happy little soul with his own pup-proof room, so I don't think you've got anything to worry about - he'll sleep if he's tired - it might be a novelty for him for a few nights but he'll soon settle.

Good luck!!

[Brooksuk]

Excellent! Perhaps I'll try it at the weekend!!

[Rachel B]

Good luck  Our Barney isn't responsible enough yet and he is going to be 5 months soon!!

I get worried about leaving him just when I go and shower and my OH isn't in the house!

Remember not to get too cross if he destroys the puppy proof room though!!!

Rachel

[Brooksuk]

Thanks.  
He spends time in his puppy proof room during the day when we go out at the moment anyway, so there is nothing else he can break that he hasn't already tried to!

[MaxG]

I used to worry about what Max was doing & where he was, every second that he was out of my sight but THANKFULLY we seem to have been really lucky & he's never chewed anything he shouldn't or done anything awful & was housetrained within a couple of weeks of having him - I'm FINALLY starting to relax a bit now & don't feel the need to check on him constantly if he wanders off for a few minutes - I think it's even helped his independence cos he now happily takes himself off into another room for a bit of a snooze - he NEVER did that before !?! I guess we get on his nerves or bore him sometimes!!  

When I shower in the mornings, he lies on the bathmat alongside the bath & dozes!!  

I think sometimes you just have to bite the bullet & go for it & see what happens - as long as you're realistic about what he may potentially do & are prepared for it etc then I think it's the only way you move forwards with them & get them to a point where hopefully you can leave them with the run of the house, knowing that they'll be fine, etc. etc.  That's our plan anyway - to get to that stage of puppy nirvana!!!!  Bring it on!!!!  

[Cob-Web]

Molo still sleeps in his closed crate at night - hes coming up for 2 years old....I have no plans to remove it, the routine seems to work - so I don't plan to change it  

[PennyB]

Interestingly, of late I've only had foster pups in crate overnight in a closed crate for a week while they settle in the house, and then have let them out to sleep where they want and haven't had any problems at all (I still close it if I go out for a short while during the day/vaccuming etc.)

[shonajoy]

Hamish can open his now, so we don't use it anymore.

[Cob-Web]

Hamish can open his now, so we don't use it anymore.

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That scares me!    - I think I've got used to having a cocker-of-very-little-brain  

[debbie321]

Ben is 6 months and is in his crate whenever he's left alone.  I've only tried leaving him with the run of downstairs if I need to go up for less than 10 minutes.  He tends to throw himself at the door or beat it up before waiting a bit too quietly  :: He is a chewer - I had a fit when I packed away our christmas tree - the wires for the lights had almost been chewed through (and we hadn't noticed a thing)  ::

Fred however sound perfectly safe and well mannered!  I'd try it and see how it goes ..... Ben will remain in his crate for the time being!!!

[Cob-Web]

Ben is 6 months and is in his crate whenever he's left alone.  I've only tried leaving him with the run of downstairs if I need to go up for less than 10 minutes. 

We did this with Molo; slowly increased the time he was allowed to be left unconfined while unsupervised.......he was 12 months old before we were happy to leave him with the run of the kitchen while we are out of the house  

We are now thinking about whether to give him the run of the living room as well - he likes to sit on the sofa and watch the world go by out of the front window, but I wonder whether he might bark at passersby when we are not there  

[debbie321]

Ben is 6 months and is in his crate whenever he's left alone.  I've only tried leaving him with the run of downstairs if I need to go up for less than 10 minutes. 

We did this with Molo; slowly increased the time he was allowed to be left unconfined while unsupervised.......he was 12 months old before we were happy to leave him with the run of the kitchen while we are out of the house  

We are now thinking about whether to give him the run of the living room as well - he likes to sit on the sofa and watch the world go by out of the front window, but I wonder whether he might bark at passersby when we are not there  

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Great - there is hope for Ben then   I would love to give him more freedom - must be hell in the crate all the time but I'm too scared to leave him out.  Might try this when I walk to the local shop or something (bet I come back to shredded net curtains ........... might be an excuse to renew the things)