We have 2, 14 week old lab puppies. They love their crates and willingly go into them. My question is at what point do we stop using the crate? Will there come a time when they are asleep somewhere else in the house? Or when they can be left alone in the house outside the crates? Thanks.
There is no specific time to de-crate your pups it is entirely up to you and your dogs. I recommend to clients that they use a crate when a pup is left alone until at least the risk of them chewing something has passed. Some dogs love their crates and don't want to give them up
I think you can quit crating when you trust your pup outside the crate. We still have Cooper's crate in the kitchen, but have never closed the door on it. It is quite large and has a blanket draped over it so it is dark inside. She sometimes sleeps there in the day time and goes in at meal time because her dish is inside. We pretty much stopped crating or penning Cooper at between 3 and 4 months.
Thank you. I have a hunch that's what's going to happen with our puppies. The time will come when we will just leave the door open and they can come and go as they please. They don't eat in their crates they just sleep there. But they love to sleep there. Thanks for your insight.
My dog (4 years old) still sleeps in her crate and loves it. My pups are de-crated at around six months old when they can be trusted not to chew the furniture. (I raise pups for Guide Dogs) .
My pup's crate was in the kitchen and she also had a bed outside the crate, but still in the kitchen. When she started going to the bed outside of the crate more than in the crate I figured she probably didn't want the crate so much. That started about aged 5 months and I removed the crate aged 6 months. She is still in the kitchen behind a baby gate. Giving her the run of downstairs when I'm out is the next step (she's 10 months).
