Hi, We will be putting our pup into daycare for 3 days a week starting next month. We leave for work at about 7:30 on these days and he will be picked up about an hour later. Whenever we’ve left the house until now we’ve popped him back into his crate. Should we continue to do this or leave him shut in the kitchen for that hour to start getting used to having free rein of it? He’s already toilet trained and his crate would still be open within the kitchen area. We’d also leave a tasty Kong with his breakfast in. Am I getting ahead of myself here? As always, any advice greatly welcomed!
Hi @RobbieD1506 if the dog is settled in the crate when you leave i would continue doing so. One cannot predict if he will become anxious if you should change the routine and 'ship' him off to day care at the same time. He'll have plenty of things to do out of the crate at day care.
Ok great thanks for the advice. Can I ask when people started to de-crate and how they went about it for some future tips?
I’m interested in this, I just presumed dogs stayed in a crate until a certain age, but unbeknown to me plenty of people said a crate is fine indefinitely?
Hi @RobbieD1506, My pup started off in a crate in the kitchen that was behind a baby gate. At around 5 months I started leaving the crate door open and she had a bed next to the crate. When she started using the bed outside of the crate more often than the crate, which was probably at about 6 months, I took the crate down and left her in the kitchen but still behind the baby gate. I was quite eager for this because my kitchen is small and the crate took up a lot of room. Maybe a month or so later I let her have use of the lounge, hallway and kitchen. I still kept shoes locked away and anything I thought she might still chew and she was prevented from going upstairs. At some point I allowed her use of the dining room too. Again, I kept it as puppy proofed as possible. She adjusted well to all the increased freedom and I was lucky I didn't come home to anything chewed up. Had there been any problems I would have just gone back a step. Pups vary in their ability to handle freedom so it's a bit of trial and error. The only thing I keep locked away still (she's just shy of two years) is the bin. But she'd probably be OK with that too. It's really up to you as to when and how and, like @Browneyedhandsomebuddy says, many people continue to use crates for their dogs for most of their lives.
There is no absolute rule about how long to keep crating a dog for. I would highly recommend that you only allow a dog to have free reign of the house when they are never attempting anything you don't want them to do (when you are there). That means: They are never trying to chew anything they shouldn't. They are never toileting anywhere they shouldn't. They are not harassing older dogs. They are not being destructive. They are not attempting to jump on the kitchen counter or table. And so on. When your dog is absolutely never attempting any of that stuff when you are home, you can be pretty sure they probably won't when you are out, either. If your dog is still attempting some of that, then they are not ready to be left home uncrated yet. For many dogs, this means the crate remains a part of their lives until they are through adolescence. When you are ready to stop using it, I recommend you begin by leaving the crate door open. Still ask the dog to go in the crate and give them their usual treat or Kong or whatever, in the crate. Just leave the door ajar when you go out. This keeps as much of the routine the same as possible at first. When you're sure the dog is totally fine uncrated, then you can take the crate down - but put a bed where the crate was - and preferably use the same blanket the dog had, in the crate.
This However, it is reasonable to assume that you are going to need that crate for at least a year. I've had very few dogs that could be trusted alone in the house before that time. And none of them were Labs
