I adopted my chocolate lab/pitt mix about two years ago and she is by far the most perfectly amazing dog I could have ever adopted. She is crazy, lazy, hyper, mischievous, well behaved and unbelievably loving. I know those are all contradicting, but they make sense to me. Her name is Riley and she is about to turn 3!!! Riley's crate has been up since I brought her home and in the beginning we used it a lot. But after the first few months, she only goes in there when she gets her (frozen peanut butter filled) kong in the morning... and even then, she only stays until I shut the door behind me (when I go to work). Otherwise she might go in and sniff once every few days but she definitely doesn't see it as her 'home' or 'safe place'. Her safe place/home would be the bathroom and under the bed. Okay on to my dilemma. I live in a very small condo and her crate is very big. We both do okay with it in there but now I have someone else moving in with me and any additional space would be greatly needed. I am hesitant to take her crate away as I know some think it is a great comfort to their dogs. I just don't think Riley see's her crate in that sense. Any advice, help, or info on what to do about her crate (take it down or leave it up) would be absolutely appreciated. Thank you in advance!! Courtney
Hi Courtney. I took away my dogs' crate when they didn't use it much anymore. Willow always took her lunch in there, and would have the occasional snooze, but that was it. Like you, I live in a relatively small apartment and the crate, whilst tucked away in a corner, took up a lot of room - and, let's face it, isn't the prettiest thing in the world! We took it away on holiday with us, and then never put it back up again. Just popped a dog bed where it had been, so Willow could still go to the same place with her turkey leg (or whatever) at lunch time, and never had any issues.
My girl hardly used her crate. The only time she went in was when I went to work. She wouldn't sleep in there overnight! At 6 months she started being left in the kitchen whilst I was at work, then after a few months she got the living room and at this stage we got rid of her crate as she never used it. She didn't seem to mind at all.
Hi Courtney, they are all different! My only thought would be not to change too many things at once. Ditch the bed a few weeks before your new housemate moves in, or wait until a few weeks after?
Thank you all for responding so quickly! My boyfriend will be moving in at the end of January so maybe I'll try taking the crate away now and see how Riley does. I'll still have it stored behind the couch, just in case. Thank you all again for your advice... seems like a silly question, but I just always want to make sure I'm doing right by my girl.
We took away our dog's crate when he could be trusted to not trash anything in the house. He liked his crate while he had it but he is fine without it and sleeps on his bed, our bed or the couch instead And it was definitely not a silly question. Everyone who uses a crate has to come up with an answer to the question of what to do about the crate at some point
