Well as you all know Penny has gone 'free range' while we are at work now and overnight. The setup is a gate in the kitchen doorway with her crate door left open. She has her usual bedding in the crate as well as a peice of vet bed on the kitchen floor - mainly because the floor is laminate and I don't like the thought of her slipping around on it all day. The vet bed has a non slip backing so it stays put; it's actually better than the rubber stuff you buy to keep rugs in place! Lol Anyway - every single time I have come home for as long as I can remember I find Penny lying on the vet bed outside of her crate. She is also like this when I come to get her up in the mornings. The only time she goes in her crate is when she comes back in from her last toilet trip before being left/put to bed. She will sit in there for her treat and I think that's about it. So I'm wondering if I should get rid of her crate completely? I'm pretty sure she doesn't lie in it... But is that because she has the vet bed outside it so she has a choice? I don't know if she'll even use a regular bed as she's never known anything but her crate since we got her... If I decide to try and take away should we go cold turkey; take away and replace it with a plastic bed? Is there a way I can phase it out? Maybe shut the crate door and put a bed in front of the crate, so she can still see it there for reassurance but she can't actually get in it? What did you guys do? I just worry it'll upset her as she gets so set in her routines... But when she goes to boarding kennels she will just have a plastic bed with vet bed in the kennel. When she goes to stay with my mum for 10 days when we are on honeymoon she will have to shut in the crate for a few hours whilst my mum is at work. If I take the crate away for now will I have to re-crate train her ready for when she goes to stay with my mum, or will she remember it?
Re: Goodbye to crate for good? For us, we just didn't reassemble it after Lilly stayed at my SILs for Easter last year. So in a way, we didn't exactly take it away, we just didn't bring it back. Is it worth leaving it up until after your honeymoon?? When we have it up for reciprocal holiday dog minding, she is in there like a shot, no re-learning required! Whatever you choose, I am sure you will loose more sleep over it than Penny
Re: Goodbye to crate for good? I was toying with that idea Jacqui - using the return from my mums house to start the change in living arrangements. I guess that's how we did the 'free range' - she was speyed so couldn't physically fit in the crate with her cone of shame so we had to leave the door open and she slept outside, she seemed to take to it well enough. Every keeps telling me that I think more of the situations than the dog will!! The lady at the boarding kennels said it's worse for the owners than the dogs lol
Re: Goodbye to crate for good? Lauren I'd keep it until you get her home from your Honeymoon ,she will have a lot of changes going on ( which she will be fine about ) and her crate is something she knows and is comfortable with ...Dexter is exactly the same about his ,I came home after an hour or so one day last week and he was in it but other than that I can't remember when he was in it last....it's tucked away though so I will keep it up.....If we took it down I'd have to find storage for all the things we dump on the top of it : x
Re: Goodbye to crate for good? [quote author=Dexter link=topic=7702.msg107658#msg107658 date=1410061658] If we took it down I'd have to find storage for all the things we dump on the top of it : x [/quote] Hahaha! Yes I will also have that to think about!!
