Crate Training Question (how old...)

[VANCOUVERISLANDROT]

Oscar's crate was at the foot of our bed since day 1 and he now sleeps on a bed mat in the same place in lieu of the crate.

[GypsysMom]

With Gypsy who is now 18months, she still sleeeps in her crate at night because, she would pace the house if she didnt, she does however stay out unsupervised when I go places during the day, after being robbed with her in her crate when I left I decided to keep her out, she was never a chewer so I dont worry about that and she would mark(pee) in my daughters room, but all doors are shut and she does fine..

[SWEETBREW]

With my boy he started getting free reign of the living room at night only about 2 months ago, ( he will be 2 in September.) then for the last 2 weeks we give him free reign of the living room only during the day as well, only casualty has been a cordless phone which we mistakenly left out. We are hoping as time goes by to open the house up a little more to him, but baby steps...

[rottgirl]

Paradise was crated until she was about 1.5. She is now 3.5 and has full reign of the house. A lot of mornings if she's not on her bed she's all curled up in her crate.

Michele

[manos]

Hello
In a month from now I am going to have my female poppy, 8 weeks old, home and I am going to use a crate for first time. I like to ask what do you thing is the best crate size?
My plan is to use the crate until the poppy is 6 months old.
Thank you
Manolis

[Crazy Joe Davola]

I think you'll be wanting to use the crate for longer than until your pup is 6 mos old.

In my experience, most uneducated people (in general, not you ;) associate a crate as being cruel punishent, and think of crating as putting thier dog in a 'jail cell'.

Being a Den animal, the crate is their safe place. My pup is 4 1/2 mos and her crate is her home. She'll go there to sleep even without being told. I will always crate her. In fact, we have two crates for her. One in the kitchen, where she stays when we are away from the house. And there's one in the bedroom where she goes at night.

Anyways, rambling on a bit I guess. I would get a large crate, one that's large enough to have your dog go in when he/she's full grown. Also, I'd make sure the crate has a divider in it, so you can make the crate smaller. You will want to divide it so that it is just big enough for your dog to turn around in.

BTW, I'm a new owner, so I am sure others on here with more experience may refute what I say. If so, I'd listen to their advice over mine :)

[Shelby427]

Originally Posted by manos

Hello
In a month from now I am going to have my female poppy, 8 weeks old, home and I am going to use a crate for first time. I like to ask what do you thing is the best crate size?
My plan is to use the crate until the poppy is 6 months old.
Thank you
Manolis

Get a crate that is large enough for when the pup is full grown - just so you don't have to keep buying new ones. Get one with a divider in it so as she's still a small pup, you can make it only large enough for her to stand up, turn around and lay back down - this will help with potty training, as this will be her "den" and most dogs do not eliminate where they sleep. You should keep her crated until she is trustworthy to be out of the crate (not when you decide IE: 6 months old) I suggest she stay crated until she can be out on her own in the house without getting into anything. Some people have their dogs crated their whole lives because they can't be trusted not to chew or eat stuff. It all depends on the dog. Shelby was crated for about 1 year and when we decided it was time to let her out unsupervised, we did it in short increments. We started out with leaving for 1 hour. Come home, inspect to make sure things are OK, then next time, 2 hours etc. Now she is 4 and has full run of the house and she does not chew, eat, pee or anything. You will have to read your dog and see how it goes. Make the crate a positive thing for your pup, throw treats in there, feed her in there, any way to make her like the crate. We have a 5 month old rescue now and he is in the crate when we can't watch him - even if it's only for 10 minutes - and he goes in there on his own to nap. We've had him 2 weeks and he's completely crate trained. We plan on keeping him crated for at least another year before we "test" him out in the house. Good luck and stick around - there's lots of good info!!

[manos]

Thank you
greetings
Manolis