Leaving a dog alone, uncrated?

[Saeleofu]

How many of you leave your dogs uncrated? Have you always done so? When do you decide a dog is ready to be left alone uncrated?


My parents have always left their dogs uncrated, so until I got Gavroche, that was normal for me. Well, the second time I left Gavroche alone, he tore up the doorway. A few months later when I was dogsitting a couple dogs, I left him uncrated again, and he was fine until the second night, when he again scratched up the doorway AND nudged the sliding door open partially. A few months after that I decided to try to slowly get him to be left out when I leave, and it was going well until he knocked down a box with chocolate AND ibuprofen in it and scared the crap out of me (I counted the pills and fortunately they were all there). So, since then I haven't ever left him uncrated. I got him a crate the 2nd or 3rd day I had him, and he's always been crated. After that last incident I never planned to leave him uncrated when I'm gone again.

Well, twice in the past 2 weeks I've forgotten to lock Gavroche's crate. Both times I came home to him hopping off the bed and greeting me, with nothing out of place. I'm wondering if he's finally mature enough to be left alone uncrated. It'd be nice to give him a little more freedom, because he's got a smaller crate now that I have Logan.

I'm considering leaving him out when I know I won't be gone long. Start slow. Both times I left him out by accident it was several hours each time. I'm comfortable leaving him uncrated for a while when I work with Logan out in the living room, or when I take a shower or something.


So...what would you do?

 

[CharlieDog]

I'd start leaving him out when you're just going to be gone for a bit and see how he does. I had to keep Enzo crated when we were gone for nearly a year because she had/has a bit of SA. She does fine if left loose in the house now, but if she's confined to a small room, she gets a bit claustrophobic, almost.

Oz doesn't have to be crated when we leave anymore either, but he's almost four. We stopped crating him when he stopped chewing stuff up that wasn't his, once he was through his teenagerdom, and he's been fine.

 

[Romy]

How old is he now? Some dogs are fine when they hit 2 or 3 and finish maturing. Before we lost Charlie we thought he'd never be trustworthy. He would have been 2 next week. The last month before he passed away we were able to leave him uncrated at night, but gated in the laundry room. During the day he was awake and too into everything still.

Strider is crate trained, but I've never crated him. Not even when he was a baby and he's never chewed anything or had accidents. Kaia likes to nom things though, so I only leave her uncrated in our room at night. She'll be 1 next week. It's a pretty individual thing.

 

[MericoX]

Kiba was allowed free roam of the house at about 18 months, Stryder was maybe 1.5-2ish and he was allowed free roam. Would just have to remember treats were to be put away. No accidents, would be good for 8 hours or so.

The poodles? Don't trust em, or not to get into it with the schnauzers and cause mayhem (never ever have any blood, but ones will come to defend the other and it gets loud), plus I know Lincoln would start levitating in the room and find something he's not suppose to have. Max I can trust the poodles loose in my room, about 20 minutes. But they're still puppies (almost 2, but very puppy) and they are partners in crime and get into mischief. LOL

But I crate all 4, as I find it unfair to let some loose to lay on the comfy bed when the others are stuck in crates.

 

[Fran101]

After potty training was done and basic house manners, we just give up on the crates lol they are still there and left open but we don't really use them ever.

In my house crates (well as in, confining the dog when we leave) are puppy things. Once the dog is like.. 6 months-1 year we stop crating them when we leave.

then again, I've never had a destructive dog.

 

[Saeleofu]

Gavroche is 3 now. He used to bark when I left, too, but has stopped that as well (I know because I've recorded it )

Logan had to be crated overnight when I first got him, but has been able to be out overnight after the first few weeks. I still don't trust him alone when I take a shower and definitely not when I leave though...I swear the bedroom door closes and he thinks "Yay, she can't see me, I can do stuff now!" lol

I'm thinking I'll start leaving Gavroche out for short trips and see how it goes.

 

[DogKisses]

Depends on the individual dog.

I crated Lacey for the first couple months, mainly for potty training and chewing. She potty trained fast though, so after that I didn't see the need. She likes to sleep in her crate still, door open. She mainly sleeps in my bed though. I feed her in the crate because she inhales her food then goes for the cats food.

I'd try him for a few short trips (30 mins max) and see how that goes, work up to longer trips.

 

[Grab]

Ginger's never been crated (she was ten when we adopted her). Aesop was about a year when we started leaving him for short bits. Now he's uncrated at all times unless the puppy is out and about.

 

[smkie]

Never had a crate nor a need to use one. I can see with some situations where the crate could come in handy,

 

[Laurelin]

I crate both mine. Summer is trustworthy but Mia is NOT and may never be at the rate we're going. So I crate them both whenever I can't be in the same room as them. You'd be surprised the massive amount of destruction one papillon can do in the short amount of time it takes to shower...

 

[Taqroy]

Murphy has never been crated. He was four when I got him though and I have no idea what his situation was before. He has anxiety attacks when I crate him and tries to pull his nails off on the crate door. Since he's never eaten anything when left out and he no longer marks we just close the door to our room and leave him out. I've been thinking about crate training him now that we have a crate big enough for him but....eh.

Mu is crate trained and will choose to sleep in her crate sometimes. I usually only crate her at other people's houses so that I don't have to worry about paying for something or cleaning up pee.

Tipper is entirely untrustworthy out of her crate IF she has access to trash cans. If we limit her access to stuff (like blocking her in the kitchen) she does just fine. Lately though we've been having spats between her and Mu so I don't think they will get left out together anymore.

 

[MaloreyAnimal]

We've never crated any of our dogs, and never will.
We got Simba at six weeks, not once crated. My mom's boyfriend's German Shepherd he got at 7 weeks, never crated. Meh.

 

[Beanie]

Auggie is (usually) fine if left out for short periods of time, like if I go run a quick errand. But then there are the times he invents things to get into trouble with. He likes his crate and goes in there to snooze even if I'm home, so I don't really see any reason to be worried about not crating him. If he was the kind of dog who was distressed about it, I would think differently, but it's no big deal for him.

My sister's dogs weren't crated for the longest time, but after cleaning up twenty piles of Happy's bile for the millionth time, I got crates for them and started crating them. Cleaning a crate pad was a lot easier than cleaning foamy bile off the carpet.

 

[Laurelin]

We've never crated any of our dogs, and never will.
We got Simba at six weeks, not once crated. My mom's boyfriend's German Shepherd he got at 7 weeks, never crated. Meh.

We used to not crate at all... until we got Mia none of our dogs were crated so 12 dogs raised, no crates. THEN I got Mia. Now I firmly believe that some dogs absolutely do need to be crated when they can't be supervised. With Mia there is no other choice.

 

[ACooper]

Phoebe was never crated, I was home all day and she learned the rules with lightening speed.........even at 8-9 months old and a ton of bad habits when we adopted her, she came around fast and was completely trustworthy to be home alone all day long within a few weeks.

I started Orson out with a crate because I was gone at least 2 hours a day working and volunteering at the elementary. Doberman puppy home alone roaming around? Erm.....no, LOL For his safety and my sanity, no.

When he was around 10-11 months old, I tried leaving him free in the house for a short trip to the store.......he was potty trained, so I figured I'd give it a whirl. He ate the stucco off the wall in the family room. I didn't attempt to leave him out of the crate for another 6 months or so............so at 18-ish months, I tried again with better results. Very short stints, I mean less than one hour at a time. By the time he was 2 he could handle being out of the crate alone all day with not a single issue

 

[HayleyMarie]

I slowly worked my way up with allowing Teagan to be uncrated when I was not home or when I was sleeping. For the first few weeks I left her crated all the time. When I was not home or when she was napping and when we were sleeping. Then I put a X-pen around her kennel and I kept her kennel open when I was gone. She still slept with her kennel closed at night though. The a few weeks after that I started allowing her to sleep on my bed when I knew that she would have better bladder control and she would wake me up to go outside to pee. After a few weeks of that I started giving her the full range of my room when I was not at home.

I am lucky as I would leave for work at 12:45 and my mom would get home around 2 or three so Teag was not in my room or in her kennel for a straight long time. It helped alot with house training as well..

Teagan was giving full acess to the house at about 8 months old I think. I knew then she could hold her bladder and I trusted that she would not wreck anything.

 

[Doberluv]

I haven't used a crate to lock my Chihuahuas up for ages. They're totally trustworthy in the house. They just sleep when I'm gone and they adore each other and never have had any issues that way and they've been around for 8 and 10 years...so that's well established. They're behavior brings me back to earth when I start getting that puppyitis. I Don't relish going through all that again anytime soon. On the other hand....LOL.

With puppies, in general, it's just whenever they mature, which varies. When they stop all that chewing and getting into no nos... and they're well house broken, I'll test them out for very short practice runs for quite some time and then just gradually increase the time as long as they're doing fine. The Chihuahuas matured sooner than say, my Doberman when he was a pup. I think he was over a year old before I could trust him to be left out of the crate.

 

[Bailey08]

Bailey was a year old.

I started him off in a crate, and then he had an ex pen connected to a crate (resulting in a huge contraption behind a couch containing blankets, a bed, toys, etc.). I ended up letting him have free reign when I put my condo on the market, because the aforementioned humungo contraption wasn't ideal for showings. He was fine. He's not really a destructive dog, though he had his moments, lol.

I have the crate somewhere in storage but I haven't used it since it was first put away.

 

[~Jessie~]

Rylie and Chloe are 100% trustworthy when left alone.

Rory and Tucker are trustworthy for short periods of time.

Emma is a high energy 8 month old puppy and I'd NEVER trust her alone. She gets into everything and we have to keep an eye on her when we're home, even. She is WAY too smart for her own good and likes to use it for evil. She seriously uses her paws as "hands."

The chihuahuas are gated off into their own area in our master bedroom when we're not home... they get a hallway, 2 walk-in closets, and our bathroom to hang out in.

Rory is crated.

 

[AllieMackie]

Finn is almost 2, and still gets crated every night and when I leave the house. That said, he's mostly trustworthy if he's not in the same room as me. I can shower with him uncrated, or take a short nap, or step into my office for a short time, etc. and he'll generally be fine. He's never been a destructive dog. He doesn't counter-surf or get too nosy into things that aren't his. Finn enjoys his crate, often sleeps in it or works on chews while laying in it, and has no issue going into his crate when needed, so I'm in no huge rush to phase it out, though I do hope to phase it out for at least part of the time as he ages.