When should I stop crating him?

Fran27

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#1
I'm starting to feel worse and worse about crating Boris at night or when we go out. The problem is that I don't trust him in the house still. He is out all day (I'm home all the time), and he still manages to grab things he isn't supposed to (we put stuff out of reach, but it never seems to be enough lol).

I'm going to let him free in the house at night next week end when we get rid of his collar (which he has so that he doesn't chew his stitches). I keep telling myself that eventually we will know when we can trust him in the house when we are out, but I'm not sure I will ever feel at ease about it, especially with his habit of trying to play with the cats (which don't like it much). And I'm worried of what he may do if he gets bored... Or maybe we have to wait until he gets older and calms down.

He's a bit over 6 months old now. Any advice of what I should do? How did you do with your dogs?
 
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#2
One of the grrrrls stays in the laundry room, depending on whose turn it is to be the Queen of Chaos . . .

Bimmer is Bimmer - no problems. I just leave him in charge, lol!

A puppy proofed room with a rotating variety of toys and maybe a radio or music left playing is really the best possible world for an undependable pup. And remember - bitter apple is your FRIEND! :D
 
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#3
Maybe you could try your puppy out in one room while you run an errand, if he does good, give him more space. You wont know until you try. Just leave plenty of toys for him to play with and try to pick a room he cant do much damage too.
 

bubbatd

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#4
Trial and error !!! Do leave the curtains open so he can look out without ripping them down !
 

bogolove

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#5
Brady is crate trained and he sleeps in there all night. You can tell it is his safe place because he goes in there at night when I tell him to and I give him a treat. He goes in there on his own a lot to sleep when I am in the kitchen. He is over a year and a half old and he sleeps in his crate. I have tried to leave him out and he gets restless and can not sleep good, he only sleeps really good at night in his crate. I had to lend it to Liz last time she kept him overnight because the time before he paced their house all night long. This past time she said he slept in it perfectly and that he seemed happy that it was there for him.
 

ohmai

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#6
I've never crated any of my dogs. They all grow up knowing not to chew on our furniture, clothes or slippers. I have one puppy right now that I don't crate. He's already sort of potty trained, and somewhat good on his biting. We leave im in the garage when we go out though. He's not in there for more than a few hours at a time. He's pretty good.
 

GSDFan05

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#7
It's great if your pup is at the point where it can be out of the crate while alone and won't destroy things, but even when the crate isn't necessary make sure to keep them familiar with it, it's a crucial thing for them to be acclimated to being crated, sometimes their health depends on it. I work for a vet and it's really heartbraking to have to wrestle with an animal that's already sick/injured just because it freaks out at being put into a cage. It increases the animal's pain/stress exponentially.

Anyway, just thought I'd toss that in there, it's great if your dog is mature enough to note require the crate, but even when it's not necessary anymore put him in it periodically to make sure he stays comfortable with the concept of being confined like that, his life could depend on it someday.
 

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