NWR and for dog owners: how to transition out of crate

SB1512 · November 2012

FI and I have a puppy who is almost 10 months old. We did crate training when we got him, and although he now has free run of our bedroom at night and no longer uses the crate at night, we still crate him when we leave the house in our back hallway (more to keep him and our house safe that potty training issues, he can hold it just fine). We want to try and start to transition him out of the crate and let him have run of the back hallway because I am finishing up my master's degree and am going to be job hunting and hopfully working full time this spring and we don't want him in the crate for 8-9 hours a day.

Does anyone with a dog have suggestions on how to make this transition (if a process even exits, I haven't found much on google)? We have been putting him in his crate and then putting a gate up in the door of the hallway so he becomes familiar with seeing the gate and the doorway blocked off. Yesterday when I left the house for a run i put him in the crate and closed the door but did not latch it. I came home about an hour later and he hadn't figured out that he could have pushed the door open (which I guess it good because it means he doesn't go nuts in there!). I'm thinking next is to put him in the crate and leave the door so he can tell it's open and then leave the house for a short period of time to see what happens? Our biggest worry is that he'll turn out to be an escape artist and hurt himself trying to clear the gate, but I realize we will never know until we try. Just looking to see if the process we are trying is ok, or if there is something else we should be doing. Thanks!

SB1512 · November 2012

Thanks. That was sort of where we are headed. He does fine if lets say I am in the shower/bathroom getting ready and he is in the bedroom (attached to bathroom) alone so I am hoping he'll be ok in the back hallway when no one is home. And I think I'll definitely make sure his crate is accessible. Even though he doesn't hang out in it when we are home, it is familiar and he knows that is where he does when no one is home so having it available might make the transition easier.

LeenieLane · November 2012

Hi! I had the same curiosity with my puppy and she did fantastic when I gave her a little bit of independence. I think she was ready for it, though. Some dogs have anxiety and it could back fire to where they bug out if they are alone. Is your dog a chewer? What helped me know that my dog was ready was she was never, ever interested in chewing anything but her bone and nails, so I didn't have to worry about coming home to holes in the sheetrock. When I would come home after work, she would calmly walk out of the crate and wasn't as spastic as she had been in the past.

My suggestion would be to start slow, give her a little bit of time alone in her area and make her respect where ever she is kept (crate, open area, closed off area). The second my dog doesn't respect something, I take it away and she has to earn it back. She was so fresh when she was little and she would pee right on her bed the very second I took my attention off of her. I kept a blanket in her crate and she would dig holes in it or pee on it. I felt bad taking it away from her, but she eventually learned I was the boss and not her.

By the way....I'm in CT as well! Have you ever heard of Camp Bow Wow? They have locations in South Windsor and Stamford, and they seriously transformed my dog in to this well behaved, obedient, little ball of love. Check them out if either location is in your area. I highly, highly, highly recommend them!

Good luck & keep us posted!

cnf2013 · November 2012

We just left the crate door open and would go run to the grocery store or some other little errand that took less than an hour. We put a gate up at the bottom of the stairs and he was fine. after a few weeks of this we started doing it on days where our work schedules overlapped so there was only a two/three hour gap between FI leaving for work and me coming home. He still mostly just slept in the crate while we were gone. We transitioned him out of the crate around 6/7 months.

He was never really a problem chewer, which still boggles my mind since he's a rambunctious lab. Most dogs will just sleep while no one is home. Our dog is now 14 months and we don't even have the crate out anymore. It's folded up in the downstairs closet. We just put the bed that was in it on the spot it used to be and he lays there when he sees us putting on shoes and coats. Then after we leave he gets up on the oversized chair and sleeps/watches out the window until we come home.

krizzo17 · November 2012

Definitely leave the crate up as you transition to longer and longer periods away - it doesn't just contain your dog, it also helps keep the dog calm since it mimics a den. You may find that your dog never returns to the crate, or that the dog likes being in there all the time - my parents had a dog who loved bringing toys and treats into her crate where she could enjoy them undisturbed. My dog doesn't use his crate anymore unless we're travelling, but he does enjoy hiding under the end tables in our family room when he's feeling anxious - I think it provides the same feeling.

SB1512 · November 2012

Thanks for all the tips. I don't think we have a chewer on our hands, he has never gone for furniture or anything thankfully. However, we are opting for the back hallway to start his freedom rather than the kitchen because our home is for sale and we can't risk chewed cabinets! Our dog is half jack russell and half mini poodle and we had done some reading that generally, jack russells should never have complete free run of anywhere because they can cause a lot of damage if they are bored. I don't think that will be the case with Ozzy because in the past few weeks I'll be in the bathroom showering and getting ready for at least an hour (it's been cold here lately so I stay in the warm bathroom as long as I can lol) and Ozzy either sleeps or looks out the window. He also is a really well behaved dog in general, passed puppy training with flying colors and is extremely obedient. When he's going to be in his crate he always gets a kong filled with some peanut butter so we will definitely keep that routine up as well.

rusngl2 · November 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_nwr-and-for-dog-owners-how-to-transition-out-of-crate?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:2760a4ac-9723-4d98-ab76-e29d659e75ffPost:2929eb64-24c3-44ed-87c5-5dc0387f8c2b">Re: NWR and for dog owners: how to transition out of crate</a>:
[QUOTE]Thanks for all the tips. I don't think we have a chewer on our hands, he has never gone for furniture or anything thankfully. However, we are opting for the back hallway to start his freedom rather than the kitchen because our home is for sale and we can't risk chewed cabinets! <strong>Our dog is half jack russell and half mini poodle and we had done some reading that generally, jack russells should never have complete free run of anywhere because they can cause a lot of damage if they are bored.</strong> ...
Posted by SB1512[/QUOTE]

<div>You are so correct. I have/had a 14 year old Jack Russell who is living with my mom right now. He still can't be left home alone for extended periods of time. 2-3 hrs max anything longer than that apparently he gets bored and likes to drag EVERY shoe in the closet out into the open. He isn't a chewer thank GOD but annoying......I think he just likes to be able to smell people in the house with him</div>

SB1512 · November 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_nwr-and-for-dog-owners-how-to-transition-out-of-crate?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:2760a4ac-9723-4d98-ab76-e29d659e75ffPost:45952e3b-a8b9-44ea-ae1f-79f8d85f6070">Re: NWR and for dog owners: how to transition out of crate</a>:
[QUOTE]I think the other input on the thread is good. Can I throw in a dog / crate question of my own? My dog never slept in her crate when she was small - she always slept under the bed. Now that she's bigger, it's both hilarious and concerning to watch her squeeze her way in and out from under the bed to sleep. She's really too big for it, but I think she thinks it's her comfortable cave and doesn't want to change. Any suggestions on how to re-orient her to sleep somewhere other than under the bed (either in her crate or just on the floor)? I''m worried that she'll get stuck or hurt at some point if we don't.
Posted by kwitherington[/QUOTE]

Oh that is too cute! Ozzy has never liked his crate either and he will not hang out in there willingly. When we got him we did a lot of crate positve time and at bedtime he would get half of a puppy biscuit when it was time to go in his crate for the night. We actually transitioned him out of the crate at bedtime when he was neutured......the poor thing kept smashing the cone on his crate when he tried to walk in and it scared him so we let him be free in the bedroom. He didn't have any accidents (and even woke me up to tell me he wanted to go out) so ever since them no more crate at bedtime. When it's time for bed I put a half treat on his bed (which is under a writing desk so it's cave like). He usually takes the treat and eats it on the floor and then goes back on his bed to sleep. Occassionally he'll sleep on the carpet in another corner of the room.

So, if you don't want her back in a crate can you put a treat on her bed in the room at bedtime? And maybe somehow block off the bed so she can't get underneath? Or you could re-orient her to a crate by doing a lot of crate positive time (treats in there at bedtime, telling her she's a good dog when she goes in, etc). When Ozzy slept in the crate when he was younger we had to keep it right next to the bed so I could stick my fingers in there if he cried, that might be something you have to do so she becomes comfortable with the new situation. As a last resort you could always get bed risers to perhaps make the bed stand off the ground a little more so she could still sleep underneath?

mrskloop · November 2012

I have a lab and we basically did the same thing you are doing, OP. We crated him from 6 weeks until we could trust him and let him have free run of the house at night. Then, we eased him into be left out at around 10 months. We started with leaving him out when I would go to the grocery store, not more than 30 mins to an hour at first, then eased up to 3 hours. Just a couple of months ago, I started leaving him out in the afternoons when I went back to work after my lunch break and he was fine for 4 to 5 hours. After a couple of weeks of that, we started just leaving him out the entire day. I am lucky enough to be able to come home at lunch, but we have left him for a full 8 hours before and he was perfectly fine. I'm pretty sure he just sleeps while I am gone because as soon as I walk in the door he yawns and stretches.

GOOD LUCK!

lauralaur · December 2012

With Ellie we made sure to observe her behavior when she was free while we were home. Once we felt comfortable, we started to leave her out when we ran errands, etc. We were taking turns coming home at lunch every day, so after some time we started leaving her free in the morning and crating her in the afternoon. Then when we felt comfortable with that, we started leaving her out all the time. She now has free reign of the entire house. When we first got her she was limited anyway though, she started in the sunroom, where the back door is, then got the kitchen as well, and so on. She's never been in our downstairs bathroom because she'd never been allowed to just wander around.

As for the dog sleeping under the bed, my suggestion is to just block the bed and invite her to sleep with you or make sure she has other comfy arrangements. Ellie was afraid to go up stairs so we just started picking her up and putting her down in the middle of the stairs so she either had to go up or down. I tend to be a little, what's the word I'm looking for? Blunt maybe? With some of my training though.

derksenriley · December 2012

The PPs have pretty much covered it, but I'd add that making sure your dog is well-exercised definitely eases the transition. Maybe take him for a walk or play fetch before you put him in his space so he's more likely to just relax and sleep while you're gone.

NWR and for dog owners: how to transition out of crate

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