1 week crate free

[harley'smama]

Zoe is finishing her 1st crate free week tonight! appicon
I'm so proud of her...When Harley turned 2 I decided to make him crate free (even though I could have trusted him long before that) & Zoe turned 2 on 8-15 so I finally decided to try it with her. See, she's a terror; anything she can shred she shreds!!! So as long as I close closet & bathroom doors & make sure there's no pillows in the living room (her favorite shredding piece) she is an angel!
Last night when I came home from work neither one greeted me at the door! There was no mess so I was beginning to panic - then here come 2 sleepheads out of the bedroom. They were sleeping so soundly they didn't even hear me pull up or come in! Great guard dogs I have here huh? :rolleyes:

 

[FarleyBoxer]

Ah, I hope we make it there one day! Just last week I came home at lunch to find Farley in the middle of couch, among total destruction. I had not closed his crate well enough and he got out!! He tore up some things, but didn't do as much damage as he could have! He just can't be left out with no one home, but he's only 8 mos.

Kudos to Zoe for her first week of freedom and being a good girl!

 

[TugsMommy]

I hope we can do that in time with Tuggy, but he right now can't be trusted. My hubby didn't latch his crate all the way the other night. Well Tuggy escaped, and shredded the tiolet paper that was on the roll. I came in and there was a cloud of shredded TP all over the place. I couldn't yell at him, I was luaghing to hard, and he looked at me like "I sorry mommy".

 

[kathyw]

Way To Go!

I just had my first crate free experience also, and it was WONDERFUL!
Bailey (who is almost 6 mos old) absolutely HATES his crate! I'm a stay at home mom, and the only time I've ever used his crate was when I had to leave the house and couldn't take him with me. Maybe he thought it was punishment or something, but he would just sit in there and slobber. I came home to about an inch to two inches of wet slobber and a very stressed out baby. Then lately, when I would try to crate him, he would spaz out and actually become aggressive. :mad: He hates it so much! I decided it just wasn't worth stressing him out and certainly wasn't worth having him actually try to bite me. SO --- had a birthday party yesterday and Bailey wasn't invited (SNOBS), anyway, I did my best to puppy proof the house, gave him all his toys and told my Roxie to babysit for him ( she's 9 and very good in the house by herself). Anyway, I was gone for about 2 /2 hours. When I got home, Bailey and Roxie were sound asleep, and absolutely nothing was out of place. appicon I know that this miracle may not happen again, but even a chewed up shoe is better than putting that much stress on my baby. Sorry so long, but just needed to brag! :D

 

[Meli'sMom]

I know this may sound ignorant, but are they supposed to eventually not be in their crate? I've noticed with Meli that when I put her in there for her nap or for for bed she breathes a sigh of big relief. The rest of the day she is playing hard and trying to please us. One night I tried to see if she would just calm down after fetching in the house for awhile and it ended up being 11:30 at night before I was so tired and I had to put her in her crate. Well I said it's time for night night and she rushed for her crate! She got in, got comfortable, breathed in a cleansing breath, and rolled onto her back and went to sleep right in front of me! Maybe it's because she's still puppy? Maybe one day I'll be able to keep the door open, but I think she really like her crate, .

 

[BoxerDudz811]

WTG Zoe! Hopefully someday I'll be able to go crate free with Giddy but he's only 10 weeks old so that won't be for awhile. Congrats to both of you it was work for all involved! Yay!!



Melissa and Giddy

 

[lorishields]

I know this may sound ignorant, but are they supposed to eventually not be in their crate?

I think it's personal preference. I only crate the ones that can't be trusted. I'd rather them be confined then have to go to the E-vets because they've ingested some dry-wall!

I would suggest always keeping an open crate, once they've 'graduated' out of it. Some dogs really enjoy the 'den' aspect of the crate. I've even heard of people that remove the doors and have the 'carcass' available.

Two of my four prefer to sleep in crates at night, which is fine with me. I know I won't step on THEM at 4am in the morning!

 

[harley'smama]

Ha, I should have known I'd spoken too soon! I came home Friday night & Zoe had gotten ahold & shredded a bed pillow!!! I'm sure Harley couldn't resist & was in on it too. I figure if that was the only thing wrong all week that's still pretty good. So I left her in her crate while I went shopping for a new pillow yesterday & left her out for several hours last night & today again & all was ok. So as long as I Zoe-proof everything she's good to go.

I know this may sound ignorant, but are they supposed to eventually not be in their crate?

That's up to the owner IMO. If the dog absoutely can't be trusted then I would keep them crated when necessary...I still have her crate because she likes to "hang out" in there sometimes. The crate is kind of their safe haven from other dogs, kids, etc. I got rid of Harley's because he just didn't like it & it took up too much space LOL