Crate Divider

[jpat78]

Hello,

We have a 6.5 month old female boxer. We have crated trainer her from the beginning and she is in her crate from about 9-5:30 with a half hour break in the middle of the day from our dog walker.

Ever since we switched her food (from puppy food to adult) she has had NO accidents in her crate. She has always seemed to be content being in there as well.

We currently have the divider in the crate so she doesn't have more room than she needs. However, how long is that divider necessary? Would there be any consequences if I were to remove it and give her the entire crate? I just assume if she is not having any accidents to give her as much room as possible.

your thoughts?

Thanks!
Jason

 

[boxer]

If she's not having any accidents in there, then I would think it would be safe to let her have a bit more room. If you want to be cautious about it, you could do a gradual (maybe week by week) increase of the amount of space she's got until she has the whole thing. By this stage, she should be fine with the bladder holding (since she's got a mid-day break) and should have discovered the benefits of a dry crate by now too

 

[Jan]

The divider is only necessary while they are being housetrained. At six months should be able to remove it to give her more room.

 

[fordraceing_]

well

well non of my dividers would last, my card board one lasted 3 weeks which was 3 days ago and i gave my 11 week old pup the whole crate, and still no accidents yet(well one at night, but that was my fault because i turned the alarm off in my sleep and didn't let her out until mourning) but its only been 3 days. but im sure at 6 months she should have the whole crate.

 

[apollosdad]

i would suggest that you gradually give her more room. do not give her the whole entire crate all at once. this could cause her to regress and possibly have a mistake. i've seen that most boxers tend to have a "relapse" in their potty training between 7-11 months of age, so i'd just be sure to not set her up for failure. this "relapse" is mostly caused by the owners who become to lax in the dog's training and assume that the dog is completely potty trained. i'm not saying that that is what you are doing, but i'm just letting you know what i've picked up on reading through the various forums. take it slow and give her a few extra inches every two weeks or so. after a couple of months she should be okay and allowed the whole crate.