crate question (sort of long)

[NJBXRLVR]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone will give us some advice......
How can we go about getting our baby (1yr+ 5 months) out of the crate during the day while we are working??
At night, he has full run of the house, and he is fine....
We both work atleast 8 hours a day.
While we are off from work, he comes with us wherever we go, except for the times we can't bring him with us, then he's in the crate.
I've read that you should start with ten minutes at a time, where you leave him alone,leave your house, and then increase the time after that.... My question is, how do you do this if you're both working all day, and is this over a period of time where you keep increasing the amount of time alone in the house, or do you set aside a few hours on your day off(??)
Sorry so long..
Any advice would be very helpful!!
Thanks (and wiggles too!)

 

[zomo]

Could you do it after work? I am actually looking forward to the answers same problem.

 

[bigboychief]

I have tried several different methods to allow my Chief to stay out of his crate while I'm at work. Some days he is great, other days he chews up anything on the floor. I am learning that it depends on his "mood" that day. I can tell if he is in a playful mood, he will tear things up if left out of the crate.

If he appears to be in a laid back mood and is worn out from previous exercising, he will just sleep and not mess with anything.

All in all, I do not know anyone that is able to leave their boxer out of the crate 100% of the time.

I feel your pain though, I hate leaving him in his crate all day. I try to come home for my lunch break, that way he gets an hour break in the middle of the day.

 

[tastubbs]

Practice on the weekends, leaving him out of his crate for pressively longer periods of time while you run errands. In other words, don't take him every where you go. Good luck.

 

[tastubbs]

P.S. I promiss this works. My 3 are out of their crates 24/7. I only use them now for nap/snack times to keep them out of the way of contractors working in the house or visitors that may not appreciate me having 3 boxers. Be sure to leave some fun toys out.

 

[kscoleman]

They are just like kids...

We're fortunate in that we have a large fenced in back yard with lots of shade and trees. We leave the dogs outside during the day when we are working and they are inside once we get home. If it's bad weather or cold or too hot then I open my bedroom window (leads to the back yard), close my door and allow the dogs to come in and out of the window as they please. (Who needs a doggy door? )

HOWEVER, there are days when we can be inside and I'm in the kitchen cooking and they are playing in the living room tearing EVERYTHING up! I think it really just depends on their level of boredom and how energetic they are that day. I would start off by confining them to just certain parts of the house at a time instead of the whole house at once. Gradually increase the size of the space that you let them have when you're not there. I also think it's important that they have "their" spot somewhere in the house with a pillow or blanket or something--somewhere that they feel "safe" sleeping or resting at!

Good luck...they are always full of surprises!