# leaving dog uncrated and alone at home



## senyma (Sep 17, 2012)

Can anyone offer suggestions as to when to try this (what age)and how we might start..our Hachi has been crated since he was 10 weeks old and is now 7 months...we have a friend come in and let him out of the crate when we are away from home for a few hours...we have left Hachi for about 4 hours in the crate...and I would never leave him any longer than that.....he does extremely well....it is very rare that we leave him for more than a couple of hours more or less and then my neighbor graciously come in to check on him..and lets him out to play and do his business.....I hate the fact that he is in the crate ...but he loves it and uses it as his own private retreat during the day.....we want to get any suggestions about leaving him in a small area of the house or finished basement...that is safe and would allow him to have more space..with the crate nearby and open Thanks Senyma


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## Duckdog (Jul 23, 2012)

Binky has never been shut in her crate when we go out. She has the run of two rooms with a baby gate so she can't get to rest of house. She has access to her crate, food, water the entire kitchen and my husbands tv room, she always sleeps in his chair! 

Since Xmas she has not been shut in her crate at night, we do the same set up. She is totally fine. I am a lot happier not locking her up at night. Binks has always been dry at night and is totally house trained. No inside accidents in 6 weeks.


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## sugerlump (Oct 6, 2012)

well i don't know the answer to that ..but i can say we started right after gingers operation to let her run the house at night ,now she sleeps in our room in her bed, and she has been very good she is also 7 months old..but how ever do to the fact that cockapoos have that (love to be with you all the time thing )built into them and very high anxiety level in them,when we go out we confine ginger,i don't know if she would destroy any thing or not ,but with her love for us ,she just might get pissed.and do something bad just for spite ,so that is the way i think. and i am not saying it is the right way to think ,but my way ok.the only thing i can say is if you want try it and see how it goes ok Lumpy


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## emmelg (Mar 4, 2012)

I'd say you already have your answer!

Place him in a small room with the crate open and make sure it's safe (no dangling wires etc) leave him for 30 mins or so and see how he goes, if he seems fine then build up the time that he is left alone and extend his space a room at a time until he has free roam of the rooms he's allowed in, if he doesn't bother going into his crate then you can take it away from him(that's if you want to ), but as you said, he enjoys being in their so he may still do so even when he has more space.

You can start whenever your ready, not everyone uses a crate, some use baby gates to keep them out of rooms that they are not allowed in and others have always let their dogs have free roam of the house.

This is how I would go about it if I was to leave bailey home alone, but I don't think I could trust him as he's quite a chewer


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## sugerlump (Oct 6, 2012)

yes that is what i'm afraid of ginger chews.but she is yet to destroy any thing,
well see we used to keep her in the kitchen behind a 3 foot high board to keep her in but she jumped right over it ,so i hated to do it but we had to chain her to the patio door,but after her operation she was good enough to be let to run the house and she has been very good she has been house broken for quite some time now .but she get spastic when we go out so i could not trust her yet.i do think we are going to have to try letting her lose to see what happens ,,ouch,,,,haa Haa lumpy


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## senyma (Sep 17, 2012)

Thanks so much for your quick and thoughtful suggestions.....we have some ideas and appreciate those given to us...i am anxious about it but when we decide onl the best options we will progress slowly...my husband thinks we should try leaving the crate door open at night(Hachi sleeps in our room)....we will see if he stays in the crate and will sleep the night through.....Thanks again  Senyma


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## sugerlump (Oct 6, 2012)

we have two bed for ginger,one in the living room and a small one in our bed room and she sleeps there all night ,when i go to bed she goes to bed ,yes as soon as she was house broken we let her have the run of the house and so far she has been very good..so good luck ..lumpy


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## tessybear (May 1, 2011)

I gave mine the run of the house as soon as they were house trained. Although they had been crate trained as puppies and liked their crates, they soon didn't need them any more. I left their crate door open and they never went near it so its now gathering dust in my garage. They have never been destructive when they have been left except for my post which they liked to rip to shreds so I bought a letter box!


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Kiki has never used the crate - she has a bed in the kitchen and at night and when we are out she is shut in the kitchen and utility room. This was really to make sure that she did not pester our collie to distraction when she was at her most irrepressible puppy stage. Sometimes now someone forgets to shut the door, but she always takes herself off to her kitchen bed at night or when left home alone. The dogs are regularly left for 4 hours a day - but have been out for an hour's walk first.


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## Toffin (Aug 8, 2012)

Polly sleeps in a shut crate at night - she really seems to love her secure little pad and often goes in during the day for a cuddle with bunny or lion and a snooze. But when we go out during the day, she has access to the kitchen and utility room with her snuggly rugs on the floor, water bowl, toys and a pig ear. From what we can tell (the stretching gives it away), she sleeps when we're not there.

Toffin
x


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## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

When we go out Max and Mandy are shut in the utility room with their beds, fresh water and a treat. They settle down quite happily and I haven't had any problems other than Max chewing a skirting board. Rubbed mustard on it and he has left it alone since. This is where they sleep at night too. I have never crated him, but he does have boundaries for night time and when we are out. The rest of the time he has free run of the house, which is not a problem as he follows me everywhere anyway. He loves to help me dry my hair and then make the bed......I say 'help'........!


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## KCsunshine (Apr 16, 2012)

A few months ago we got a stairgate for the kitchen. Since then, if I go out I leave Coco with the run of the kitchen and utility room. We leave her a small treat and fresh water. Sometimes I hide a treat or two around the kitchen and she always manages to find them, something to keep her busy! Her crate is in the kitchen and we leave the crate door open. More often than not, when we come back, she is happily in her crate, or lying by the gate waiting with her nose pushed through the bars!


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## S.Claire (Sep 1, 2011)

Nacho at about a year old (birthday treat) was given the whole house to roam. He has never been an issue. He often sleeps in his crate anyway with the door open and always sleeps in it at night. In the day he sometimes sleeps on the sofa (I find cushions everywhere - but thankfully never chewed). x


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## JoJo (Mar 2, 2011)

Each dog is different .. so I would recommend you try leaving him in one room etc, but stay close by .. but be quiet so he things you are out or you could just go next door to your neighbours for a coffee of something, do it slowly and for a short period of time. 

Leaving a dog crated or in a room alone for approx 3-4 hours is fine, but of course if done often yes a dog walker or someone to come in would be recommended. 

I really think it depends on the individual dog... but have a go, you will soon know if this was a bad move. Also please make sure if you dog is a chewer that the room is safe  a crate may be recommended for a chewer ...


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## Duckdog (Jul 23, 2012)

yes it does help that Binky is not a chewer, but I always unplug stuff at the mains just in case!! 

When we are home she has free roam of entire house but as others have said she still stays close by near the 'pack' 

In a few more months prob at the same age as Nacho we will give her free roam when we are out too.


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## Very muddy (Jun 8, 2012)

From when we first got Monty at 10 weeks, We only put him in the crate overnight and If we were out during the day he got the run of the kitchen. We took his crate away completely at about 7 months and now he just has his bed in the kitchen. 

We do have a stairgate and he's got the free range of downstairs now unless we're out when he's back in the kitchen because he's got a bit of a thing for chewing the trim on our French windows and pulling out the telephone extension plug and giving that a good chew if he can get away with it.


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## wilfiboy (Sep 18, 2010)

Is the room ' safe ' for him where the crate is ? If it is then what I would do is put him in the crate as normal but leave the door open a faction then go out, but not for long, possibly leave him with a kong as you go if you don't already. You could also leave the for ajar at night. If he appears ok, leave him for longer. We thought Wilf would come scratching at the door when we were moving from a crate at night but he was so used to the routine that he was fine. We referred to his crate as his bed and once we were leaving the door open all the time we just replaced it with a bed and the routine has just continued. Good luck, I'm sure it will go smoothly x


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## senyma (Sep 17, 2012)

Thanks so much for all of your thoughts and suggestions....we will progress slowly on this.....right now I have a neigbor who is home most days and LOVES my POO...she wanted to get a puppy herself(she has a miniture poodle that is 11yrs old and is becoming friendly with Hachi)....this is a blessing for us...but we are exploring moore ways to give hachi a bit more Free space...appreciating all of your advise  Senyma


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## Hfd (Aug 19, 2011)

Billy has always been crated on a night and at first was crated when we left him for short periods.
As the time he was left increased - up to 4hours we also left the crate door open giving him the run of the kitchen / dining and utility. He has a bed near the patio doors and has never chewed anything (we leave radio on, toys, food / water and he gets something to chew when we go out.
He is 18 months now and if I am just popping out for 30 mins or so I leave him the run of the house, any more than an hour and he goes in the kitchen.
We still use the crate at night as he seems happy to go in and on the 2 occasions he has been left out (once when neutered and once when we were drunk!) he seemed to be unsettled by it. I would say just pop out for 20 mins one day and leave the crate open in a safe room then go from there.


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## Kody&Beau (Aug 18, 2012)

My two did have the run of the kitchen and utility room when I went out but I have now had to put a stair gate up and just let them have the utility room because Kody disgraced himself by chewing all my dining room chairs in the kitchen one day, two had to be thrown away four I've managed to save with little corners out of the tops of the chairs. Naughty Kody x


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