# Adv re crate please!



## Emilylorna (Aug 14, 2016)

Hi all,

You've been immeasurable helpful since we got Lenny with advice so I know who to come to with a question!

Lenny he never really liked his crate. At one strange he used to trot into it if I said "in your bed" but that's stopped happening and now at night time he just refuses to go in. He won't come in from the garden because he knows it's crate time. He certainly isn't one of those puppies that view it as his den...despite my best training efforts!

He will be 6 months old at the end of January and we haven't had any accidents in the house since he was maybe 12 weeks old (the crate was excellent for this). He's got one baby canine left in and has never chewed any furniture and to be honest our dining room is pretty minimalistic. 

Do you think I should take the plunge and get rid of his crate? He has a little mat in the lounge when we are sat in there at night he happily sits on it so it's making me think just getting a bed might be better at this stage. I have baby gates so he would be secure in the dining room at night.

Thanks! 
The photo is Lenny refusing to come in the house (despite it not being bed time )












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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

If you don't feel he "must" use a crate, I say ditch it. It seems to be causing more problems at this point than preventing. You may want to start by giving him access to a smaller area in the house - not roam anywhere. Tho my two have the ability to roam the house and we have no issues. 


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## Emilylorna (Aug 14, 2016)

I think we will trial a no crate. He will be secure in the dining room. Personally I will be a bit happier if he's settled without his crate so fingers crossed!


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## Gill57 (Mar 20, 2016)

I ditched Freddie's crate and play pen when he was about 7 months old and since then has happily slept in the kitchen where the crate had originally been placed.
You want to make sure the room he sleeps in has no wires or plugs that he would find great fun to chew and maybe also consider that he may sink his teeth into the furniture in the dining room......!


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## bearthecockapoo (Mar 17, 2015)

If he's not having accidents or chewing up furniture, I would get rid of it. Is the crate one that you could fold up and have a trial period? If after a few days, it all seems fine, I would get rid of it for good!


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## Emilylorna (Aug 14, 2016)

Gill57 said:


> I ditched Freddie's crate and play pen when he was about 7 months old and since then has happily slept in the kitchen where the crate had originally been placed.
> 
> You want to make sure the room he sleeps in has no wires or plugs that he would find great fun to chew and maybe also consider that he may sink his teeth into the furniture in the dining room......!




Fortunately we have metal Ikea furniture so the teeth shouldn't be an issue.  I think he might regret it if he tried though! 


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## Tiggy (Sep 2, 2015)

We have a crate which he hated sleeping in at night even in the bedroom but as soon as he was allowed to sleep on the bed (I know, you don't need to tell me!!!) we all got a good uninterrupted sleep for 7-8hrs. Even the night pottying stopped after a week once we let him on to the bed to sleep.

During the day, when he stops long enough to rest, it is often on a spare seat somewhere or his soft bed in front of the fire. We only use the crate now in the back of our vehicle on long journey on holiday or to visit friends because he is much more settled (and not anxiously clambering over whatever else we have packed around him).


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## trollydollymolly (Nov 17, 2016)

Emilylorna said:


> Hi all,
> 
> You've been immeasurable helpful since we got Lenny with advice so I know who to come to with a question!
> 
> ...




We gave up on the Crate pretty quickly due to the howling and almost hysterical crying. We got rid of it and let her sleep on the bed in the living room. From that time she settles straight away. There is no fixed rules. It's what best works for each individual.










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## Emilylorna (Aug 14, 2016)

So for the past couple of days we have made the dining room safe and secure. I left him for an hour initially in there with his toys and I sat like a weirdo at my front door to see if he barked- he didn't!! Today we left him for a couple of hours and went to buy him a normal bed. I can tell he is instantly so much more relaxed and as a result I am too. I think the crate was invaluable in housetraining him so quickly but it obviously wasn't for him!










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## Clemmy (May 31, 2016)

Glad it worked out well! Clemmy hated the crate too and has been much happier since I ditched it. I just wanted to comment on the funny pic of Lenny refusing to come indoors!  Clemmy used to give me the exact same look for the same reason. Only she wouldn't come in because I somehow managed to train her to only come inside if a biscuit was on offer!  Or rather she trained me to give her a biscuit just for coming inside! It was annoying, but so funny! And that expression on Lenny's face is identical to Clemmy's - sort of like "I don't mean to be difficult, but I don't think I'll come inside thanks, I'll just sit here." I'd sometimes close the door on her, and then she'd scratch at it and bark, so I'd open it again and she'd just sit back down and look at me as if to say "I've got all day..." little madam!  I've more or less fixed the problem now - I rattle the biscuit tin and fool her! They are such characters!


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## HenryPup27 (Sep 28, 2016)

Agreed! We ditched Henry's crate when he was 11 months old. He had no problem with it at all during that time (although never went in it during the day really) until a few nights on the trot when he hit 11 months - started waking up at 3am crying and barking. Didn't need the loo, just didn't want to be away from us anymore. Now he sleeps on the bed with us (despite me originally being a "no dogs on the bed" kind of person!) and we all sleep soundly. I actually found I was anxious waiting for him to bark in the morning (before the 3am thing, he would normally sleep until about 5.30am - 6.30am and I would be awake from 5am ready to spring into action to get him up and outside to the loo to stop him waking the neighbours) but now we have to wake him up in the morning! Turns out he loves a lie in! (Phew! The early mornings were very tiring!) He couldn't be happier on the bed and we sleep much better. The crate was amazing for the house training, so I wouldn't change that, but we're definitely done with it now. 


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