Freedom at night

[rjvamp]

Angeles stays in the bedroom with me. I put up a baby gate and he stays in. However, he usually goes right into his OPEN door crate and sleeps after snuggling up next to me for about 5 minutes. And then he may sleep next to the bed near the door and then the end of the bed and then into the crate. He is too funny. He doesn't like it if things aren't settled - he wants all to be sleeping at the same time - such a schedule guy - kind of OCD about his bed time.

At times as a baby he did have to be CLOSED in his crate....but mostly he was just in the bedroom with me. Very fortunate!

[3K9Mom]

Originally Posted By: doggiedad your dog is eating the kittie litter and going into the
garbage. doesn't sound like your dog is ready to be out
of the crate at night or when your not home. your dog has to be house broken before it can be out of the crate over night or when you're not home. when i say house broken i don't
mean just not going to the bathroom in the house.
i mean being able to be in the house without getting into anything.
you'll know when your dog is ready.

don't take chances with your dog. know your dog and know what
he's going to do. assume your dog is going to do
the wrong thing untill it's trained.

my dog was out of his crate at 4 months old.
everything was fine untill he was 8 months old.
at 8 months old he decided to eat the house
and everything in it. so from 8 months old untill
he was 1.5 years he was crated. from a 1.5 years old to
now (he's 2.5 years old) he's been out of his crate
and everything has been fine

Completely agree with DoggieDad. There is huge variation when dogs are able to stop sleeping in a crate (if at all). Celo was reliable at about 3.5 months. He sleeps in our bedroom on a bed. We keep the door closed because it stays warmer, but I trust him throughout the house (he's 7 months old now). My last GSD earned the right to be out of the crate at 5 months old. He never touched anything and we never regretted our decision.

On the other hand, Meri, my beagle, is 1.5 years old, and has to be crated. She isn't trustworthy, and Dh and I wonder if she will ever be reliable. She sleeps in an extra large crate with very plush blankets as her accommodations, so she is comfortable. I know she gets frustrated that she is crated at night and young Celo isn't. But I figure that crates keep our dogs safe and alive. They have to prove that they won't touch anything. If they can't do that, they can sleep in a crate their whole lives.

I don't retire crates when my kids stop sleeping in them anyhow. They still nap in them and I use them to manage traffic flow and ensure that the kids are getting enough rest. So whether they sleep in a crate or on a bed doesn't really matter that much... what matters is that they're safe.

[RubySlippers]

Ruby is coming up on 3 in a month and she still sleeps in a crate at night. I randomly let her sleep with the crate door open, but she LIKES being in her crate wither way. She is very particular about her bedtime. And if I'm still on the couch at 9:30, she comes to give me a kiss and heads into her crate.
We keep the door closed most of the time on the crate because we have 2 cats who like to do this nightly freak out where they run up and down the halls. That of course will trigger Ruby to chase. Or if they start to swat at each other on the bed, Ruby will come over to break it up.

But again, we do have nights when she's pretty mellow and she sleeps with the door open. I just have to put someting heavy on the garbage lid (she knows how to push the button to open it), hide the kitchen sponge (she loves to suck on it and tear it up, and it could be an obstruction), and close all doors that lead to bathroom where she can tear up toilet paper- her favorite pass time is ripping paper.

I didn't think I even attempted to leave the crate open until after she was 1 year. So if you guys have it down even sooner that's really cool!
Good Luck and I hope you all get some good nights rest.