Starting to let your GSD out of the crate unattended

DTS · 10-02-2011, 10:01 AM

hello,
jasmine is now 19 months old. we crate her when gone but my hubby feels it isnt fair for her to be in the crate for 8 hours while gone which i agree. However, we have tried to leave her out before when she turned about a year old. We stated just letting ehr out in the bedroom and would leave for 10-15 mins thru out the day and come back and when she was good we would praise and treat. it got to the point where we could leave her when gone but at that point it would be 4 hours 6 at the max.that lasted a month and then she started ripping up her bed and ripping the tv cord out of the wall and eating the wooden arm of the futon all from being bored. Since we arent home to excersise her during this time i felt it was safe for everyone if she returned to being crated.
Well now he wants to try again and I am wondering if we can approach this differently. I want to get a few of the pannels of an x pen and put them around the things that she loves to chew on which can be dangerous so she cant get to them. But now im wondering if bored enough during the day if she would find other things like the wall or the cabnets etc to chew on Is there anything that she could play with during the day that can be done unsupervised?
I don't really like the idea of leaving toys or bones with her unsupervised.
And of course exsercising her before we leave is a must.
but i also kind of feel she is still mentally too young to handle being out
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreaciated

Holmeshx2 · 10-02-2011, 12:48 PM

There are things that are safe depending on your dog but dear lord I'd be bored out of my mind too. Having the entire house and having nothing to mess with is rather hard. In their crate they have no option but to go to sleep in the house they have a ton of stuff to do so are gonna occupy themselves how they see fit and if you dont leave anything for them they are going to find it one way or another. Is she a really bad chewer can she get pieces off the black kongs? I would leave some filled kongs and the kong balls and stuff for her to play with possibly a looong raw marrow bone but try her at home first and see if shes a powerful chewer thats going to take pieces off of it.

DTS · 10-02-2011, 12:58 PM

the kong itself is the only thing so far she hasnt torn pieces off of and we will definately try that. every other toy even those made by kong have not survived in our house lol. She does love bones although she has torn pieces off before can that be dangerous to her? we have filled the bones with yogurt and frozen them before.

doggiedad · 10-02-2011, 05:16 PM

find someone to come and give her a break
when you're gone for 8 hours. start house breaking her.
leave the house her out of the crate for 10 to 15 minutes
and then return home. start staying away from the house
longer and longer. my dog was out of his crate at 4 months
old. that worked fine untill he was 8 months old. at 8 months old
he wanted to chew on everything in the house. i crated him untill
he was 1.5 yrs old. since then he's been fine out of the crate.

chelle · 10-02-2011, 08:24 PM

Do you have a spare room that you could puppy-proof?

10-02-2011, 10:01 AM	#1 (permalink)
DTS Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Ocala, Fl Posts: 289	Starting to let your GSD out of the crate unattended hello, jasmine is now 19 months old. we crate her when gone but my hubby feels it isnt fair for her to be in the crate for 8 hours while gone which i agree. However, we have tried to leave her out before when she turned about a year old. We stated just letting ehr out in the bedroom and would leave for 10-15 mins thru out the day and come back and when she was good we would praise and treat. it got to the point where we could leave her when gone but at that point it would be 4 hours 6 at the max.that lasted a month and then she started ripping up her bed and ripping the tv cord out of the wall and eating the wooden arm of the futon all from being bored. Since we arent home to excersise her during this time i felt it was safe for everyone if she returned to being crated. Well now he wants to try again and I am wondering if we can approach this differently. I want to get a few of the pannels of an x pen and put them around the things that she loves to chew on which can be dangerous so she cant get to them. But now im wondering if bored enough during the day if she would find other things like the wall or the cabnets etc to chew on Is there anything that she could play with during the day that can be done unsupervised? I don't really like the idea of leaving toys or bones with her unsupervised. And of course exsercising her before we leave is a must. but i also kind of feel she is still mentally too young to handle being out Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreaciated

10-02-2011, 12:48 PM	#2 (permalink)
Holmeshx2 Elite Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Ft. Bragg, NC Posts: 1,646	There are things that are safe depending on your dog but dear lord I'd be bored out of my mind too. Having the entire house and having nothing to mess with is rather hard. In their crate they have no option but to go to sleep in the house they have a ton of stuff to do so are gonna occupy themselves how they see fit and if you dont leave anything for them they are going to find it one way or another. Is she a really bad chewer can she get pieces off the black kongs? I would leave some filled kongs and the kong balls and stuff for her to play with possibly a looong raw marrow bone but try her at home first and see if shes a powerful chewer thats going to take pieces off of it. __________________ Jinx vom Wildhaus

10-02-2011, 05:16 PM	#4 (permalink)
doggiedad Crowned Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Jenkintown,Pa. Posts: 9,853	find someone to come and give her a break when you're gone for 8 hours. start house breaking her. leave the house her out of the crate for 10 to 15 minutes and then return home. start staying away from the house longer and longer. my dog was out of his crate at 4 months old. that worked fine untill he was 8 months old. at 8 months old he wanted to chew on everything in the house. i crated him untill he was 1.5 yrs old. since then he's been fine out of the crate. __________________ "Life Without A Dog Is A Life Unfulfilled"

10-02-2011, 08:24 PM	#5 (permalink)
chelle Knighted Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Des Moines, IA Posts: 2,863	Do you have a spare room that you could puppy-proof? __________________ Dolly Eskie 6/03 Suri Shiba 10/07 Bailey WGSD/Husky x 5/11 CGC Bailey's brother Tucker (rescue/foster dude) Tiger kitty '96 Information is power

10-02-2011, 12:58 PM	#3 (permalink)
DTS Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Ocala, Fl Posts: 289	the kong itself is the only thing so far she hasnt torn pieces off of and we will definately try that. every other toy even those made by kong have not survived in our house lol. She does love bones although she has torn pieces off before can that be dangerous to her? we have filled the bones with yogurt and frozen them before.

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