Puppy moving out of his crate

[curlymama]

We have a four and a half month old Cavalier King Charles. He loves his crate that we use to keep him in when we go out, as we did al the right stuff at the beginning with treats in there etc, and it is stil more than big enough for him.

But now I'm starting to wonder about leaving him out of the crate when he is going to be left alone for short periods. We have a fairly open plan house, and we would be able to shut him into the main living area and kitchen, so he would have lots of space. But the kitchen cupboards are in the area, and although he's never attempted to open a door, I have read that you should be cautious. There will be no wires around or anything like that, and although he does chew stuff that he's not supposed to sometimes, he has mostly grown out of that phase.

So does anyone have any tips they can offer about leaving puppies (mostly) free in the house for the first few times. It was easy to find info about what to do in the early days, but now we are moving on a bit, the info seems to have dried up!

Thankyou!

Why do you want to move him out if he loves his crate?

All my dogs use their crates until at least 18 months old usually nearer 2.

41/2 months is no time at all. He is just about geting to the chewing stage. He will also not yet have fully learnt that when you are out of he house he relaxes. This is what the crate helps him to do.

"Oh I am in my crate I will sleep until owners get back and will not get anxious"

You know the puppy is safe and secure in the crate - much easier to put in the crate than to have to puppy proof the area everytime you go out.

Also as he gets bigger and begins to love water as many spaniels do a great place to put him after a rub down to stop the whole house getting muddy.

Personally I would keep the crate and get a bigger one as he grows

Thanks for the reply Minimu.

Maybe it's just my perception of it then, it just seems mean to keep him locked up when he could have more space. My friend stopped putting her Jack russel in his crate at 5 months, and her doing that recently made me start to think about it.

Maybe I should leave things the way they are then and not worry about fixing something that isn't broke!

Thanks again.

Monty the dog loves his crate and at 16 months he still uses it at night closed, although we have a large kitchen with a baby gate on which is where he is when we are out.