Ditching the crate or not?

[FiddleFigs]

6-month old cocker currently is crated overnight - no problems. I’d always planned to ditch the crate when he was ready, and give him the run of the kitchen. Usual routine: he snoozes in the living room until we go up, then it’s off to bed in the kitchen. Recently he’s been reluctant to get into his crate at bedtime. So I tonight I put up a stairgate (no kitchen door), left him in there with his crate. He cried on and off for 15mins, then howled. So I’ve popped him back in his crate and he’s asleep.

So is he not ready to give up the crate? Or have I gone about this the wrong way?

My dog will not settle at night unless she's in her crate with the door shut. We've tried leaving it open but she whines until we close it...she's got a few beds around the house that she'll use during the day but it has to be the crate at night. It's a pain in the arse as we have to take a crate with us when we go away otherwise she'll pace.

It has come in handy though as she's had cruciate surgery twice and it's ideal for keeping her calm and quiet

I think it depends on whether your cocker chooses to sleep in the crate during the day. If he trots in and lies down then maybe he isn’t ready to give it up. Our pup always accepted the crate door shut at night but never went in voluntarily during the day despite feeding her in there and lots of praise and treats. She had a day bed which she used so we started leaving her out of the crate when we went out with the kitchen door shut when she was 7 months old and at eight months bought her a comfy bed for nighttime and left her the choice of it or crate with door open...no contest. She never went near the crate again. Perhaps try leaving a bed near to crate for a few days so he gets used to having a choice.

My 5 month old sleeps in his crate with the door open so he has the run of the kitchen as well. I’m hoping to be rid of the crate soon but he is very cosy in there. We have a draughty house so the crate itself is covered with a fleece.

I may try putting his old bed in the kitchen and see if he prefers being out of it.

Just a little follow up, in case this is helpful to anyone else.

I did as Cocobananas suggested: leaving him out of the crate during the day when we popped out (usually, he'd always be crated - we never left him for more than 30-45 mins), but continued with crate (door shut) at bedtime. And we bought him a nice cosy non-crate bed.

Finally, last night at bedtime, he point blank refused to get into his crate and slept peacefully and quietly in his non-crate bed all night. Hurrah!

Thanks for the tips. Can't wait to pack that crate away (and get back space in the kitchen!)