what age to get rid of crate?

[lu9months]

we have a 7 month old lab pup who sleeps happily in a large crate at night. shes started to look a bit crsmped. at what age did you get rid of the crate? she isnt allowed upstairs ( to give my older dog a bit of space for herself) but im thinking of letting her just sleep in the kitchen. worried she might cause havoc! or feel less secure. thanks

Does she get up to any mischief when she's not in the crate? We took our pup out at around seven months but she had to go back in for a few more weeks, after she chewed up several things. Trial and error.

We moved very quickly to a pen from a crate and then at about 5/6 months we opened the pen gate and allowed access to a section of the kitchen. Then one night around 6/7 months we left the kitchen gate open by mistake and found her asleep on the sofa in the morning. So she sleeps in the living room now. It’s warmer and I often leave the log burner on for her when it’s cold.

Ours is also a lab.

Ours stopped sleeping in her crate at night at 11 months, we'd stopped using it for day naps around 4 months though she still occasionally took herself in it. It's still up now and we do occasionally crate games just to keep a positive association as she will be crated at the vets for her spay, but after that we will pack it away. That said she has literally never chewed anything she shouldn't so we had no destruction worries.

At about that age. We had our hands forced a bit when for logistical reasons, we had no crate overnight but it worked so well that we just never went back to it. We use a baby gate to make sure he stays in the kitchen. He’s just as happy without it as he was in it. We’ll only use one when we go away overnight now, or of course if we need to after an operation or something. But not as a matter of course.

Please don't shut a dog into a cramped space. Either do away with the crate or buy a much bigger one.

We never needed them at all for our labs.

As long as you can keep her in a safe area, from day one is fine!

We only got our pup (lab size) at 6 months and he was never keen on the crate so we have always left it open and he might choose to go in there or he might not.
He started off sleeping by our bed but he chose by himself to sleep downstairs so now he has free access to the kitchen diner at night. We just do a check round to make sure there's nothing he can come to harm with before bed.
He gets up and moves round a lot when he's sleeping day or night. He lies on rugs, on his bed, in the crate, on the floor, curled up, stretched out or upside down. Having seen what his natural behaviour is I do think it would be mean to lock him in the crate all night.
He has chewed up some stuff eg the hoover attachment and a cushion but that was really our fault for allowing him access. He doesn't habitually chew the furniture or anything.

My 13 month sprocker still goes in her crate at night, she takes herself off there when she wants to go to bed, or when we say it’s bed time.

She has access to it all the time, she only gets shut in at night, but often goes in there during the day for a sleep of her own accord.

She’s due to be spayed next month, so I’ll rethink after that!

I’ve had 4 puppies and never crated any of them!

Never had any real damage, one did nibble at some wall plaster but it was easily fixed.

I would hate to not be able to turn around or move to a colder spot if I was hot. I feel it’s really important to give animals a choice in where they sleep and what they sleep on. Mine all choose stone floors and would be furious if I made them lie on beds!

Depends on size of dog tbh. I have a cocker spaniel and he has a huge palace crate with a calming bed in one end, and vetbed underneath, water, chewies and his snugglepup. He can sleep where he likes in there. In the spring/summer a cool mat will go in there too.

I'm toying with the idea of getting rid but he recently had to have crate rest and the fact he was used to it made life a lot easier indeed! And then we discovered he can get on the kitchen table very easily too, so he's staying on his bed overnight!! He's does often take himself off there for quiet time too, it's his not so little den in the kitchen.

I would hate to not be able to turn around or move to a colder spot if I was hot. I feel it’s really important to give animals a choice in where they sleep and what they sleep on.

^^. This.

My dogs move around on a night, seeking warmer or cooler parts of the house as necessary. They can come and find us and nudge us awake if they need to be out or something is wrong. I would hate them not to have that autonomy. We also have bowls of water dotted around the house to be sure they can always access fresh water. I'd be worried a caged dog might knock its water over and then be thirsty.

Our 10 year old hated not sleeping in her crate. Cried when we got rid of it. She now goes and opens the door at 10pm every night and puts herself to bed. She never uses it during the day and has full run (and multiple beds) around the ground floor.

No one size (pardon pun) fits all.

@StrawberryPot we have a water bowl which clips onto side of the crate, so it can't be knocked over. Game changer!!

Our lab was in a 48" crate overnight until he was around 18 months and stopped chewing the furniture /doors/carpet etc. It wasnt safe for him to be out while he was still chewing. It was never used or needed during the day but he would go in himself around 10pm to sleep, and we'd shut the door before we went to bed.

Was so pleased when we could finally get rid of it from our living room.

@StrawberryPot I've lost count of the amount of times mine have woken me up when something is wrong. They don’t come upstairs as a rule but they have come and got me a couple of times when one needs to go out urgently!

It also saved one of mine once as I heard him pacing the floors. Turns out he needed an emergency vet and was really unwell. He never barked so I probably wouldn’t have heard him otherwise.

One of mine sleeps in the downstairs shower tray Another prefers the draft in front of the door and number 3 tends to curl himself up in the alcove beside the fire. They do however move around to multiple spots during the night. I can’t imagine forcing them to stay in one place but that’s just me I suppose.

Mine loves her crate. She rushes in after her nighttime wee, grabs her teddy and settles herself for the night. Makes me smile every evening
Everyone has different opinions and every dog and household is different.

You'll have to try it and see what happens.
Our 2 year old poodle still sleeps in a crate a night, which he seems to enjoy. He always goes in happily after his bedtime walk. It's useful when we travel, as he feels safe having the same environment to sleep in.
But he's a small dog and has a huge crate to stretch out in. If he was bigger I would have probably tried removing it by now.
Give it a go and see what happens.

Those of you who say the dog loves the crate, would the dog stay in it all night if the door was open by choice?

If so why not leave the door open anyway?

Just wondering not trying to be argumentative! Lots of people say their dog would choose to sleep in it and I’m wondering if that’s the case why not just give it the choice?
A crate for my dog would be the size of a small room and so it’s never really been an option

@Leonberger It’s pushed up to be ‘closed’ but never locked / closed and she’s a medium sized breed (Beardie). She gets herself up around 6am, I wake and let her out around the same time. She comes back in, slumps down by the back door (‘hurrumph’) and we all go back to sleep till 8.30.

She’s 10, stubborn when she’s Not Having It, healthy and seems to be happy 99.9% of the time (she hates the rain). If she didn’t want to go I her crate she a) would not and b) wouldn’t be expected to.

She’s the 4th dog I’ve had who’s been crated.

My dogs have always been crated, but we leave the door open at night. Our 13 Yr old fox terrier sleeps in the crate, but our 10 mth old labrador finds it too hot so sleeps in front of it on the tiled floor. They are shut into our utility room when we go out or overnight, (crate door open) as the old dog is incontinent so at least it's only in one place if he forgets during the night.

thanks all we tried eve out of the crate last night, not 100% successful since she was sick on the sofa ( not sure what she ate, i got rid of everything left out) and woke us up barking half an hour before she would normally wake! think since we normally cover the crate, the dark helps her sleep longer.

I think that's a successful outcome op. It meant she was able to move away from her vomit rather than be locked in a small space with it.

Can you put a baby gate up to keep her in the kitchen? That’s what we do, so if there are any accidents they’re on a hard floor and easily cleared up.

We stopped using the crate around the age of 1. He was sensible by then and started showing signs of not wanting to go in it anymore so he slept on the sofa or the floor by our bed before migrating to sleeping on our bed