Un-crate training...advice needed!

[Cookiebaker]

Hi y'all! Sorry we haven't been around much lately Malone is doing well, and in the past year has mellowed out sooo much! He really is the best dog, ever, and his loyalty is really coming out lately.

Anyway, we crate-trained him when he was a puppy because he was soooo nawteee everytime we left him by himself, chewing up furniture, papers etc etc etcetera!

Last summer, we tried to un-crate train him, and he did really good for like 4-5 weeks until we came home and found that he had gotten into the closet and my stash of gift bags (nearly 100 of them). Yea, fun times. So we decided he wasn't ready for it, and re-crated him when we went out. (By the way that is the ONLY time he is in his crate is when we leave...he likes it in there and willingly goes in there and we don't have any issues). And a time or two in the past he has had a touch of separation anxiety.

However, I think its time to try again and wondering if anybody had tips or pointers? In a few weeks we are starting construction on the room his crate is in so it really would be convenient to have uncrate trained him, but I don't want to hurry it if the process is going to take longer than that. Do you think I should leave well enough alone and leave him crated?

Thanks for any insight you can give.

[Cinder & Smoke]

we crate-trained him when he was a puppy
because he was soooo nawteee everytime we left him by himself ...

Last summer, we tried to un-crate train him ...
we came home and found that he had gotten into the closet ...

So we decided he wasn't ready for it, and re-crated him when we went out.
(By the way that is the ONLY time he is in his crate is when we leave ...
he likes it in there and willingly goes in there and we don't have any issues).

And a time or two in the past he has had a touch of separation anxiety.

Do you think I should leave well enough alone and leave him crated?

Good Heaven's, YES!!
You've got a Good Thing going - LEAVE Well enough alone!!

I think Malone is *trying* to tell you that he LIKES IT being in his crate/house
when you leave him alone - he feels *safe* and comfortable waiting for you
to return when he's in there ... when you "lock him out of his house" -
he gets worried and bored - and you know what happens.

Use the available weeks to find a New Spot to put his crate in - away from
the construction zone - so that he can become comfortable in his "house with
the New View" and accept that as his new comfort zone & crate spot when
you need to leave him alone.

Malone ~

Ask 'em to straighten the pictures on the wall after the Big Move.

[Twisterdog]

IMO ....

WHY would you want to un-crate train a dog? Isn't that rather like un-house training, or un-leash training a dog?

You said he likes his crate, goes in it willing. Why fix what ain't broke???

[Taz_Zoee]

I didn't really understand your question at first either. But how bout this? Have you tried leaving him home alone but do not latch the crate door? This way he can go in the crate if he wants to feel safe.
Is this because you want to get rid of the crate all together for more room? Or only during construction? I'm for leaving him crate trained. But I was just trying to think of ways to help out.

[lv4dogs]

I think I can understand where you're coming from. If you are like me you would think they would be more comfortable having more room (aka free roam of the house?). I have 2 dogs that are crated, Peak & Kailey are both crated (Kailey will sometimes urinate on furniture when left alone & Peak will sometimes chew dvds) but "I" would feel better being able to let them have free roam with Kaige. They would be able to socialize & get more exercise even though I know they feel comfortable & like it in their crate.

I "test" my dogs out from time to time to see if they are ready to have free roam of the house (although I don't think I could ever remove the crate all together just leave the door open while I am away). I gradually increase the amount of time left alone with the crate open. It starts off being only 10 minutes or so slowly adding more time. So far my dogs can't go more than about 5ish hours before being "destructive" in one way or another.

Another thing you can do is slowly allowing them more space. Leave the crate open but keep them closed off in only one room by a door or baby gate. Slowly adding more space.

You can also combine the 2, slowly adding more time and space.

Good luck.

[Giselle]

I understand where you're coming from. I leave Lucky free in the house because I can trust him and he won't destroy anything. He enjoys it as much as it comforts me. I don't think this is a radical proposition at all.

If you're trying to leave him with free roam, you have to do it gradually and you have to set him up for success. If he fails and destroys something, that will only reinforce his "bad" behaviors. So:
1) Babygate or otherwise block him off. Keep his "free" area restricted to a room or two.
2) Muzzle. Dog can't chew if dog is muzzled. It's for his safety, anyways. Labs certainly aren't immune to chewing on electrical wires and such.
3) Alone training. Same principles - leave for successively longer time periods.

If you don't want to muzzle, you can alternatively leave him with frozen Kongs and leave biscuits/cookies in nooks and crannies around the room to keep him occupied. This, obviously, is the riskier choice, so do what you are comfortable with.

[boomersooner]

We did what everyone has suggested with Cassie.....she was in the crate, then in the kitchen with the crate door open....when we got to where we could trust her completely, we let her have more freedom....(as in taking over the couch for her daily naps, HA)...We eventually did put it up because she just wasn't going in there anymore. We got it back out for Boomer...needless to say, he CAN'T be trusted right now! HA

[CountryWolf07]

I think every dog is different. With Anna, never had to crate train her, with Rosie, we only used the crate for her until she was fully housebroken. Both girls were free roam around the house.

[MoonandBean]

We are planning to start leaving Sunny in the basement when she's a year old, which will be February. We will leave her crate open and I expect to find her in it when we come home

[finn's mom]

I think if Malone isn't 100% trustworthy to be left on his own, he's not ready for free run of the house. I think either staying with the crate or restricting him to a couple of rooms would be your best bet at this point. Even with Finn, I still have to "control the environment" by making sure things aren't available to him that he typically goes for. Like food on the counter or an open trash container. No way could we leave meat thawing in the kitchen sink and expect it be there when we returned. We "Finn proof" the house when we leave.

The only suggestion I've seen that I disagree with is to muzzle the dog. I could be wrong, but every muzzle I've ever seen has a warning not to leave the dog muzzled unsupervised. I wouldn't think it was safe.

Other than, I say give 'em all a shot! And, good luck!

[pitc9]

Both of my pups were always in crates till my hubby had to work out of town for 9 months a few years back. I started feeling bad about all the extra time they were spending in their crates so I got brave and let them have free run of the house when I was gone.
Fast forward to last year. I finally replaced my furniture after they spent all their "free time" chewing on it and ripping it up along with my recliner and all the pillows, blankets, towels, curtains, comforters in the house they could sink their teeth into! Buddy would move my recliner across the room!!!

Needless to say, they are back in crates when we're not home and until I build an indestructable doggie room with steel walls and doors...they'll stay in crates when I'm not home.

[kokopup]

When Koko was 9 month old she had to spend 12 weeks in a crate. She had double knee surgery and each knee had a 6 week recovery time.The only time she was out was to go out for her business. The last 2 weeks of of her recovery she could come and go when we were home. She started coming out when she could.

After this long nonstop crate tour was over she was ready to stay out. She has been out for over 2 years and has free roam without incident. We are lucky that most of the time weather permitting we leave her on our 800 sq ft covered front porch. It has a gate to keep her in and she is free to run back and forth chasing squirrels. When we leave her in we restrict her to the LR, DR and kitchen. I usually will not leave her over about 4-5 hours unattended. So far she has not missed her crate and she is not chewing on anything but her toys. When she was around 6 months she chewed everything, the worst being the dining room rug. She has since grown out of this.

If your dog is comfortable in her crate I would leave well enough alone.
In our case Koko was ready to stay out and has not been destructive when left alone.