# Out of the Crate?



## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

Our Vizsla puppy is 7 months old. Anybody have any advice on transitioning him out of the crate during the day? The puppy is in his crate from 8-12 and from 1-5, and ideally we would like him to be able to handle staying in the house without the crate so he would be more comfortable. Advice/ ages you weaned your puppy out the the crate would be helpful! He no longer sleeps in a crate.


----------



## flynnandlunasmom (May 28, 2012)

I would start with a few hours at a time and make sure you puppy-proof your house. If he's anything like mine he will get into anything he can. Put things away, keep them up high, don't leave shoes, ballpoint pens around etc. Shut doors to bedrooms and bathrooms, use baby-gates if need be. And make sure he gets plenty of exercise. You could even try a 1 or 2 hours stint on the weekend as a trail before leaving him for so long during the week.


----------



## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

You've been given sound advice from flynnandlunasmom! Take it nice and easy. Technically, they are puppies until the age of two. An unsupervised pup below the age of two is capable of doing some serious damage to your "stuff". If it doesn't happen, consider yourselves lucky! "They chew 'til they're two."


----------



## Darcy1311 (May 27, 2012)

mswhipple said:


> You've been given sound advice from flynnandlunasmom! Take it nice and easy. Technically, they are puppies until the age of two. An unsupervised pup below the age of two is capable of doing some serious damage to your "stuff". If it doesn't happen, consider yourselves lucky! "They chew 'til they're two."


 also to note.. if left unattended out of the cage, they could also injure themselves, keep them safe.


----------



## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

Thanks! has anyone has luck with those gates to keep them in one room? or the pens? I am sure if I left him outside he would just dig and bark, so trying to keep him inside while giving him some more space.


----------



## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

I have a different experience than most of you guys. 
Although Elza had an XL crate she was actually not locked in there. Even as a 10 week old pup she had her crate open. We might be lucky, all she had/has when she's home alone is a 6m long corridor and a bathroom (which is closed now unless its too hot and we open the window for her). We have two gates up, one to the living room and the other to a bedroom. She's not allowed to free run in these rooms when we are not home but once my partner left the living room door open and when I came home nothing was touched and she was sleeping in her crate... Though we haven't tried that since... ??? Don't want to risk it! 
She only chewed the wall behind her crate around the pipe to the radiator and a corner of the bathroom door (she hasn't done it since 4 months old). Barely noticeable and the wall can easily be repaired. She never touched the shoe rack or anything on top of it (mostly her stuff). We don't leave any of our belongings on the floor. She has a few bones, some other chew toys and her toy rabbit. Oh and the most important thing she doesn't even have her crate anymore! We bought this plastic basket for her and put a bed in there and that's where she sleeps now. 8 1/2 months old.... She never tried to jump over the gates. One of them is quite high, the other is lower but serves the propose. We could actually close the doors to those rooms but like this she has daylight and normal noises from all direction. She also learnt to understand the gate. She can open it with her nose if I don't lock it but I also can use it as a boundary. I don't have to lock it to keep her out but can send her to the other side of it and leave it open and she wouldn't cross. 
This has taken me a looooong time to teach her. Now I just point out of the room or say out or click my fingers and point to the direction I want her to go and she will. She was very cheeky to get her way, she would go out then get down and crawl back inside slowly. Almost inch by inch!  8) Very clever.... 

I think with repetition, consistency and short periods alone you can do it. But I would still make sure to keep him out of as many rooms as you can and confine him in a smaller room or area. 

Sorry about the long reply! :-[ If I start 'talking' ...


----------



## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

Mostly agree with everything else. But might not go well for quite a few more
Months. Dozer got half days for awhile in and half out until we discovered a kong with frozen can food for the second half of the day was enough to keep him out of trouble. But if I forget to give him the kong just one day at lunch, something is destroyed upon our return. Just be prepared to "lose" a few things to destruction during your test period.


----------



## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Like Adrino with Elza, we have never shut Boris in his crate as he went crazy screaming. The crate is at one end of our kitchen, so when we go out he is left in the kitchen with a child gate in the door way to the rest of the house - so has the kitchen to wonder around. Other than the odd piece of paper and his collar he has never chewed anything other than his toys - but he has always been used to this and it isn't a novelty to him.
Milesmom - it might be like a child in a candy store for your pup, so limit the area to begin with. 

*Adrino*, we are also going to transition Boris from a crate to a basket soon. I really don't want a metal crate in my kitchen for the next 10+ years   We have a Tuffies nest for him which he has in the living room at the moment so he is used to it, and we plan to put that where the crate is. Did you have any problems with Elza with the change over??? Is she ok now??


----------



## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

> Adrino, we are also going to transition Boris from a crate to a basket soon. I really don't want a metal crate in my kitchen for the next 10+ years We have a Tuffies nest for him which he has in the living room at the moment so he is used to it, and we plan to put that where the crate is. Did you have any problems with Elza with the change over??? Is she ok now??


*hotmischief* we had no problem whatsoever switching Elza to her basket. We put it first in the living room. She was a bit wary of it because of the sound it made when she hopped into it. I gave her a few treats when she went into it and stayed in there so she realised it's good for her! ;D
It took her about an hour to get used to it, then she loved it. I think we switched it over with her crate after a few days. She didn't mind it at all, hadn't seen her being anxious about it. She even went to sleep in it on her own a few times when she could have been on the sofa with us. : 

I would say it's a great success! ;D And I'm also happy not having that huge crate blocking my corridor! 

Attaching a few pics for proof!


----------



## LaVidaLoca (Feb 20, 2012)

Hi there,

I don't crate our pup anymore too - except at night! 
So when we leave we close her into the kitchen which has a safe backyard balcony ( living in a condo ). So the kitchen has a sliding glass door which faces our entrance. We also have a gals wall in one corner which allows you to see into the living and dining room. She can see when we come back. I leave the door to the backyard balcony open so she has a little bit more space and fresh air. She's doing really good at 7 month. We can leave her alone for 4-5 hours without a problem and without barking. She gets a nice lamb bone or other chewing stuff but mostly she will sleep. 
One day when we came back she was able to open the sliding door ( I think by coincidence because the door is not so easy to open ). It was quiet in the apartment, everything was untouched and I knew where to find her: She was sleeping on our bed. First I didn't want our dog on the furniture but I realized that she feels comfortable on the bed when we're not around. So she's allowed now when the a big blanket is on our bed linen ( ...but still no sofa or other furniture ). So we started to leave her alone with a free access to the kitchen ( where her bowls are ) , the living room with the dining room ( open space concept ) and to the bedroom. 
My husband bought an amazing camera which you can control via an iphone app. So all you need is wifi or 3G and we can watch her from anywhere. We can even move the camera by touching our iphone. What a great thing!! But we were able just to watch her in the living room ( camera can't walk yet unfortunately ;-) ) and when she finished chewing her rawhide or bone she disappeared and she always went to the bed room and slept until we came back.
So this went well until one day. 
My parents are in town and we were out for some sightseeing. We stayed away for 4-5 hours and when we came back I went for a potty break with her. We needed to do some grocery shopping and so we decided to go to a nearby supermarket. I didn't think that it will take more than half an hour so we just left the apartment and I forgot to leave something to chew for her which I *always* do when we leave her. So it took a little bit longer than expected at the supermarket and I could monitor her on my iphone. Unfortunately there was a dining chair just in front of where she was sitting so I could only see her back, legs and tail. She was sitting near the sofa. I was sure she was chewing on her toy or sleeping. 
So when we came back she chewed the sofa corner and ripped of the fabric. First time ever!! I mean she tried it when she was a small puppy but never destroyed it.

I think she was angry with me because I didn't left her something to chew as always.  So I stepped out of this routine. So she's back now in the kitchen  where I can monitor her with the camera 

But I'm really happy with her and we don't have any problems with leaving her alone. We started to train that quite early and we could leave her for few hours even when she was a smaller pup without barking or potty accident.


----------



## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

LaVidaLoca, sounds like a neat setup you have with the camera!

I kind of doubt if your pup was being vindictive when she chewed on the sofa corner. She was probably not angry with you, but rather, just being a normal pup. She's only seven months old, and "They chew 'til they're two."


----------



## Angie NG (Jun 6, 2012)

We only have Bella in her crate when we are out or at night, she is only allowed in the front room if we are in there to. We have a kitchen/diner which leads into the garden so she spends a lot of time there. We have a gate on the kitchen door as the upstairs is out of bounds to her while she is so young(11weeks). She would love the boys bedrooms to much. Eventually we want her to roam freely but it's a long way off yet. Good luck MilesMom


----------



## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

Thank you everyone!!! I went home for lunch and walked/ played with him for an hour, then decided to gate him in our hallway. It's a small space, so figured it would be a good place to start testing him out of the crate. I left a few toys, food, and water out for him as well as his crate so we will see how he did when my husband gets home!! Miles will be alone for 4 hours. fingers crossed!


----------



## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

How did it go Milesmom? 

Hope he didn't destroy your hallway?!


----------



## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

It went great!!! Miles was lying peacefully in the hall when we got home and now we are leaving him there consistently. No baseboard or hallway damage!! 

Hoping to extend him from the hallway into the kitchen area in a few months.


----------



## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

That's great news! 

Happy for you! ;D


----------



## CrazyCash (Jul 12, 2012)

That is great news! My guy is 10 months old and still can not be trusted in the house alone (even though he has two other dogs to play with) - here's some of his handy work...


----------



## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

I love that first picture of Cash with the "big smile" on his face. He looks to be pretty proud of himself!! LOL ;D


----------



## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

Wow - you guys are brave leaving your pups out . I guess I still don't trust Ruby even though she has never destroyed anything. We just started leaving her out when we go out for a few hours but the longest has been 3 or 4 hours and she is 18 months old. I am just overly cautious and we renovated our home and don't want to see if destroyed.

We took it slow though and did small increments of time and built it up. It is to the point now that when Ruby sees our car keys she goes to her spot on the chair by the front window and lays down. That is where we find her when we come home. 

Good luck but as MsWhipple always says "they chew til their 2"


----------



## CrazyCash (Jul 12, 2012)

Cash doesn't feel any guilt at all about destroying things. He's not allowed in the house anymore, now he has to be in the garage / dog run when I'm not home - even though he still sometimes chews up stuff outside. It's a joy having a 60 pound puppy running around chewing things up.  As long as I know that eventually he'll outgrow this, then it's fine, I'll just keep buying more chew toys! As annoying as the chewing is, his cute little face and sweet personality makes up for it. ;D


----------



## DougAndKate (Sep 16, 2011)

Although Elroy has a few other problems, he has never chewed one thing he is not supposed to (fingers crossed,knock on wood after that statement.) He has been out of the crate during the day since he was about 8 months old. I go home home at lunch to walk him and give him a kong before I leave again. I always figured he just slept all day and really didn't move. And since we have a baby on the way, I set up the baby monitor early to try it out, and now I can check in on him from work. And yep, other than changing positions, he just sleeps all day


----------



## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

It's been a month out of the crate! No bad behavior  Happy pup and happy parents


----------



## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

MilesMom said:


> It's been a month out of the crate! No bad behavior  Happy pup and happy parents


Yay Miles! That is quite an accomplishment at such a young age - you should be proud! 

We *just* started leaving Riley out by herself in the house when we are gone for a few hours at a time. Most recently we left for 4 hours and came back to her napping peacefully on the couch. A tired V is a good V! 8)


----------



## CrazyCash (Jul 12, 2012)

Congrats!! That's quite an accomplishment. I'm not sure when I'm going to be brave enough to give Cash another chance alone in the house


----------

