# How Much Time in Crate?



## Kimm992 (Apr 20, 2010)

Hi there!

My husband and I have been in love with this breed for a few years! Recently we have decided that we might be ready to add one to our family!

My one major question is about crating.

We are planning to have the puppy stay in the crate at night.

My husband and I both work 9-5, 5 days/week.

Is this too much time to have the dog crated? 

We plan on taking the dog for walks/runs each day after work and on the weekends.

Any advice would be much appreciated!


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## Kimm992 (Apr 20, 2010)

I am thinking maybe if we let the puppy sleep in a little bed in our room at night (not crated) that it won't be so bad to crate him/her during the day while we're at work?


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## Crazy Kian (Aug 10, 2009)

Hi there...great question.
If we could we would spend lots more time with our guy, but unfortunately we cannot.

Here is our typical schedule. 

M, W & F - in the crate 9-6
T & TH - in the crate at 9, taken by his dog walker at 12, returned to crate at 5, we let him out by 6
S & S - not in the crate during the day unless we step out and cannot take him with us.

He sleeps in his crate all the time. Lately mind you (he's 13 months old) we let him sleep on our bed on Friday and Sat. nights....sometimes.

We never allowed him to sleep on our bed until he was a year. Not sure what would have happened if we tried it earlier in life.
Every book I read, as we ll as every dog person I met and even our dog breeder recommends letting them sleep in their crate. That's there SAFE place.
Perhaps once our guy is much older will we let him sleep outside of his crate.

Hope that helps.


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## Kimm992 (Apr 20, 2010)

Thank you so much for the reply!

I am thinking maybe it won't be so bad to have him/her crated while we're at work as long as we ensure we pay lots of attention and exercise in the evenings and on weekends.

There is also a dog walking service close to my home - maybe we can have someone come a couple of times/week to do this during the day.

I am just asking because I am looking for a realistic/honest answer. I would NEVER want to do anything to a dog that would harm it (emotionally or physically). 

In my research it appears that there are many people in a similar situation as us and it works for them.


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## Crazy Kian (Aug 10, 2009)

Like I said, I would love to be around the guy 24/7 but that's just not possible.
Just the other day my boss and I were discussing what we do with Kian when we are not home. He was kind enough and suggested I bring him to the office, if I wanted.
I then showed him this video of what a Vizsla is like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSm5-e7uga4

Once he saw the video he asked if they ever calm down, I said perhaps in a few years. His response, well maybe in a few years you can start bringing him to the office


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## Kimm992 (Apr 20, 2010)

Fantastic video!!


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## Vespasia (Apr 19, 2010)

I have a slightly different opinion on this than Crazy.....

I personally believe that 8 + hours per day in a crate is WAY too much for a young pup (I also imagine you didn't factor in your commute time when you mentioned you work 9-5). My main concern about this would be that it is best to feed a young pup three times per day - a breakfast, a lunch and a dinner and to try to have these meals spaced appropriately throughout the day. I would also worry about time for the "bathroom". The best rule of thumb to gauge how often you should let a puppy relief themselves is the age of the dog in months plus 1 (so a 2 month old pup should only have to hold their bladder for 3 hours at a time). Also, do you plan to take any time off work when you get the pup? Going from never being crated to suddenly being in there over 8 hours per day would be tramautic for a pup (again, only in my opinion). You would want to gradually increase to this.

I certainly don't want to deter you from bringing home a puppy (getting my Vizsla was one of the best decisions I've ever made!) I just want to make sure you really think about other options other than 40 hours of crating per week. Dog walkers are excellent (don't take a puppy for a long walk though....just have the walker feed it and play with it in the yard). This is what I did. Doggie Day Care would also work once your pup is vaccinated. It may also be a good time to ask your boss whether there is a "work from home" option a couple of days per week. I also did this and now work from home on Fridays!!


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## Crazy Kian (Aug 10, 2009)

Vespasia,

I have to admit that I had a senior's moment. 
I totally forgot about when Kian was a pup.

YES, I totally agree with you. We would come home to let him out, feed him and play with him for 2 hours a day for his first 8 months. Once he turned 8 months we started to leave him all day, but that is also when we employed a dog walker for 2 days a week.
Sorry it seems so long ago that we got him.


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## Kimm992 (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks for the input guys.

When we get the puppy I was planning on taking a week off from work so that I could spend a good 9-10 days straight with him/her.

I have found a good place close to home that will stop in each day for 15 minutes to feed and take the puppy outside to pee. ($280/month, not too bad).

I really appreciate all the input!!


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## Hankysmom (Mar 26, 2010)

To be truly honest with you I am probably going to come off rude. These dogs need to be loved all the time and really resemble small children. My brother just had puppies and would not have sold them to anyone who would be "crating" them for an entire day. They need to be part of your life as much as possible. 
If you can, you should install a doggy door to allow him some sort of freedom and not place him in a crate.
my 2 cents


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## grahama (May 4, 2009)

Hi, 

guess I am lucky that I work shifts and my wife is based at home for work so we rarely have the situation when we are both out all day. However when this does happen we absolutely would not leave her in a crate all day as she sleeps in her crate all night. It's not fair to any dog let alone a V with their attachment qualities!!

I have found a dog daycare place near to me and she goes there all day when we are not at home, walks, other dogs and people roune all the time so she never is alone. This is only for all day visits and she does spend up to a couple of hours in the crate during the day if I need to go and do something, but never more than that.

I would say that if you are working all day then a V is not the dog for you, sorry, they are just too much a people dog and it's not fair on them.


Just my 2 penneth,

Graham


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## Vespasia (Apr 19, 2010)

Now I agree with everyone here, so don't get me wrong...but I do think there is a lot of value to making sure your V is comfortable alone in the crate for at least a few hours at a time (again, build a puppy up to this). Because of V's strong attachment to people, making sure they are comfortable being alone is invaluable. A Dog who is never on it's own and then suddenly is (something will come up at some point!) is far more anxious than a dog that has been conditioned to go into a crate and be cool 8)


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## Kimm992 (Apr 20, 2010)

If I have the dog crated during the day (coming out mi-day to be fed and walked) then I will likely not crate her at night.

After speaking with the breeder about the issue he told me that if we did that then it will be fine for the dog - as long as she's not crated all night and then all day. In other words - choose either day or night for crating.

With that routine she will only be crated 4 hours then out for an hour and then crated another 4 hours.


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## grahama (May 4, 2009)

Hi all,

Vespasia, I should say that what you mentioned is exactly what I did, built up the time alone and she is fine in the crate during the day for a couple of hours even though she is not alone much. Good point though and thanks for bringing it up.

Graham


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## Pineapple Princess (Nov 20, 2009)

Hobie has been going to Doggie Day Camp (Camp Bow Wow) on Tuesdays & Thursdays and it has made a WORLD of difference. The days after, she is completely exhausted and sleeps all day (with a nice break at lunchtime -we have someone come to the house to feed her and play for awhile).

We figured it's $25 for the entire day of day care (some days are discounted too) which is just a little more than we'd be paying someone to come for 30 minutes in our area. She LOVES it and they LOVE her there. I get to watch her on video. ;D

Since she is crated when we are not home, she sleeps in our bed at night. But I like your idea of having the dog bed in the bedroom. We may try this soon, as our bed is quickly shrinking.....


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## fiona long (Feb 15, 2010)

no way u can crate the dog all day!! our bailey would go crazy! she gets crated overnight and has a doggy proof area for the day. during the day if i am off but going out shopping etc i will crate her for no more than 3-4 hours. i would really worry about the impact ud have on a small puppy crating them all day. my hubby and i both work full time but we have a dog walker and family to pop in also! bailey is our first dog i love her to bits and wouldnt change her but i really never realised how much work a mad puppy is


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## Kimm992 (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks Fiona!

I've already set up a dog walker to come and take the puppy out each day for an hour so that she's not crated for more than 4 hours at a time.

In my discussions with the breeder we have decided that she will only be crated during the day and will sleep with us in our room in her doggy bed at night (bedroom door shut so that she can't get into trouble while we sleep).

Once house trained, we will work toward being able to leave her out of the crate during the day in a dog proofed area and will continue to have the dog walker come each day mid-day.

I sincerely appreciate all the responses - they have been super helpful and informative!!


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## fiona long (Feb 15, 2010)

thats sounds good

another tip if u have neighbours close by (like i do) i spoke to them when we got the puppy home and warned them about a bit of puppy howling for the first few weeks and apologised in advance - our girl went bananas for the first week crying all day and night every time she was in the crate!! our neighbours were much happier about it since they new it would come to an end soon


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## Kimm992 (Apr 20, 2010)

Great idea!

We have neighbors on both sides who also have dogs (who I sometimes hear barking inside).

I will definitely let them know about the new puppy. Luckily we live in a detached home so hopefully they won't hear too much noise!!


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## bridget247 (Feb 4, 2010)

Hi Kim,

I think it is so awesome that you are seeking honest opinions from Vizsla owners. I have two Vizslas. We brought our oldest, Ajax, home over 6.5 years ago and then we got a puppy, Willow, 7 months ago. To be honest, I feel awful for how Mr. Ajax spent his puppy stage and the first few years of his life - these dogs get *very* attached to their owners and they require a significant amount of exercise and training time. My husband and I both worked full time when we got Ajax - at first, we had a dog walker come for him, but that was not enough. He cried a lot and he literally destroyed several crates. In fact, we walked him in the morning, the dog walker came at noon and then we played with him in the evenings - that was not enough. He was totally bored and I don't blame him.

We eventually put Ajax in day care 5 days/week and that did the trick - he was one happy dog. However, as he got older, he became less interested in day care and more interested in chilling on the couch. We love the breed like crazy and I used to run semi-professionally so Ajax was a great partner - but he still needed more love during the day.

We brought our second Vizsla home because our circumstances changed - I work full-time from home so I have time to play with the dogs in the morning, take them out several times/day and walk them 3 miles every day (rain, sun, or snow - we walk!). It has been beyond awesome. The puppy is thriving and she knows all of her commands - and she is not destructive because she does not have the option of getting bored. When we brought Willow home, I actually took almost 2 months off from work! I spent a lot of time warming her up to her crate, training her and just loving her - she literally wraps her paws around my neck and gives me hugs and kisses. She is the sweetest vizsla!

Best of luck with your little V! You are going to love him/her so much.


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## Lucy Vizsla (May 19, 2008)

Well I would have to say that it will be just fine! 

If you do it starting as a puppy, that puppy's needs will adjust. We have 2-two year old vizsla puppies. One we got as a puppy 8 weeks old and we rescued our other pup at the age of 8 months. Both even as 2 years old are kenneled 8-9 hours a day, and the one pup LOVES her kennel time-she runs to it just to sleep even when she does not have to. 

We also use the daycare by us and that just makes their day!
We give them 1-20min a day and 1-45min walk - they also get to the dog park 3-5 times a month.

The pup we got at 8wks, she only slept in her kennel at night for 3 weeks and then just slept on her bed on the floor by us. 

My puppies play hard and sleep hard. My male who we rescued is sleeping 3 hours after we get home from work for a nap. They really do just fine and are very happy puppies.

I would suggest weeks 8-20 see if you can get home for a lunch if you schedule would allow. Puppies really shouldn't be in a kennel more then 4 hours-they just won't make it well.

Good Luck! I really hope this helps and it will all work out.


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## Kimm992 (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks for the replies!!

I've already lined up a highly recommended dog walker to come Monday through Friday mid-day for an hour to feed and walk the puppy so that she will not be crated for more than 4 hours at a time. Once she gets a little older there is a puppy daycare that she can attend 3 days/week which I think sounds like a blast!

Since getting all the amazing feedback from everyone here I've started discussing possible issues with our breeder and he assures me that our plan sounds great - which is exciting!

My husband and I are confident that we will be able to provide this puppy with a happy, healthy home and we're counting the days until our little one comes home!!

As always, the replies are so much appreciated. Reading everyone's suggestions and comments has really helped me get prepared.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

Kimm992 said:


> My husband and I are confident that we will be able to provide this puppy with a happy, healthy home and we're counting the days until our little one comes home!!


 This is all a Vizsla will really ask of you. The rest is whatever they can weasel out of you.
Try not to let your Vizlsa train you. They're really good at training humans.


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## Kimm992 (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks for the tip Gunnr!

I've already bought a couple of Cesar Milan's books and read them cover to cover (I'm a little excited!!). Hahhaha

With the books, the puppy classes we plan to attend and all of the awesome advice from everyone here I am hopeful that we'll be just fine!


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

Another book that you may want to consider is "Gun Dog" by Richard Wolters ( if it's still in print )

Richard Wolters is/was the Cesar Milan of the hunting dog world. He was a radical departure from the Kohloff, sp? method that was prevalent post world war two, which was based on the principals the Gestapo used to train their dogs ( Lots of pain and dominance ). Richard's method is/was more an interactive process that establishes a relationship between hunter and dog based on mutual trust and respect. In other words, the dog is a partner in the relationship. The book steps you through a day by day, week by week macro cycle for training your dog. The first six weeks are almost literally laid out day by day. It's a "fun" way to train. 
You absolutely never need to shoot something, or ever hunt your dog, for this to be a valuable resource. The commands of "Come", "Stay", "Heel" and " Whoa" are universal.

If the book hasn't been updated, try not to laugh at the pictures. A lot of them are men smoking pipes, wearing tweed jackets with patches on the shoulders and "sporting" bushy sideburns.


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## Mercutio (Jan 18, 2010)

And on the subject of books (I should start another thread) the book I wish I'd read before bringing the puppy home was "The everything dog training and tricks" book by Gerilyn J. Bielakiewicz. Even if you don't want to do clicker training it has a lot of good info on socialising puppies and house-training etc.


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