# No more Crate at night



## john_wi (Mar 3, 2009)

My little boy has been crated at night since he came home.
He had some issues with this at first as his crate was NOT in the same room.
Once he was in same room he had no issued and slept through the night.
Now I want to leave him out of the crate at night, but he thinks as long as he isn't on lock-down that it is still play time. I have tried this also on weekend mornings when I want to sleep more, I will let him out and feed him hoping to get some more sleep...not so much.
So he could possibly have free roam of the house at night, or be confined to bedroom, but he just wont lay down. Any advice on how to help him make this transition? He has NEVER been on a bed, has no idea what that is all about. He has access to two beds and has never even tried getting up on one.


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## jas (Mar 31, 2009)

Oscar is now 6 months old and i am thinking of doing the same, he has calmed down a tremendous amount but if given the chance will still chew something. I want to let him have a free roam of the downstairs (he's not allowed in the bedrooms) but am worried it may be too early. I wnat to keep the crate as hios bedroom/refuge if he wants to sleep there. anyone else had experience of this? What age did you leave your crate open or dispense with it? what was the result?


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## that_girl (Aug 31, 2009)

Have you been leaving the crate open for him to sleep in if he wishes? Some dogs will always choose their crate over any other spot.

I'd leave the crate open and confine him to one room with minimul stimulation if possible. Then once he gets that down, transition to leaving the door open.

Another idea would be to wait until he's asleep, then open the door - but don't let him hear you.


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## john_wi (Mar 3, 2009)

Well he made it a full week, so I think its safe to say that he has graduated from his crate at night.
I shut the bedroom door and left his crate open. The first two nights he went to window and barked at some point. Both of those nights he ended up on lockdown. After that there were no more incidents. He has claimed a spot on the floor between the bed and the wall. He doesn't even bother to move if I need to use bathroom in middle of night. I can even leave bedroom door open all night now too. So far has been a very easy transition


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## john_wi (Mar 3, 2009)

So I have now experienced some regression as far as leaving dog in crate during the day...
I hope that its not in correlation to not sleeping in crate at night, but now I fear that he associates the crate with him being alone. But 3 of last 4 days he was in crate during the day, he tried to destroy anything that he could. The crate has a fabric cover that has been on there since the day he came home. On Saturday he managed to pull the cover to the inside and destroy it. Along with the cover, he destroyed the backpack that was on top of the crate. Anything that he could pull inside he did. Chewed fabric, straps, plastic buckles. When I get home, he wont look at me and acts very ashamed and fearful. I didn't need to discipline him because he was already completely submissive, tail between legs, laying down under table. During the day he is in crate for 4 hours in morning, then has an hour out playing. Then its back in the crate until I get home which is about 3 hours later. So he is not in there for LONG stretches of time. Yesterday he would not come near me when we were inside the house. I took him out and we played fetch, wrestled, chased one another and he was fine. But as soon as we went back inside he was back to being shy and submissive. Is there something that I should be concerned with? Maybe this is normal "adolescent" behavior? He was 9 months on 9/28. Suggestions?


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## that_girl (Aug 31, 2009)

All puppies go through a fearful stage. I'd think that's what's going on now. Add on top of that how sensitive V's are.

I would continue to ignore him inside the house, let him do his thing. If he comes to you, play with him, praise him, make him work for a treat, etc.

I have a very sensitive 16month old. When she shuts down on me, I leave her for about an hour. Then I get a treat and make her sit, lie down, etc. Then she goes back to normal and finds a toy to play with or plays with my other dog. I think it's really just their sensitive nature.


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