Eliminating the crate at night

[Sara & Trix]

I would like to know what process you DK members have used to eliminate the crate at night (those who use a crate). DH and I work 9am to 5pm M-F and Trixi is in her crate three days a week (we visit at lunch to give her a break) and she goes to daycare two days a week. As she is only 6 months old, and we plan on keeping our routine of crating her three days a week until we can fully trust her and are sure she'll be safe (and she loves her crate)

That being said, I wanted to start letting her sleep out of her crate at night, so that in the end, she only has to be crated when we are gone. The catch here is that my husband and I absolutely do not want her sleeping in our bed or in our room (personal preference). We have a baby gate blocking off our bedroom and the door is always open - my first guess is that, if out of her crate, she will be barking and whining at the gate since she will want to be with us. Since she loves her crate and sleeps SO soundly in there...should I even bother? Is this something I would just try out of the blue one night? Or is it a slow process?

Thank you for listening to my rambling - hope it made sense! Any advice would be appreciated.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

If she loves her crate and sleeps well in there I wouldn't be in any hurry to change her routine.  You might feel better, but I'm really not sure she would.  I moved my guys out of the crate at night when they seemed more comfortable sleeping on their beds than in the crate.  The crates were in our room at night, so when we started letting them sleep out of the crate it really wasn't much of a difference for them.

[Becka]

I agree with Jane--if Trixie is comfortable sleeping in her crate at night, I see no reason to change that. It's not like she needs room to move around when she's asleep. Sadie stopped sleeping in her crate as soon as she was really and truly reliably house trained (at about 16 weeks) but she sleeps in my bedroom, with the door shut so that she doesn't get into mischief in the rest of the house while I'm sleeping. She only gets on the bed in the morning to wake me up.

[Sara & Trix]

Thanks!  I guess I just won't worry about it for a little while then since she's happy and comfy in there.  She's had a few UTIs so that has slowed down the housebreaking process, although she's been great for the past month.  I guess it's more a case of Mummy feeling bad for crating her more than necessary - I guess removing her too soon might just create stress too.

 

Thanks for your feedback! 

[Michele, Biscuit & Mo]

I would say if she loves her crate, it means she feels safe there.  Penny still uses her crate all the time.  It's her "den" during the day.  She sleeps with us (or in the bedroom hallway), BUT... if I travel for business, Penny actually prefers sleeping in her crate (guess Daddy rolls over too much!  LOL).  You might try letting her sleep at night in the crate with the door open and see what she does.

[Sara & Trix]

I think that sounds like a good idea!

[BG and Gavin]

If you want to give it a try, put the crate in a confined area (with baby gates) and leave the door open.  She can chose to sleep in it or not.  My guy was never a big fan of the crate (but submitted ot it) and got so big so fast it felt like he was cramped in it.  He sleeps on the floor either in or near our room.  I think they feel most comfortable near their pack. Can you confine him just outside your babygated bedroom door?

[Sara & Trix]

Good idea to restrict the crate area with baby gates!  It will give me piece of mind to know that she won't be up to no good :)  Thanks!!

[Carol and Banjo]

We had tried from about 7 months up until 18 months to get Banjo OUT of his crate at night, inviting (enticing him with cheese even!) to sleep in our room.   He wanted nothing to do with it.   Typically he goes into his crate on his own in the evening while we're watching TV....now when we're ready to go upstairs he follows us and sleeps on the floor by the bed.  We were thrilled that he finally decided he didn't want to sleep in his crate.   He is crated while we're away from the house and goes in on his own to sleep in it during the day or as I said when we're sitting watching TV.   We do have a gate on our bedroom door to prevent him from roaming room to room and finding something to get into.

[Sara & Trix]

I guess if they love their crate - why make it an issue, right?!  I should just be quiet and consider myself lucky that she's so content in her little den :)

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Personally, we have a bit of a wandering doodle at night, so if your dog is happy in the crate, I would let sleeping dogs lie :)

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

I'm with the "keep the crate" folks.  At one point, we felt it was time to eliminate the crate for Sedona.  We tried it for a few nights but no one slept well.  We went back to the crate and everybody, including Sedona, is much more content.

[Remington & Maggie]

Maggie is almost six months old and for the past week I have let her roam the master bedroom(where her crate is) a few hours each night and have slowly increased the time left alone.  I have had many sleepless nights but finally last night she slept the whole night on my bed.  If sleeping on the bed is not an option I would keep crating her until she can be trusted roaming the rest of the house.  I just found it easy as her crate is in my bedroom to start increasing the areas where she can be left alone.  This is my first dog, so I'm no one to give professional advice but this is how I've gone about eliminating the crate.  Good luck with Trixi!!