I have a Houdini...and a big dilemma...on my hands...

[L.M.]

Our goldendoodle Seamus is 14 months old.  He is fully housebroken/ trained and well- behaved in the house, etc, and, up until this point, crate-trained.  Here is the problem...Seamus, within the past month or so, suddenly hates his crate.  (I should tell you that my husband and I are teachers and of course have been off the past month for summer vacation, so Seamus' crating schedule is very different now than it is from Sept to June.  He is not in there nearly as much now that we are home during the day aside from occasional day trips and outings.)  Well, my husband and I just returned about an hour ago from the store to find Seamus aka Houdini out of his cage and just hanging out in our finished basement where his crate is.  No mess, destruction, stolen items, etc...just hanging out wagging his tail.  This is the third time he has done this and all three times, there has never been a mess or anything.  Is my Houdini here telling me that he is ready to be trusted on his own without a crate??? I am so torn about this because during a normal school day he would be alone for 8 hours....that's a TON of time for possible destruction to take place.  My other concern is where do I let him have free run?? He loves to look out the window and sleep on the kitchen floor upstairs...but that means trusting him in my living room, kitchen, and dining room.  Gating off certain rooms is not really an option, as our house is a very open 1 level ranch.  I'm worried, however, that if I contain him to the basement, he will be anxious and nervous as he cannot occupy his time looking out the window and he normally does not sleep or relax in the basement...the basement is our hang out/play room.  Sorry this is such a long post...any ideas/experiences/suggestions would be really appreciated.  I figure I have what is left of August to determine what to do with Houdini before we are back to school and he is potentially let loose in my newly furnished house... Eeekk!!       

[shelly]

You could always set up one of those "doggie cams" to see exactly what he's up to when you're gone! LOL Bet it would be pretty boring! :)

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

For the crates we used heavy duty zip ties to prevent the fold downs. This worked. My concern for your dog is that they can become trapped, choke, injure and pinch a paw ....... We had 2 dogs injured from trying to escape crates once they figured out how to escape. One was a big deep gash to the snout another had a sore paw. Not worth another try for us. I agree, now is a good time to start leaving them for 15 minutes at a time to see how it works for you. We now use a gate to prevent them from the kitchen. Doggie proof the living room and close all the bedroom doors but leave the bathroom open just in case they need a cool floor. Also, for some reason, if and when there was ever an accident I always found one on the bathroom tile floor when they were younger.
Starlit was only 7 months ( she gets into nothing ) but Spud was a little more rowdy and he was 17 months. Give it a try. It is better than hurting himself in a crate that folds up and causes injury.

[L.M.]

This is my concern as well. Now that he knows how to escape, he is going to continue to do it anyway and I also worry about him getting pinned in there or cut up from a collapsing crate.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

I think he's ready for the house. Close all possible doors and start leaving him home for short time periods. You have a month to work up to 8 hours. It really helps to give dogs a very brisk 1/2 hour walk in the morning before you leave them for long periods. I know it means getting up earlier, but it's worth it.

[Ellen]

I just want to echo Joanne's caution about the potential for Seamus to get hurt while trying to get out of the crate. I know one woman whose puppy was hurt while in the crate -- apparently, the wire loop that holds the dog tags somehow got caught with the wire crate and pinned the puppy's head against the crate. Luckily, the owner came back home in town before there were any serious injury. So, given Seamus' Houdini act, if you decide to leave him in the crate, you may want to consider removing his collar before crating him, but then you have to be diligent in remembering to put the collar back on before walks.

[L.M.]

You have all convinced me...along with Seamus's "Please don't lock me in" look that he is ready to have some freedom. We are going to start with run of a finished off room in our basement and work our way upstairs from there. Luckily the basement is basically puppy-proofed and there is not too much that he can destroy down there. Thank you so much for all your advice/experiences. This site and all of you have been a godsend!! I will keep you updated on my big boy's progress!! Fingers and paws crossed please for Seamus...and my house lol.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Good Luck Seamus. My wish for you is a window to look out of while you wait for your mom and dad, and watch the squirrels all day. Behave and show them you can do this! :)