Transitioning Out of Crate

[Erin & Sasha]

Our family has recently adopted a 1 year old Labradoodle.  She currently sleeps in a crate at night, but really does not seem to like it.  She barks and whines until she finally falls asleep, not unlike a baby crying itself out at night.  We have tried on several occasions to let her sleep outside of the crate, but we always wake up to pee accidents somewhere in the house.

 

Is there a point at which you can transition the dog from sleeping in the crate to sleeping freely in the house?  If so, what are some of the signs?  It's my understanding that the crate is more of a training aid than a long term solution.  Is this correct?

 

This is only my 2nd dog and my first dog-in-crate.  Any advice would be much appreciated. 

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

We just kept our bedroom door closed and permitted the dogs to sleep in the room with us. Spud was 3 months old and Starlit was 4 months old. Both were usually so tired at the end of the day they slept so sound that there was never any problems at night as long as they knew they were close to us/with us.

Our dogs are a bit older now, 8 months and 18 months and we now leave the bedroom door open. Spud never wanders but Starlit is a nightowl and will wander a bit--she checks on the cats, gets a drink, and really does not want to go to sleep.

We do have a gate that prevents them from going into the kitchen but really................ for the most part just want to be with you and always come right back.

Give it a try--with an one-year old with your door closed. I think it will be fine.

If your new dog is a chewer, provide a good chew to give them something to do and relieve the evening stress. This usually puts mine right to sleep. Nothing like a good chew mine tell me :)

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Hi

Is you doodle housebroken during the day? As in no accidents at all? She should be able to hold it at least 8 hours at one year old, if not more. if she is not completely perfect always in the day she will have to sleep in her crate at night. It may help to cover it with a light sheet, like you would a bird. Or put it in your bedroom, or both. Older dogs that have not been well housebroken can be difficult more difficult to housebreak. They don't have to go as often so you have to be very patient catching them peeing outside and then praise lavishly. Have you taken her to the vet yet? She might have an urinary track infection that is causing her to pee frequently.

Pick up her water about 8pm for an 11pm bedtime. Take her outside to pee and make sure she does. Then put her crate in your bedroom and leave the door open. It might be worth it to invest in an x-pen to attach to the open crate and lay something waterproof down with towels or blanket on top.

I keep my puppies in my laundry room, a small hard surface bathroom would work also, until they are truly housetrained.

Good luck and have patience.

.

Make sure you clean up her accidents thoroughly with Nature's Miracle or similar. Otherwise, a female especially will just go right back to where she went.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I agree--Housebroken is the key. As long at he is housebroken it should be no problem.

We are now leaving our dogs in the living room for an hour at a time when we leave home. YEAH. I thought the day would never come.

If he is and is a new dog to you.... Try cuddling with the dog. For me, it is wonderful to cuddle with my dogs at bedtime.

Spud jumps off the bed after 10 minutes. Starlit stretches out and hogs the bed and gets as close as possible :) It will be great in the freezing winter.

P.S. Congratulations on your adoption. :)

[F, Calla & Luca]

I still just leave them out and about when I'm just going to do something outside for a few minutes Maybe someday....

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

If Starlit acted like a puppy this would not be happening. She is way to old for her age. I long for her to play more. She gets into nothing.

Spud has finally reached the age of responsibility--although we are still leaving a marrow bone if we leave. Who knows, maybe one day the couch will be gone but so far, really really good.

[Erin & Sasha]

She's fairly housetrained. She has had a few accidents since we adopted her, so I tend to take her out pretty frequently for potty breaks. I think I'll work on spacing out the bathroom trips soon.

[L.M.]

Our Goldendoodle is 1 and he is still in his crate during the day when we are work....and I don't see him getting out of there anytime soon lol. He doesn't have accidents but I can imagine what my house would look like if I let him roam free...Anyway, at night, since he is crated during the day, we let him sleep in our room with the door closed like Joanne suggested. When he was little we invested in a freestanding baby "pen" that we put him in with his bed. They are like gates you just connect into a large cube, but there is no "roof" to them. It worked wonderfully and eventually we started to remove sides from it and now he just sleeps wherever he wants in our room (the door still remains closed.) I definitely recommend the freestanding pen at first and then when you trust her, see how she does without it in the bedroom. The good thing is that you can even cover your floor area within the pen with wee pads or sheets and things if you are nervous she may have an accident at night.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Our six month old Doodle is gated in the bathroom which adjoins our bedroom....he can see us. He never has accidents anymore unless he is ill, but I don't trust that he won't find something inappropriate to "chew" if he had the run of the house. This works great for us. Our 15 month old Doodle has the run of the house now and can be trusted. I agree that picking up the water early in the evening, and trying to find a way to confine your Doodle where she can still see you are great ideas.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

We don't crate either of our dogs anymore at night. We stopped crating our puppy after two weeks and our older dog when she was about 5 months. They sleep in our bedroom with the door shut. I have not had one accident. We have two dog beds on the floor, but Vern prefers to sleep under our bed and Fudge sometimes with us, and sometimes on the wood floor.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Both my dogs are still in crates when I'm not home and I think we are all fine with it. Luca was not in a crate at night for very long. I kept Calla in a crate in my room until she was about 15 months old because she still liked to chew random things at times. Since she's been out and about at night she lets us all sleep later and has caused no problems. You just have to play it by ear. Calla's upstairs crate is still up and she"ll sleep in it for a while a times. I guess she likes it. So now both of them can go wherever they want except for a couple of spare rooms I keep closed off. I always leave water down and Luca generally has his leftover kibble too. It's funny, Calla is more of a night owl, too.

[Christine & Shelby]

I transitioned Shelby out of crate to freedom at night when she was about 5 months old. Initially I kept the bedroom door closed, but it turns out she is a bit of a wanderer, she would wake me up for a drink of water in the middle of the night. So after a few nights of that, I just left the door open and she did great. She knows I can't hear her when she paws at the back door, so she notifiys me in her own special way that she needs to go out by nosing the wood blinds in my bedroom! I think you will be fine.... just have some toys (non-squeaking) and a good chew or two in the bedroom!

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

how about putting your pup on a leash and tie her to your bed post at night? That way, she won't be wandering, but will still be close to you and confined to a small area. You could put her pillow and favorite toy on the floor next to you, and you'll be able to comfort her until she settles down for the night.