Letting your Doodle stay out while you're gone, versus the crate

[James And Sophie]

We have a ten month old Goldendoodle Sophie who has been crate trained. At the current time, we don’t leave her in the crate for more than five hours at a time (and usually it’s 2-4 hours).  When she is out of the crate, she now (after gradual introduction) is able to roam throughout our ranch home, and is not destructive.  

We are trying to determine at what age, and whether, to let her start staying outside the crate while we’re gone.  My wife thinks that Sophie would enjoy being out of the crate as she’d be able to change position and location while resting, watch passersby at the window, get water, etc.  

I’m in the other camp, thinking Sophie is more secure and safer in the crate, even if it needed to be for five or six hours at a time.

We are most open to any thoughts you have about having a dog outside the crate when you’re gone, versus in.  

This is probably something we would work toward as she hits the one year mark, and with gradual increases of time left alone outside the crate if we opted to go that route.

Thanks so much!

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

My older doodle is left out when we are gone and I started doing that around 12months but he is gated so he only has access to part of the house. I tried giving him full access around 10 months and he ate a down comforter lol. So naturally he is confined to the kitchen, living room and family room- all down comforter and down pillow free :).

[James And Sophie]

Thanks so much, Jessica!

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

If she has free roam of the house and isn’t destructive while you’re there, I’d say it’s worth trying now if you're comfortable with it. I think it depends on the dog and not so much the age. Case in point, my two doodles.

I left Eloise out of her crate during the day right after she turned one. I felt she was ready at around 10 months but I delayed because it was November, and all I could think about was her being alone with the Christmas tree that would soon be up. (Looking back, I think she was ready even earlier than that, but I wasn’t, lol.) So I waited until right after the holidays and thankfully we never had any issues.

On the other hand, Beasley is 15 months old now, and I’m still not comfortable leaving her uncrated for the full day. She does fine when I leave her for a few hours at a time – and I should probably give her more credit than I do, but I’m concerned she would find mischief if left to her own devices for that long. Even though she's not destructive, she’s not quite the same “responsible” girl that Eloise is.  :) 

Whenever you decide to do it, set her up for success – don’t leave out anything that she could get into, and limit her access to see how she does at first. I started with small areas gated off – first allowing Eloise access to the family room, powder room and hallway, and gradually increased the area to the whole first floor, then to the whole house. I have a doggie cam, and she primarily stays in one room when I go to work, even with all her freedom – she basically sleeps on the couch all day!

[Kris and Sawyer]

^^^ What Julie said. Also, we started with just a few minutes at a time... I'd go outside and garden then check on him. Then moved to running a 15-30 min errand, etc. Sawyer always hated the crate so we moved him pretty quickly to free range. But we still close bedroom doors and scan the house before we leave and he's 2 years old now...

[James And Sophie]

Thanks so much, Julia.  I appreciate the info.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I didn't use the crate for long....basically just during the housebreaking phase.  I started leaving them free in a gated room for real short periods and then worked up to several hours at a time.  I made sure there was nothing they could get into, so the room where they were gated was pretty "stripped down".  The only problem we had was barking when they heard noises outside....we started leaving the TV, putting the air conditioning on, and closing the windows and that problem was solved.

[James And Sophie]

Sounds good, Jane.  We have always left the TV on for Sophie when we're gone, so  I will make sure we continue to do so if/when we start allowing her outside her crate.

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

Winnie was never a real "destructive chewer" so we really only used the crate for potty training. Once I could tell that she was fully trained, we started putting her crate in the kitchen (with the door left open) and the kitchen gated off. After a few weeks of that, we opened up the kitchen gate and gave her free reign (with the bedroom and bathroom doors kept closed). I believe she was about 6 months old. 

My previous dog was well over a year, however. But, that dog had far more of a penchant for chewing- furniture, magazines on a coffee table, chair legs, etc. I had to work with that dog for several months before I could leave her for any length of time and know that I wouldn't come home to a disaster! Winnie has never done any of that. So, like others have said, it is a real individual thing.

Best wishes!

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

Keeping your dogs used to the crate comes in handy when and if you would ever need to board them.  Our re-homed dood who is 6 1/2 is either crated during the day or confined to one room because she tends to get into things.  Skadi on the other hand has never gotten into things and has been allowed freedom since age 1.  

Try leaving the crate door open and available for Sophie, she might like that extra comfort of a small space.  I know Skadi sometimes looks to wedge herself into a comforting area ... so Sophie can have a choice.  Yes, like the movie...Sophie's choice. HA.

[Nancy and Georgia Brown]

I think it really depends on the dog as others have said. And dogs earn privileges in my house.

Georgia was crate trained and didn't put up too much of a fuss, but never went into it unless I made her. She was roaming the house and left alone with full access at about 5 months on for incremental increases in time. But only because she was so good and so nondestructive. Sometimes I think it's because she isn't smart enough to be bad. And I'm okay with that.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Enzo has never been a chewer or counter surfer. We started out at 6 months.....leaving her to roam free, while we were working out in the yard. We then did short trips, running errands...1/2 hr, then 1 hr, etc. She's proved herself over and over.