Crate vs. play pen

[AliandShooter]

So our doodle has outgrown his crate and he's only 8 months old I'm sure he would have been okay for awhile in the XL crate, but I didn't want to keep spending money on crate after crate so we went ahead and got him the XXL  and He's loving all the space as you all know doodles sleep all kinds of crazy. The only thing is I hate the way that big-o-crate looks like in my living room and theirs no where else to place it. So I considered about getting a pen but I'm not sure how he'll like it or how he'll do in it. I liked the plastic one as my sister uses those for her standard poodles and they've done well with them the only thing is I'm afraid he'll chew some of the corners out of boredom.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

How much time does he spend in the crate? I ask because at 8 months, many dogs are reliable in the house without being confined, so maybe you don't need it at all? 

If he does still need the crate, there are some really nice ones that look like end tables. https://www.hayneedle.com/product/boomer-george-newport-ii-black-pe...

[AliandShooter]

We love him to pieces, but I will not even consider leaving home until he settles down a bit. He gets into the trash in the kitchen he will tear up the pillows from our couches, and he's chewed on our blinds (he likes looking out the window and I think it was just in his way lol) I work 3 days a week he stays in there anywhere from 8-10 hours. He does well supervised since he usually wants to stay with us anyways

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yeah, doesn't sound like he's ready for the run of the house, lol. 

[AliandShooter]

Lol eventually I’d like to let him hang out the house but I’m going to wait until he settles down a little bit more and start with gated areas for short periods at a time 

[Stephanie Bowman]

Our doodle Teddy used to stay in his crate while we were at work. I was lucky in that I could go home during lunchtime to give him a break from it. In all honesty, though I understand the science behind the crate, I've always hated the idea of leaving Teddy in one. So, at 6 months, we let him roam our living room and kitchen. Everything was fine until a month later when we went out of town. I guess he saw our luggage and knew something was up. When my dog sitter got to our house just a couple of hours after we had left him, he found that he had chewed our blinds. Similar to your experience, I feel like he wanted to look out the window and found a way to do so. So given that experience and our need to keep him safe, we bought a doggie gate to keep him in the kitchen. He jumped it. We bought a taller one. He jumped that one. And though he didnt destroy anything most of the time, we did find some blind residue in his stool, so he definitely kept working on his project.

We are now taking him to daycare during the week, but that gets expensive.

[Josh Adams]

I was going to add a discussion this evening about crate usage but came across this post. 

As our pups grow older and become more reliable on their own outside the crate, I wonder if it's still a good idea to crate them from time to time - so if we ever need to use it (emergencies or for travel), they're still used to the practice? We still crate our 6-month year old at night but not during the day. We had to put him in the crate the other day but he would not have it. He barked the entire time. Then today at the vet, he would not go in their crate while he was waiting to go into surgery (neuter). He used to LOVE his crate during the day. I wonder if he's gotten used to free access during the day (we do confine him to the living room when we leave though, he doesn't have full access).

[Stacy]

Crates that look like furniture are becoming a big thing! There are the commercial ones, but I found a guy on craigslist (see? Craigslist is good for something!) who makes custom crates and finishes them to your specifications. He was reasonable too. And he delivered. 

 

It takes a normal plastic crate pan that you can buy at Chewy or Petsmart. Excuse the pictures. I love this crate, but it's been sent to the room of the reject crates because it's way too small for Maggie.

[AliandShooter]

I love the idea of using decorative furniture like that the only problem is my doodle is huge and I'd like him to have enough room to wiggle around hes pretty tall and weights between 55-60 pounds and hes only 8 months!

[Stacy]

Oh yeah, he's going to be a big boy! Just another thought. You might look around your house and see what you could turn into a crate. I have this ugly table as a tv stand, and if I replaced it with a fancy crate I think it could be really cute. 

I also have a friend who cut a hole in their kitchen wall and put the dog crates in the garage behind it. I wish I had a picture, but it was so cute. It was the perfect disguise and it kept the crates out of the flow of traffic. 

[Lynda Kamrath]

I'm one of those strange people who never uses crates except to transport in the car when they are puppies.  My dogs all have an open baby playpen they use for a bed when they are young (less than a year) and then have sleeping mats and beds in different locations in the house.  A problem in a long-legged doodle who can step over the playpen.  Then I have to make a top for it out of plywood and hold it down with bungee cords.  I don't mind the look of a baby playpen in my house, but do not like the look of crates.  We have the back of our car fenced off for the dogs to ride back there in the car.  There is room for all three of them and they have had guests also.  Just my preference.

[Stacy]

This is one of those things that I see people say, that they don't crate their dogs past puppyhood and I can't wrap my head around it. The rationale I tell people is that, what if there's a natural disaster and we have to evacuate and the dogs need to be crated where we stay. They need to be comfortable in their crates. It makes me sound like a doomsday prepper. But it hides the truth, which is: my dogs are naughty! Long after adolescence.

I can just see Katie's little brain whirring along. Mom's not looking, what can I get into? Just today, I have a box of Kleenex on the table beside the couch. It's not usually there. Every time I get up to go get a drink I come back and she's eating them. They're clean kleenexes. Why are you eating them? I can't imagine what she'd think up if I left her out for hours.

I just can't figure out how people manage to have dogs who don't do things like this. I'm not so worried that they're going to mess up the house. I'm worried that they will do something that will kill them. I just can't imagine being able to do that. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jackdoodle had the run of the house from the third day he was here, at 14 months of age. He never touched a thing that didn't belong to him, whether someone was home or not. He never in his whole life with me went into a garbage can, not even bathroom wastebaskets full of dirty Kleenex. Never ate anything that wasn't given to him. Never damaged, destroyed or chewed a single thing other than the things I gave him to chew. He was amazing.

But, all of my other dogs had the run of the house too, once they were housebroken and past the puppy chewing stage. I did have to make sure garbage wasn't accessible and nothing dangerous was lying around within reach. (Prior to JD I had small dogs who couldnt reach counters, so that wasn't difficult). None ever got hurt or damaged anything beyond maybe a toy, which could have happened when I was home too. (While I am not a perfect housekeeper by any means, I do have a thing about laundry, clean or dirty, being put away. Socks are either in a drawer, in a closed hamper, or on your feet in my house.) Granted I always had single dogs; two or more together can get into more trouble than one, just like kids. Sinlge dogs mostly lay around and sleep or watch out the window, in my experience. Fosters were always crated when nobody was home.  
Jack never had a crate, but the others did as pups, and I just kept them out. The dogs used them as indoor "dog houses", a safe place to nap without fear of being stepped on or bothered by kids, a "hiding" place for coveted bones or toys. None had trouble being crated when necessary,  i.e. painters working in the house, etc. 
At this point, I can't imagine Jasper ever being that trustworthy, but at the same time, I know he will be.