I have been asked by my daughter if we could look after her friends pom initially for a very short time but maybe for longer if that works as she is planning a travelling gap year.

Apparently little boy is a bit of chewer havn't heard much else yet he has not been crate trained and is about 2 years old.
My question is do you think it is possible /fair to train him to be confined in a crate as mine were until they wer both housetrained and had got past the chewy destructive stage. I used a crate at night and during the day no more that 4 hours without a break and usually less as my house is busy with people around during a lot of the day.
Your views please ?

i'm sure you can train a dog of this age to sleep in a crate but it all depends on the dog and may take time and patience  for him to get used to it.
i've never crated any of my dogs as i don't really like them and would rather confine them to one room in the house and if something is chewed then so be it but they grow out of it at some point usually. i'm lucky enough to have a big enough utility room and i put a dog gate on the door to the kitchen.
i'm sure someone will be along soon to advice how to crate train an older dog.
good luck looking after this doggy i'm sure your enough having him around.

> I used a crate at night and during the day no more that 4 hours without a break

When a pup has been crated all through the night, it is very unfair to expect it to spend 4 hours in a crate during the day.  That is far too long!

If he is still a chewer at this age, I feel that he has been left without company/stimulation, to get into such a habit.

I honestly feel that, at 2 years old, he is going to be distraught at lengthy periods of being confined when he has no experience of crates.

Do your dogs still sleep in crates at night?

Mine have crates in our utility room and all visiting dogs like to poke around in there and will often make themselves at home for a kip!  Neither of my boys are precious about their beds :)  Initially I bought a crate for my older dog when he got so attached to a crate at my mums that we had to tip it up to get him out.  You might find your friends pom will happily settle in a crate - door open - and then you can see how he feels about one of his own.  He'll probably be less willing to use it if he is the only one - but happy to follow the others example.

If you are proposing to crate him to prevent chewing then it's probably a bit late.  At 2 years old he has developed chewing habits that may need different strategies to overcome.  A hazard free room with a baby gate and proper chew toys could work but he'll need some training too.

It's a big commitment to take on a loaned dog - your daughters friend is lucky to have you.  I hope he/she appreciates you :)

treat him like a puppy. Give him the proper training he needs and use a crate (as you would with puppys) while you get him out of the chewing stage. Then he can remain as your other dogs do after growing out of that stage and be allowed free rein.  He may have been chewing through boredom/lack of traning etc, so you may find that it soon stops when he comes to your and has companionship and clear guidleines and boundarys ??

My dogs arn't crated anymore, infact the only reason the little one still has her crate is so that she has an area to retreat to if she wants to especially as my other dog is very large incomparison to her he is a gsd.
From having them as pups they have been crated all night and then at times during the day while I am at work and there is no one in. It has worked well for us and the dogs ,3 times now and I have got happy dogs. As I explained the little one has a crate so she can sleep away from the bigger one but they are separated in separate rooms when I cant supervise just incase over enthusistic play causes injury to such a little dog.
I must say   I am concerned that crate training the friends dog at 2 is a bit late and may stress him out. Dont know much about him yet and it may be after due consideration to your comments and learning more about him he may not fit with our furrie family and our life. I dont want to make him unhappy but the chewing is a worry  to me I can deal with most things but not good with that sort of damage unless as Freds mum says it may be that companionship and a different life may change things . What ever I will take it very carefully if we decide to take him on. and will have for a few days here and there with him before I finally comit. My lot are very happy together and don't want to risk that. Thanks for your advice