Freya (our labbie baby) is now 7 and a half months old, and yesterday, after hauling her crate out of the porch, in order to wash the floor, I decided that I wouldn't put it back, but would put her bed in the porch, on its own for her to sleep in.   She has been sleeping in the crate since she came to us in January, and for the last 8 or 10 weeks, we've not bothered closing the door - she's been a really good girl - as long as she is first one out the back door in the morning (in front of Purdey and the others), we've not had any accidents for a long time.

Anyway, she seemed slightly puzzled when we put her to bed last night, but eventually she and Gypsy settled down.   Not a sound all night - as usual but oh boy this morning... one pair of wellies - chewed, one clothes brush - demolished, one hi-vis coat - chewed at the bottom AND a big puddle on the floor!!!

Now she's been able to get out of her crate for the last 8 or 10 weeks, as I said - she's always been out of her crate and at the door when we come down in the morning, so she has always been able to do any of the naughty things she did last night - but it seems as if the crate not being there has led her into naughtiness - Gypsy was still sitting in her bed with a "nothing to do with me" look on her face.

I've put the crate back in again :D

Margot

Personally for me, I would never use a crate for my dog! I dont like them. Was she in a crate for a particular reason or just for toilet issues? I personally think that you should move everything that she can chew out of the way, you're asking for trouble otherwise, and get back to basics with her housetraining. Start from scratch iff nescersary, which it sounds like it is. Hope all goes well with it, do your other dogs sleep in crates or not?

:D

Hee hee if I had to move everything Leon could chew out of the way there would be nothing left (including cupboards, floor, walls)......

I have "crate trained" puppies for the past five puppies we have reared, and our experience is that (1) when very small, crates are used as the puppy's personal space - gives them a safe retreat from family hurly burly, where they can safely observe the goings on in a household without being in danger of being trodden on etc etc (2) if, we have had to leave a puppy for a couple of hours or so, not only is it safe, but so is the house!!

Before crate training, I have lost count of the cost of damage inflicted on our house/possessions (most of which, as you rightly point out Gonzo, should be put safely away;) ) by our previous 7 or 8 dogs as puppies !  You cannot put doors, walls, tables, chairs and settees away safely!!!

What I was saying was, that Freya has not had the door shut on her crate for nearly 3 months - she COULD have created havoc in any of those 3 months, but didn't - but the minute the crate wasn't there - she did!!

PS  we didn't put the crate back last night - but she was a good girl & inflicted no more damage to shoes - although I did make sure that the good shoes were removed from the shoe rack - and took the decent coats and put them away!!!

Margot

I would guess that she was very happy in her crate at night whether the door was closed or not.   Dogs are creatures of habit and like their routines.  By not having her usual bed in the porch she probably got a bit stressed, hence the chewing and the puddle. ;)

sounds just like Bruce, :D we now 'Bruce-proof' when we go to bed or go out as he is too big for our crate, and just when we think we are getting somewhere he goes backwards, last night for example he managed to unwedge the bathroom bin, get the toilet brush, broom and leave a pile and puddle which he hasnt done for a couple of months now, but yesturday was a hectic day, we were invited to a bbq at my bosses house, i also had horse riding as my boss also has one of the puppies i said i would bring bruce along so they could go into her kennel and save them keep whining to play with the kids, so when i went riding bruce came along and sat and watched from the safety of the car, (windows and boot open i hasten to add) we then went along to my work and played with Bo, i had to go and do a shift so got Gucci the rotti and dissappeared at 3.30 got back with Gucci at 10.00, picked Bruce up only to find that when Bo was fed Bruce gave his im hungry and starving they neverr feed me look so also got fed and ate his dinner as well as bos came home and rufused to move al evening, and even though he went out before going to bed i did expect some mess due to the amount of food that he had managed to con :D lets hope tonight is a better night
tanya

I'd definitely say that she was a bit miffed that you took away her den! But I'm glad to hear that she's settled down now - it was probably a minor stressing out over the change.

Our boy is nearly 6 months now, and he LOVES his crate - he has a normal dog bed AND a sofa, but he almost always chooses to go into the crate when he's sleepy. I think it's the enclosed cosy feeling of it that he likes, plus the fact that it's a bit more removed from the hustle and bustle of a noisy house, and the other animals (his mother and 2 cats). He seems to think of it as his own personal space. He actually sleeps in the bed with us at night, but he doesn't like going onto the bed when we're not there - he'll fall asleep if I'm in the bedroom reading, but as soon as I get up to get a cup of tea or something - woosh - he's back downstairs in his crate.

Chilli is 3, and she also loves her crate, so we keep it out for her (always open, of course - she's perfectly trustworthy around the house). It's the only place she can escape from Bam's boisterousness!

I would agree with Sally. My 6mth old GSD will settle anywhere so long as she has her crate. She also has her own bed in the lounge as I thought she would prefer to be closer to us in the evenings but has never used it and prefers her crate in the hall under the stairs to anywhere else. My daughters adult dog however, has always had a normal dog bed and this would be toted around as required but one weekend we went on a caravan trip and my daughter forgot the dogs bed. We did not realise this untill we reached our destination and all the shops were closed so unable to even buy a replacement. We made a makeshift bed from towels and blankets but she cried all night. The next day we found a pet shop and my daughter bought another identical bed to the one at home as we could not stand another sleepless night. This is why great thought needs to be made as where you would like your dog to go to bed, right from the start. They get so attached that it causes great distress if you decide later to change it.