# What's the longest your dog has been crated?



## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

Since it's holiday season and many of us have family come over, do you crate your dog during this time? Or if you go out to visit family and you crate and you're gone all day, plus the dogs are crated at night; 

_*what's the longest the dogs have been crated?*
_
Is it alright to crate a dog for 8-10 hours, break for a few hours and then re-crate at night for another 8-10 hours without exercise? I worry :c 

Yesterday I was gone all day (probably about 10-12 hours). The dogs are crated at night between 6-8 hours. That only gives them about 6-4 hours of down time and remind you this is without exercise. Is this harsh on a dog? I mean it's not every day that this happens. But still, I worry :c


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

It certainly doesn't hurt the dog once in a while. Sometimes things come up and can't be helped. I once left my GSD in her crate late one afternoon, was in a car accident and didn't get back 'til the next afternoon. I was in MD. My husband was in CA. My daughter had to stay overnight in the hospital. That was a long time without a potty break, but she didn't even have an accident. Poor girl.


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## angierose (Apr 20, 2009)

Yes, once in a while a long crating is forgivable. Mine have some long down times on some weekends when we are gone a lot, but they aren't crated, and I work from home so they get plenty of playing and interaction during the week. 

Obviously it wasn't something I wanted to do, but when my dad was in the hospital for the final time, I brought Kaylee with me to my parents' house. She ended up crated in a strange house after a four hour car ride for about sixteen hours. I hadn't planned on that, but Dad took a bad turn fast and we ended up staying overnight at the hospital. She acted a bit pitiful when we came home but was okay. Actually, she seemed mostly worried about me.


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## Gharrissc (May 19, 2012)

I don't generally crate the dogs when family comes over unless there is someone who is uncomfortable (people or dogs). I had 39 people over at my house over Thanksgiving and all of the dogs were out together (my 5 plus 5 that came with various people). We did crate for a short time when some of the younger dogs got a little too rambunctious,but it was only for about an hour. To answer the question though the longest I have ever had the dogs crated was for 14 hours. Both my husband and I were gone with an unexpected delay,and we couldn't find anyone to get to the house to let dogs out. From now on we try to plan ahead for one our friends to go to the house if we are going to be gone with delays.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I don't think doing this once in awhile is going to 'harm' a dog, they may be a little wild because they've missed that exercise/activity for a bit, I think "we" feel more guilty and worry than the dogs do

Mine are not normally crated when I have company over, and the girls are never crated anyway. My male aussie IS in a crate when no one is home, and probably the longest he's been crated is 7 hours..Normally he's crated around 4 if that, a day.


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## m1953 (May 7, 2012)

We had 24 for thanksgiving including our 2 year old and one month old grandchild. We left Nala who is eight months old, out the whole time and she was awesome. No problems at all. I look it it as part of the whole socialization process...


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## spidermilk (Mar 18, 2010)

If I know my dog is going to have a day with lots of crating I will try to do lots of exercise the day before. If possible, I will get up early on the day of the event and go do something with Dax before family comes over. On Thanksgiving I got up and put the turkey in and then we went on a nice long walk in the woods. He was content to sleep the rest of the day.

For my family it depends who is coming over and how many people. If people are bringing young kids I always crate him or if there is anyone who is uncomfortable around him. Usually he just lays on his bed and snoozes while family is over anyway so it doesn't really matter if i crate him or not...


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I did not crate my dogs for Thanksgiving either and they all behaved nicely. Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't even have a crate up that can be used for a dog(its my storage area now) When they were in the process of crate training, the longest they were in there was 6 hours.


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## wyominggrandma (Jan 2, 2011)

I have shipped dogs to Japan and they were crated for over 16 hours. Not one ever had an accident in the crate..........


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

Mine average about 4-5 hours in a crate. My sister lives with me and is home when not in class or at work, so she can let the dogs out, play with them, walk them, etc. when I have a long day. 

The longest they are crated for is probably on schH days, where they can be in the car crates from 6am to 8pm. Of course there are breaks and training in between and we do try to do something fun before or after to allow them to stretch their legs.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

when i was crating my dog i never let it go longer
than 3 or 4 hours. if we were gone longer than
3 or 4 hours our neighbor came in let our dog have a break.
when we had quest i used that time to train and socialize
so that in the future we didn't have to crate our dog
when we had guest.


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## Lucky Paw (Sep 29, 2012)

My dogs are so good i dont even own a crate


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## Blanketback (Apr 27, 2012)

The longest my puppy's been crated is about 4.5 hours. He's free at night, but he stays on his dog bed. If you have to crate Zeeva and Smokey for a long time every once in a while, they'll be fine. I know I'd feel bad about it too, though. But it's not going to hurt them.


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## KatsMuse (Jun 5, 2012)

Zeeva said:


> Since it's holiday season and many of us have family come over, do you crate your dog during this time? Or if you go out to visit family and you crate and you're gone all day, plus the dogs are crated at night;
> 
> _*what's the longest the dogs have been crated?*
> _
> ...



IMO, 16-20 hours of being crated without exercise, is ok if it's just a day or for a once-in-a-while occasion.
If its longer than that, I personally would find an alternative solution. 
IMO, too hard on the dogs and I'd feel guilty.

(Flights and emergencies are understandable...those cant be helped.)

If I was gone that long, I would have someone let them out more. 
If it's for a long-term company visit, I'd consider boarding them. JMO.


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

The longest Ky's ever been crated is 8.5 hours and that was one day. My dad lives upstairs, and works about 2 blocks from home. He comes home every day for lunch and lets her out. 

I leave the house at 6:45 and am home by 4. My dad leaves at 7 and is home by 3 ... Ky's out for an hour at lunch, and my dad lets her out when he gets home. When I get home she's not in her crate until the next morning when I leave for work again. 

The one day my dad couldn't come home for lunch (about a month ago) was quite funny ... he emailed me in a panic ... I can't make it home for lunch, have meeting, will Ky be ok? 

I had to chuckle as I emailed him back ... dad, she's 16 months old, she'll be fine. 

HIM: R u sure?
ME: Yes, don't worry
HIM: I can stop by for 5 minutes before my meeting
ME: Don't worry
HIM: do you want me to call the neighbout
ME: GO TO YOUR MEETING DON'T WORRY

Considering my dad's never raised a dog and doesn't know much about them, it was pretty funny to see how concerned he was!!! He does love my girl tho!!!

Amina ... if it's a one-off kind of thing, seriously, don't worry about it. Yeah, it sucks, but life's not perfect. If you can get them a good run early in the morning to get rid of the "zoomies" they'll be more accepting of not being able to have the run of the house. 

Have a great visit with your mom!


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## SukiGirl (Aug 31, 2012)

Suki will be one tomorrow  and she is hardly ever crated anymore. She sleeps by our bed on the floor every night now without incident. The only time she is crated is when we are at work...on average 6 hours a day.


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