# Crate to House Transition



## stobias712 (Jan 14, 2015)

:help:Our boy is almost 5 months old. I am wondering when/how people have transitioned from their dogs being in a crate when gone to being able to roam free? I want it to be as smooth a transition as possible. 

Growing up with shepherds there was acres upon acres for them to be outside so it wasn't as difficult. We had them outside during the day and inside at night. We are currently renting and I don't have a secure back yard to leave him in the day so I'm hoping I can find the most painless way of making this happen. Lots of detail please!!!

Thank you!


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Delgado was two years old before he was allowed free reign


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

My dog is 2 and still crated when we aren't home. He gets abit to crazy when the neighbour's wild bunnies start running around front yard. 
What we have done is transitioned to him being out all night when we are home. Aside from the bunnies at 2-3 A.M it's gone well. We have a gate for bedroom door as he checks on me hourly by licking my face so I really needed to stop that and get a good night sleep.


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## stobias712 (Jan 14, 2015)

Saphire said:


> My dog is 2 and still crated when we aren't home. He gets abit to crazy when the neighbour's wild bunnies start running around front yard.
> What we have done is transitioned to him being out all night when we are home. Aside from the bunnies at 2-3 A.M it's gone well. We have a gate for bedroom door as he checks on me hourly by licking my face so I really needed to stop that and get a good night sleep.


 
Yes he is already sleeping out of his crate and on a bed at the food of our bed at night. We keep the door shut though so he can't roam through the house. At night I don't believe there would be any problems (we have all fallen asleep in the living room together into the early morning hours with no issues at all). My concerns are for during the day.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

Why not start with full roam at night and see how that goes. If all is well, start leaving him during the day for short periods, gradually increasing.
That's my plan once I have the reaction to prey bunnies under control lol.


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## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

Mine were transitioned in increments of time. First time it's 30 min, then 1 hr, then 2 hrs, so on. By the time she's almost 1 she had free roam of the house. She'd have it much sooner if she was the only dog roaming freely at home. 

Once her puppy teething stage was over she was a reliable house dog. I did not raise her with much time in the crate to begin with. She sleeps when I'm gone and saves all her crazy-ness for when I'm home.


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## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

The most mine ever get is gated in the family room if we're outside for a while. I use outdoor kennels, crates inside. I never really give them free reign of the house. I just don't imagine mine not getting into something, so I never let them have that kind of access.

Being in an apartment is tougher, I know. I don't want to crate them all day, so I'd probably do something goofy like put a kennel in one of the rooms, just to let them have some freedom to move around. 4x6 or something. Not the best advice in the world, Lol.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

Steve Strom said:


> The most mine ever get is gated in the family room if we're outside for a while. I use outdoor kennels, crates inside. I never really give them free reign of the house. I just don't imagine mine not getting into something, so I never let them have that kind of access.
> 
> Being in an apartment is tougher, I know. I don't want to crate them all day, so I'd probably do something goofy like put a kennel in one of the rooms, just to let them have some freedom to move around. 4x6 or something. Not the best advice in the world, Lol.


I feel your pain lol. Every night before we go to bed we do a quick dog proofing. No food left on counters, garbage container emptied outside. I then check my son's bedroom for socks.....Gus loves to eat socks!


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## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

Socks! I could just imagine that vet bill. Some things just come down to what we want to work on vs what we just find easier to manage. There's some things I just don't feel like spending the time on.


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## stobias712 (Jan 14, 2015)

Saphire said:


> I feel your pain lol. Every night before we go to bed we do a quick dog proofing. No food left on counters, garbage container emptied outside. I then check my son's bedroom for socks.....Gus loves to eat socks!


 
Gunner has a fascination with socks!! when I'm folding laundry he will dig around the basket only looking for socks (the weirdest thing).

I'm definitely going to wait until he has finished teething ebfore we try anything. But Maybe I'll try a gated room for a few minutes at a time. Then gradually increase the space and the time gone. We never gated our dogs growing up, and I'm fairly certain the only reason I do it now is because of my living situation :/


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## stobias712 (Jan 14, 2015)

Bear L said:


> Mine were transitioned in increments of time. First time it's 30 min, then 1 hr, then 2 hrs, so on. By the time she's almost 1 she had free roam of the house. She'd have it much sooner if she was the only dog roaming freely at home.
> 
> Once her puppy teething stage was over she was a reliable house dog. I did not raise her with much time in the crate to begin with. She sleeps when I'm gone and saves all her crazy-ness for when I'm home.


 
This is what I'm hoping to get to. I'll definitely wait until he is finished teething and probably block him off in a room like the kitchen to start.


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## stobias712 (Jan 14, 2015)

Saphire said:


> Why not start with full roam at night and see how that goes. If all is well, start leaving him during the day for short periods, gradually increasing.
> That's my plan once I have the reaction to prey bunnies under control lol.


It's hard to do during the day for short periods since both my husband and I work full time. I'll have to try and attack this on a long weekend or something. lol Must be methodical!


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## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

Do you ever have to worry about the landlord coming in when you aren't there?


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## stobias712 (Jan 14, 2015)

Steve Strom said:


> Do you ever have to worry about the landlord coming in when you aren't there?


 
Funny thing... the landlord lives below us. But he is used to hearing people moving about because of the fact that we are in an apartment. They would notify us well in advance if they needed to get in. We would then crate him. But we ar eoging ot make sure that he and the land lords are well aquainted so if they do need to get in, it isn't an issue


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

It depends on potty training and chewing. Robyn was out completely by 7 months. Midnite was out by 9 months(he was about 8 months when I got him). My oldest golden was about 3-4 months(dream dog). My younger golden is out of a crate but still in a gated area at almost 2. Night time is the best way to start and short intervals during the day to test them.


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## Chai (Dec 11, 2014)

Since 8 weeks old we only had Tchai crated when we weren't home (about 3 hours a day when he was 3 months), otherwise he was tethered to one of us. That way we could teach him what was acceptable or not throughout the house. We granted freedom one room at a time, 1 hour at a time. If he did something he wasn't supposed to, it was back to tethering. At 5 months old he now has almost all the house available to him, minus the cat's room and 2 bedrooms. He is alone during the work week for 4-5 hours a day, and no problems so far apart from one ruined novel I left next to my bed (hadn't finished reading it >.<). 

I will say that I tucker him out in the mornings and evenings, so he barely has any energy to do anything but sleep or gently play when he's in the house anyway  AND I leave something yummy for him to chew on plus toys, varying it to keep his interest and deter inappropriate chewing. Oh, and he only got this level of freedom once he hadn't had a potty accident in a month. 

Use your judgement as to when he's ready for certain things. Our previous GSD's were only fully trusted well after a year old. The main concern for me was their safety i.e. eating/chewing something dangerous. I think I could leave Tchai longer if I had to, but wouldn't want to set him up for failure as I don't consider his potty training proofed enough for longer than 5 hours (apart from night time when he sleeps right through). Plus, I just don't like being away from him that long! 

I realise that working full time makes it trickier though :/ Use the weekends to do most of his training and proofing. Small steps and consistent expectations are key


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

stobias712 said:


> It's hard to do during the day for short periods since both my husband and I work full time. I'll have to try and attack this on a long weekend or something. lol Must be methodical!


Start with after work and days off.


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## Rangers_mom (May 16, 2013)

I think that 5 months may be a little young for free reign while you are gone. I know that we got rid of the crate before Ranger was a year old but I think it was closer to 8 or 9 months. Like others have already said we started with short periods of time and worked up to longer periods of being uncrated.


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## stobias712 (Jan 14, 2015)

aceKeturah said:


> Since 8 weeks old we only had Tchai crated when we weren't home (about 3 hours a day when he was 3 months), otherwise he was tethered to one of us. That way we could teach him what was acceptable or not throughout the house. We granted freedom one room at a time, 1 hour at a time. If he did something he wasn't supposed to, it was back to tethering. At 5 months old he now has almost all the house available to him, minus the cat's room and 2 bedrooms. He is alone during the work week for 4-5 hours a day, and no problems so far apart from one ruined novel I left next to my bed (hadn't finished reading it >.<).
> 
> I will say that I tucker him out in the mornings and evenings, so he barely has any energy to do anything but sleep or gently play when he's in the house anyway  AND I leave something yummy for him to chew on plus toys, varying it to keep his interest and deter inappropriate chewing. Oh, and he only got this level of freedom once he hadn't had a potty accident in a month.
> 
> ...


Yes when we are home he has access to all but two rooms currently. He hasn't had an accident in over a month so i think we are over that battle. He knows to ring the bells on the door whne he needs to releive himself. Recently I have started by leaving to go get the laundry and having him out of his cate during that time. He is fine except for that he jumps up and scratches the door like crazy (HELP ME WITH THAT!!!). He also likes to try and chew on the kitchen floor mat but this is getting better and better every day with him not going near it. My husband usually walks him around the block in the morning. I think once we really start with it i'll run home mid day on my lunch break like i used to when he was younger to let him out. 

He has a basket of toys which he dives into every night. He is very selective about what he plays with. Even though it is all right there, he is always bringing out a new one to play with. What kind of chew toys do you have for yours? He gets bored with a kong easily, and he LOVES the stuffed femurs but they are very loud on our upstaris apartment floors. 

When things are picked up and put in their proper place, he doesn't chew on anything other than his toys. He loves to look out the window at people walking by as well.


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## stobias712 (Jan 14, 2015)

Rangers_mom said:


> I think that 5 months may be a little young for free reign while you are gone. I know that we got rid of the crate before Ranger was a year old but I think it was closer to 8 or 9 months. Like others have already said we started with short periods of time and worked up to longer periods of being uncrated.


We aren;t planning to start it now. I just want to have a plan so when it comes time, I'm not throwing 3 different theories his way. I'd rather it be one smooth transition


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## Chai (Dec 11, 2014)

stobias712 said:


> Yes when we are home he has access to all but two rooms currently. He hasn't had an accident in over a month so i think we are over that battle. He knows to ring the bells on the door whne he needs to releive himself. Recently I have started by leaving to go get the laundry and having him out of his cate during that time. He is fine except for that he jumps up and scratches the door like crazy (HELP ME WITH THAT!!!). He also likes to try and chew on the kitchen floor mat but this is getting better and better every day with him not going near it. My husband usually walks him around the block in the morning. I think once we really start with it i'll run home mid day on my lunch break like i used to when he was younger to let him out.
> 
> He has a basket of toys which he dives into every night. He is very selective about what he plays with. Even though it is all right there, he is always bringing out a new one to play with. What kind of chew toys do you have for yours? He gets bored with a kong easily, and he LOVES the stuffed femurs but they are very loud on our upstaris apartment floors.
> 
> When things are picked up and put in their proper place, he doesn't chew on anything other than his toys. He loves to look out the window at people walking by as well.


He sounds like a very smart pup! (ringing the bell for potty and no inappropriate chewing) . 

With the laundry situation, have you tried leaving him a special, long lasting treat? To cut the head off potential separation anxiety, I tried to let my guy know that while me leaving him sucks...you get something tasty out of it! I use natural, dried meat rolls made right here in my home state i.e. Roo (yes, Kangaroo) bars, beef jerky, beef tendon etc. Takes him a while to gnaw/chomp through. He LOVES them. Now when he sees me pick up my work bag or when I say "stay here for a while" if I have to leave him in a certain part of the house, he runs into his den for his special "mums-going-away-for-a-while treat". It takes his mind of of my absence, and by the time he's done, he's in a calm and relaxed state and usually goes to sleep (I set up a web cam the first few times to see!). Try starting with just 30 seconds, if he's calm you praise and treat like crazy! Then build it up to 1 minute, 5 minutes etc. He also know that he gets to enter rooms/pass through doors/get me back ONLY if he is calm. Now, I can shut him in a room/out of a room and he either plays with a toy or lays down and waits. This took us daily practice for a couple months 

I don't know what his energy level or drive is like, but for Tchai a walk around the block just doesn't cut it :crazy: I take him out for an hour in the morning, which is mixed with walking, training, play, and off leash romping. And then it's another 1-3 hours in the evening. Just make sure his ready to flop down after those exercise sessions!

Our guy gets bored with Kongs too. We have A LOT of toys that we rotate every few days to a week, otherwise he gets bored with them and they just lay around and trip me up. There's also special toys that he only gets in certain situations i.e. human dinner time, relaxing time, home alone time etc. Tchai loves the rubber type toys with textured surfaces like bumps, rivets or "ribbed". He is teething atm and so that may be why. He also like rope toys that I freeze, bully sticks (expensive but each one lasts quite a few evenings of aggressive chewing for us), rugby balls (i get them for $10 at our target and they last a a while), these rubber treat stick things (kind of like the hollowed femurs but rubber) that we stuff with all sorts of things, and consumables like jerky and tendons - but we monitor him on all consumables apart from easily breakable/digestible stuff.


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## peppsmom (Oct 4, 2014)

stobias712 said:


> Gunner has a fascination with socks!! when I'm folding laundry he will dig around the basket only looking for socks (the weirdest thing).


Mine is obsessed with socks too. She will stick her head into boots and pull them out and whine when I make her drop it! 

=)

Regarding the OP, mine is 6 1/2 months old, and I am no where near leaving her unattended for more than 5 minutes in the puppy proofed areas of the house!:crazy:


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## stobias712 (Jan 14, 2015)

aceKeturah said:


> He sounds like a very smart pup! (ringing the bell for potty and no inappropriate chewing) .
> 
> With the laundry situation, have you tried leaving him a special, long lasting treat? To cut the head off potential separation anxiety, I tried to let my guy know that while me leaving him sucks...you get something tasty out of it! I use natural, dried meat rolls made right here in my home state i.e. Roo (yes, Kangaroo) bars, beef jerky, beef tendon etc. Takes him a while to gnaw/chomp through. He LOVES them. Now when he sees me pick up my work bag or when I say "stay here for a while" if I have to leave him in a certain part of the house, he runs into his den for his special "mums-going-away-for-a-while treat". It takes his mind of of my absence, and by the time he's done, he's in a calm and relaxed state and usually goes to sleep (I set up a web cam the first few times to see!). Try starting with just 30 seconds, if he's calm you praise and treat like crazy! Then build it up to 1 minute, 5 minutes etc. He also know that he gets to enter rooms/pass through doors/get me back ONLY if he is calm. Now, I can shut him in a room/out of a room and he either plays with a toy or lays down and waits. This took us daily practice for a couple months
> 
> ...


When we leave him now, we actually fill a Kong with peanut butter and he knows that in order to get it, he has to go in his crate. We just moved into a new apartment and With all of the up and downs while leaving him loose in the new place, I think it has been a realization to him that we will come right back. He used to jump up on the doors but now I just hear him whine for a little and nudge those bells on the door. 

My next thing is to get him excited for something when my husband or i head for the door simply to even do laundry as opposed to him getting anxious. I'll have to start giving him a treat when we leave just for a few minutes. 

He has these braded "raw- hides" (it's not really raw hide but i can't quite remember what it is) made by Dentley's that he loves! They last forever and they are usually what we give him to nibble on when we are making/eating dinner or just settling down for the night. 

We finally have a back yard that he can run circles in. Which he did this morning and was hysterical to watch )a little puppy barreling through 2-3 feet of snow! It was up to his neck)

There are many times where I think wea ren't making progress, but then out of the blue he will catch on to something and it makes me suhc a proud mama  He is now understanding that "leave it" is for more things tha just his treats during training, and he is definitely understanding what "no" means because he walks away in circles and starts having a little hissy fit (but he listend, thats all that matters!).


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