# lock crate during the night?



## JeepHound

Achilles came to us already housebroken and crate trained.

However, I'm not sure exactly what one does during crate training and what I should continue to do.

He goes into the crate during the day on his own, and at night will go in on his own or our "command" (still working on that one).

However, overnight, do I lock the crate or leave the door open for him? We've kind of been doing both, though more recently we've been locking the door as he roams around during the night.


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## doggiedad

closing the door of the crate at night keeps your dog
and all the things in the house safe. if your dog is 100%
house broken leaving the door open is ok. when i say
house broken i include no potty in the house and chewing
on anything in the house, counter surfing, going
in the trash, getting the towel paper, no drinking
out of the toilet, etc. if the only things he does is play
with his toys and jumps on the bed or sofa he's house broken. 



JeepHound said:


> Achilles came to us already housebroken and crate trained.
> 
> However, I'm not sure exactly what one does during crate training and what I should continue to do.
> 
> He goes into the crate during the day on his own, and at night will go in on his own or our "command" (still working on that one).
> 
> >>>> However, overnight, do I lock the crate or leave the door open for him? <<<<
> 
> We've kind of been doing both, though more recently we've been locking the door as he roams around during the night.


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## JeepHound

thanks for the quick reply.

He's pretty well housebroken, let's us know all hours of the day when he needs to go out.

The safety issue, well... 

We were downstairs yesterday when we heard this crash upstairs. He knocked a lamp off from the nightstand. Either did it nosing at it or accidentally with his tail.

Locked up at night it is


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## elisabeth_00117

I have always locked mine in the crate at first. Then at night I put a secure baby gate at my doorway and allow them to be in my room with me and my other dog. I am a light sleeper and can pretty much tell where the pup is at the slightest noise. Also, I puppy proof my room REALLY good before doing this. With Zefra it was around 7months that she was allowed to sleep out of a crate at night.


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## shepherdmom

doggiedad said:


> no drinking
> out of the toilet, etc.


Just curious why no drinking out of the toilet? My dogs all drink out of the toilets and always have.


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## JeepHound

elisabeth_00117 said:


> I have always locked mine in the crate at first. Then at night I put a secure baby gate at my doorway and allow them to be in my room with me and my other dog. I am a light sleeper and can pretty much tell where the pup is at the slightest noise. Also, I puppy proof my room REALLY good before doing this. With Zefra it was around 7months that she was allowed to sleep out of a crate at night.


Achilles is 5 months. When the crate was open during the night, we would hear him whenever he moved. The crate is in our room so with the door open throughout the night, he usually would just flop himself in the bathroom or on the floor by our bed. Once in a while he would sleep on the landing outside our room. Him flopping down was the only noise (aside from whining to go out) that he made. Thus we always knew where he was.

So far, with the crate unlocked at night, he hasn't gone anywhere he shouldn't. But he is only 5 months old. I'll keep him locked up at night for a while longer. Better safe than sorry.


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## Shade

shepherdmom said:


> Just curious why no drinking out of the toilet? My dogs all drink out of the toilets and always have.


Probably because most people use heavy duty cleaners in their toilet and even if you don't it's best not to let them so they don't try to do it at other people's houses where they may get sick

I use a continuous cleaner in mine so it'd be a really bad decision if my dogs or cats for that matter did drink out of mine, I simply keep the lid closed at all times


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## llombardo

JeepHound said:


> Achilles is 5 months. When the crate was open during the night, we would hear him whenever he moved. The crate is in our room so with the door open throughout the night, he usually would just flop himself in the bathroom or on the floor by our bed. Once in a while he would sleep on the landing outside our room. Him flopping down was the only noise (aside from whining to go out) that he made. Thus we always knew where he was.
> 
> So far, with the crate unlocked at night, he hasn't gone anywhere he shouldn't. But he is only 5 months old. I'll keep him locked up at night for a while longer. Better safe than sorry.


Mine is 6.5 months now but she has been out of the crate at night in my room with a baby gate up since she was about 4 months...I also have cats, so she is up most of the night with them or playing with her toys. Last night I shut the door with no cats allowed and she didn't move all night--slept like a baby


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## llombardo

Shade said:


> Probably because most people use heavy duty cleaners in their toilet and even if you don't it's best not to let them so they don't try to do it at other people's houses where they may get sick
> 
> I use a continuous cleaner in mine so it'd be a really bad decision if my dogs or cats for that matter did drink out of mine, I simply keep the lid closed at all times



I got a toilet seat that goes down when you touch it, because I do use heavy duty cleaners and have never allowed any of my dogs/cats to drink out of the toilet...I try to keep the door closed so that they don't even go in there


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## shepherdmom

Wierd, our dogs have always drank out of the toilets and so do all the other dogs we know...I've never heard of someone not letting them do it. :shrug: but I guess that is a whole nother thread. :laugh:

I do shut the puppys crate at night because I don't want the middle of the night zoomies waking me up.


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## JeepHound

Achilles has made absolutely no movement toward the toilets. If he goes into our bathroom, its to lie down on the rug by the shower


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## TCAP1

Mine are crate trained and prefer to be in their crate. We leave the door latched for now. 100% potty trained but @90% trustworthy in the house. 


Drinking out of the toilet - they do but i discourage and have almost stopped. When they do they leave a trail of water on the floor, and there's the toilet cleaner issue. They also like to browse thru the bathroom trashcan - another nasty habit.

Willl start leaving the door unlatched at night once i get the humans trained to close the lid on the toilet and dump the bathroom trash. 

Dogs will probably be trained before the humans.


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## Brisco1983

shepherdmom said:


> Wierd, our dogs have always drank out of the toilets and so do all the other dogs we know...I've never heard of someone not letting them do it. :shrug: but I guess that is a whole nother thread. :laugh:


What!! Your kidding right? Who likes human poop kisses? Not me!


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