# What age should he graduate from crate?



## kayliyth (Mar 13, 2013)

Hubby was talking to me last night about how Kratos will soon be able to be out at night on his own. I kind of was not feeling so great about that, when we first got Kratos he slept out of the crate for the first week and a half because we couldn't get him crate trained. Finally I broke through and got him crate trained, he doesn't have accidents in the house anymore and is great for asking for the door.

But oh my goodness he chews on EVERYTHING. Redirecting and scolding and telling no goes only so far, we're constantly taking away things that he's scoffed (I don't even know HOW he gets some of the things). I pointed that out to my husband but he feels that Kratos can be trusted in our bedroom with us at night. 

Kratos will be 16 weeks on Saturday. I'm not sure I'm ready to let him out to sleep outside his crate at night. Thoughts? Opinions? What age was YOUR dog when they no longer needed to be 'locked' in the kennel. 

We're not going to do away with it. As I pointed out my father's shepherd when he was young ate his ENTIRE couch one day when he got bored. SO the crate will stand until Kratos is much older and not so chewy.

Thanks.


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## AHWooWoo (Jan 15, 2013)

Our puppy is just days away from 6 months old and still in the crate at night. He's still crated because he also is way too interested in chewing everything in the house. I'm hoping that time and the completion of teething will help him lose interest in chewing our stuff. We give him plenty of toys and bully sticks, but the temptation is still too strong at this point. Until I feel he is completely safe, I will continue to crate him when not directly supervised. 

I'm also curious to know when other puppies earn that rite.


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## Kittilicious (Sep 25, 2011)

The day he broke the lock off the door of the crate was the day he graduated. He was 8 or 9 months old. He hated his crate with a passion, but loves it without the door on


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## LeoRose (Jan 10, 2013)

Ilka was allowed out at night at about 15 months, and was "sprung" for good when she was about 18 months. Mainly because I needed the crate for Leo.  At 15 months, Leo is still crated, because she is a one bitch wrecking crew.


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## Gretchen (Jan 20, 2011)

I don't think there is an age, just depends on your shepherd. If your dog is destructive, then his age might be 10 years old. Our 1st GSD mix, had a fit a 5months old to get out of the crate. We let her out that night, she never was destructive and could let us know when she had to go outside. Our second GSD is also not destructive. We let her on her own when she was 4-5months and had a few accidents, but it was not terrible.

About a dog eating the couch, my MIL had an Australian Shepherd that ate her couch. The dog was normally crated, but I was staying at her house after an earthquake, I took a 30 minute nap and when I woke up my MIL's sunroom was destroyed.


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## kayliyth (Mar 13, 2013)

I think we'll see how bad this chewing gets before we let him out at night, I trust him not to have an accident. He's very forceful and vocal when he needs out. I just worry about him chewing on something he really shouldn't and get hurt.


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## mego (Jan 27, 2013)

Just leave him in the crate until you are no longer worried


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Personally, I think at 16 weeks it's way too soon to even be thinking about it, especially since he's still chewing stuff. And actually, my dogs are almost 8 (in August), and nearly 4-1/2 (a few weeks), and they still sleep in their crates in our bedroom at night. They go in on their own at bedtime, and wait for me to close the door. I have no doubt they'd be perfectly fine out of the crate, but this way everybody sleeps. They're not pacing the house, looking out the windows for creatures to bark at, or jumping on the bed in the middle of the night and waking us up. 

On non work days I turn off the alarm and sleep in, and even if my husband gets up earlier, the dogs stay quietly in their crates until I'm ready to get up. That can be 8:00, 8:30, even 9:00 AM. 

I've had destructive chewers and I've had dogs that were not. With the destructive ones, the chewing phase can last for a year or two or even longer, and it just wouldn't be worth the risk for me.


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## kayliyth (Mar 13, 2013)

Thanks for that input, Kratos already sleeps in until I get up so I'm not worried about him sleeping. I more am concerned about him being a general nuisance. Especially to the cats whom he loves to chase/bite at the moment (and we're curbing that quickly).


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Shasta didn't get free sleeping privileges until she was about 8 months old. She wasn't a real big chewer because she never got the opportunity to find someone inappropriate to chew on unless we were taking an accidental nap. She destroyed a fair number of shoelaces (never the shoe oddly enough) but 8 months was the starting point. She's almost 3 and I still don't allow her free roam around the house at night. She's gated in our room and it's only been recently that she's been allowed to stay out of her crate when we leave the house for an hour or so. Even then I block off the kitchen and back part of the house. She hangs out in the living room chewing on a bone or a kong and meets us at the door when we get home. 

Personally, I'd wait until the crazy chew on everything stage is over before even considering letting him sleep out of the crate at night.


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## kayliyth (Mar 13, 2013)

Hubby is still rather reluctant, I think he just feels bad because the cats can come and go as they please. But its really appreciated all the comments.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

KZoppa said:


> Shasta didn't get free sleeping privileges until she was about 8 months old. She wasn't a real big chewer because she never got the opportunity to find someone inappropriate to chew on unless we were taking an accidental nap. She destroyed a fair number of shoelaces (never the shoe oddly enough) but 8 months was the starting point. She's almost 3 and I still don't allow her free roam around the house at night. She's gated in our room and it's only been recently that she's been allowed to stay out of her crate when we leave the house for an hour or so. Even then I block off the kitchen and back part of the house. She hangs out in the living room chewing on a bone or a kong and meets us at the door when we get home.
> 
> Personally, I'd wait until the crazy chew on everything stage is over before even considering letting him sleep out of the crate at night.


 
that was supposed to be something inappropriate to chew on* sorry! cold fingers and my brain getting ahead of itself lol.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

there's no set time a dog can be not crated. i think
it depends on the dog and your training. my dog was 
out of his crate at 4 months old and everything was
fine untill he was 8 months old. at 8 months old he
decided to eat the house and everything in it. so, from
8 months old untill he was 1 yr old maybe 1.5 yrs old
he was crated when we weren't home. from 1.5 yrs old 
he hasn't been crated and he hasn't touched a thing
and my house is small with stuff everywhere.


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## POWERSCOL (Jan 3, 2013)

Emma at 5 months just graduated. However last night I put her back into the crate as she was up to something :crazy: making noise about 2 AM. She was not as tired last night as usual. ( I think she was messing with the trash can)

I do close the door to the bed room so she is confined - no free run of the house. We will see how tonight goes.

PS I am a light sleeper sometimes and i did miss my toe licks this morning:wub:

All I can suggest is keep the bed room door closed and try it


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## Kaasuti (Aug 8, 2012)

My boy has been out at night since Monday night with no accidents and no chewing things. He is nine months old now.​


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## TommyB681 (Oct 19, 2012)

Penny is 7 mo and we are just starting to work on it


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## MichaelE (Dec 15, 2012)

Lisl only spent a handful of nights in her crate. She slept with me as a very small pup and we went out side a couple of times a night for the first few weeks.

She had no water after 2000 and no food after 1900 and trips outside every 20 minutes until bedtime to try and empty her out.

She's been sleeping on (since seven weeks) and off the bed since she was 12 weeks. Only once did she potty on the floor, but I gave her that one because she was sick and it has never happened since. 

Every dog is different.


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## kayliyth (Mar 13, 2013)

We did try one night after making sure there was NOTHING Kratos could eat that would harm him. It lasted about half an hour of him pacing around and whining because he wanted out of the bedroom before hubby put him away in the crate muttering "he's not ready yet." 

We'll revisit it in a couple of months but right now he's more content to sleep in his kennel. Which I don't mind, means I only share the bed with the hubby and the cats.


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## RidgeWalker (Feb 28, 2013)

Lady free slept at night inside from about five months till she died just shy of nine months. When she needed to go outside she would come and lick me, be it 0200 or 0530. I would let her out and she would sleep on the porch till morning, then run around in the woods with her buddies (we lived out in the mountains on 50+ acres). With daisy, I have been much more strict with the crate training, and we also live in a subdiv with a fenced yard. Being she is only 14 weeks old, we are still working on the house training. She is about 70% house trained right now, and sleeps in her crate at night. During the day she is outside with her older sister for about half the day, and either inside with us playing or in her crate the rest of the time. 

I don't plan on letting her free roam at night till I am absolutely confident in not only her potty control skills but also her chewing. She is much more of a chewer than Lady was (even though they are/were full siblings), so that will definitely affect the timing.


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## Kittilicious (Sep 25, 2011)

kayliyth said:


> We did try one night after making sure there was NOTHING Kratos could eat that would harm him. It lasted about half an hour of him pacing around and whining because he wanted out of the bedroom before hubby put him away in the crate muttering "he's not ready yet."
> 
> We'll revisit it in a couple of months but right now he's more content to sleep in his kennel. Which I don't mind, means I only share the bed with the hubby and the cats.


Is there a way to bring his crate into your bedroom or maybe keeping the bedroom door open? He's probably pacing because it's not right... he's "supposed" to be in his crate. 
When Knuckles busted his crate lock/door, it was in our bedroom but then we got new bedroom furniture and the crate wouldn't fit in our bedroom anymore, so now it's in the living room. Before we moved it, he'd just sleep in it in our bedroom, but when it was moved - he moved. Now he starts out in the living room, usually sleeping on the recliner... he has it rough... or he sleeps in his crate. By morning, he's made his way into our bedroom and is either on the floor or the bed. 

We went through a spurt where he wanted to go out a couple times a night. He would ring his bell and my husband would pop out of bed like the fire alarm went off. :laugh: I had to train my husband to give him a few minutes to see if he REALLY needed to go out. Usually just telling Knuckles "I'm not getting out of bed, go lay down" was enough. If he really needed to go out to go to the bathroom, we'd get our butts chewed out and he'd go obnoxiously ring the bell, if he was just bored he'd lay down with a big sigh and grumble.


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## Linck (Mar 25, 2013)

kayliyth said:


> Kratos will be 16 weeks on Saturday. I'm not sure I'm ready to let him out to sleep outside his crate at night. Thoughts? Opinions? What age was YOUR dog when they no longer needed to be 'locked' in the kennel.


Lincoln can be leave alone during the day outside the crate at 13 weeks. But we still crate him at night until he was 15 weeks. I wasn't expecting him to go no-accident at all the first day we left him out of the crate at home alone but we felt bad of crating him 4 hours at a time. We kinda just try it and roll with the consequence lol He is 17 weeks today and never have any accident for month now. Only problem with leaving him out of the crate at night is I'm scared I would step on him in the dark when I get up in the middle of the night


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## kayliyth (Mar 13, 2013)

His crate is in our room, and we kept the door open with just a baby gate so he couldn't destroy the house, because the cats go crazy bonkers if we close the door (clawing it and meowing like the world is ending because OMG they can't get in and snuggle us). He would sit at the gate and whine, because the cats were on the other side glaring at him. 

I'm thinking of retrying when he's drop dead tired and seeing if that helped, he really was confused as to why we were in bed and he was allowed to float around our room.

He asks for the door nicely, we couldn't use a bell because some kitten of ours thought it was for her and played and played and played with it. So Kratos learned to sit at the door, whine, come pester me whine and then go sit by the door. Its not conventional, but when you have a cat driving you nuts...well what else are you to do?


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## cowgirlteach (Mar 17, 2012)

My pup is 12 months old and still stays in his crate at night. He finds it a comfortable, safe place to be. 

We also have a cattle dog that is 4 who sleeps in our bed with us...this has never been a problem. I don't think he thinks that it is unfair that she is out while he is stuck in.


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