# When to let pup sleep out of crate???



## luke4275

I have a a 4 1/2 month shepherd that I got 6 weeks ago. He is crated at night in a different room than the bedroom. bec he was a whiner and etc etc.. I know that a housebroken pup is considered thus after 1 month of no accidents. He has gone probably 1 week without an accident and it might have more to do with my effectiveness than his. He goes into the crate at 11pm at nite and stays the night till he starts to whine at about 7:30 am, which is great. . My question: When will I know if I can keep him in my bedroom, with the door closed with no crate in room? I suspect that he might pee/poop if he wanted to during the middle of the night while I was sleeping. What guidelines would one use to know when a pup can sleep outside of the crate?


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## doggiedad

there's no set time when your dog can be 
out of the crate. it's different for all dogs.
from 4 months old to 8 months old our dog
would wake one of us up to go out at 4:00 am.
one of us always took him out when he asked.
when he 8 months old he stopped asking to go out
at 4:00 am. let your dog stay in your bedroom one night
and see what happens. you could always take him out
in the middle of the night to be on the safe side.


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## Kittilicious

My GSD is 4 months old and even though I know that he wouldn't pee or poop in the house overnight, I have no intentions on leaving him out of the crate overnight in anytime in the near or distant future. It's not the accidents that I would be worried about, it's the amount of things he can chew up or, in my case, swallow while I'm asleep. 
His crate is next to my bed... always has been. I put him in around 9pm and I don't hear a word from him until I get up in the morning. Well, I hear his snoring & grumbles & groans, but he waits patiently until I let him out in the morning (usually around 6:30).


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## Cassidy's Mom

Any guidelines are entirely your own. At the very least I'd say when the dog is 100% housebroken and reliable about letting you know when they need to go out, and 100% reliable about not chewing or getting into stuff when unattended. 

My dogs still sleep in their crates in the bedroom at 6+ and 3+ years old. I'm sure they would be fine all night even if I didn't crate them, but I can sleep in on the weekend and they hang out quietly in their crates until I decide to get up, rather than jumping on my face at 5:30 when the alarm normally goes off on work days!


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## qbchottu

Puddi has slept outside the crate since day one. I got her at about 3 months old and took about 2 weeks to house train. She HATES the crate because she was a neglect case and lived the first few weeks of her life in a crate. She slept next to me and whenever she got restless, I took her outside. We had accidents, but I would rather clean up pee than let her chew herself to bits inside the crate. If I ever have to confine her, I put her in the laundry room which doesn't bother her like the crate does. 

Whiskey was in his crate the first couple of weeks before he was allowed to sleep outside at night. I got him at about 6 months old and it took me 2 weeks to house train him. He still prefers to sleep in his crate with the door open. 

Wiva only spent one night in the crate. She came to me at 10 months though so it's different. It took me about a week and a half to potty train her. 

I just make sure to cut water at about 9. Take them out for potty at 10 and they should be ok till morning. My dogs will wake me up if they have to go out during the night (in case of emergency diarrhea). So as you can see, every dog is different. Just make the change when it feels right for you.


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## kitmcd

My pup is 5 months and I have wondered about this too. Of all the dogs I've had in my life, she is first one with which I used crate and honestly I really can't remember how I did it without one!

She is in a crate at the foot of my bed and has been quiet all night since first day home. She goes in crate when I go to bed, usually around 11pm and is quiet until the other dogs get up, usually around 7am. Even then, she doesn't whine or cry, just moves around waiting to be freed.

I think I will probably leave her crated indefinitely. She likes her crate (will rest there with door open during the day) and like another poster, I like knowing nothing will be chewed on during the night. Another reason I will leave her in crate is that I have a "senior" boxer/pit who sleeps in the bed with me and I know if left free, she will want to be up there with him (and that is HIS special place).


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## chelle

I've never crated any of my three (2 are non-gsd if that matters) in the overnight. (But they were confined to the bedroom with me.) I think when the older two were little, we did have a pee in bed episode a couple times. I was prepared and had one of those plastic backed sheet protector things on the bed. Not that it was fun to get up in the middle of the night and change that, though. By the time dog #2 came around, dog #1 preferred to sleep in the living room, so new pup came right into bed. Zero issues with her, she loves to just snuggle under covers. Dog #3 had a crate in the bedroom he could go into at will and he would sometimes. None of them ever chewed anything in the overnight or messed the bedroom, other than the couple mistakes mentioned above. I'm a somewhat light sleeper, so if they fussed when they were little, I woke right up to go do a potty break. Maybe I'm just lucky, I don't know.


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## PaddyD

Is there some reason you can't crate him in the bedroom? 4 1/2 months is still young ... you should be prepared to take him out after 5 or 6 hours. If you can do that and set a routine maybe you could start leaving the door of the crate open and the bedroom door closed. Just a suggestion, one that worked for us. Good luck.


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## HeyJude

This was in the wall plug, he pulled it out, it was destroyed in minutes. I was lucky, he didn't get to the batteries. He is almost a year old, won't be out of the pen again anytime soon. I say depends on the dog.


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## bocron

My current 3 were all different. My now 4yo Lancashire Heeler was crated until he was close to 2. Partly because he just liked his crate and would sit in front of it until I put him in, and partly because he would potty in the dining room every time I thought he was housebroken. He never, ever went in the house during the day, just at night. 
My 2 1/2yo male GSD was never crated, not even for one night. When I got him, my daughter had borrowed my puppy crate and I had to leave him loose in the bedroom that first night. I had forgotten she had the puppy crate so just didn't have it. He made it through the first night without a potty incident or chewing up anything, so I decided to try it again the second night, then the third...He never once has had even ONE potty or chewing problem in the house. I can't say it has anything to do with my great puppy raising skills , he is just naturally a good boy I guess. My now 1yo female stayed in the small puppy crate (which I got back from my daughter) until she didn't fit in it anymore, I think around 5mos old. She also never had a single accident. 
The one thing I can say is that my dogs do get a ton of exercise, training and social stimulation pretty much every day, so the more happy they are to sleep the less likely they are to get into mischief during the night.


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## shaner

My girl Cedar was in her crate until maybe 4 months. She never had an accident in the bedroom nor is she much of a chewer. At worst, she'll chew socks.


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## Razzle J.Dazzle

We let Razzle (5 months old) have his first night out of the crate and he did great! No accidents and nothing destroyed. He woke me up twice crying. I got up to let him out, but I think he really was just crying to get on the bed. We're going to try it again tonight


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## pets4life

not until 18 months for me but mine wont sleep out of her crate i am suprised everyone dogs like to sleep out of their crate mine sleeps in hers with her door open of course its her den


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## 1sttimeforgsd

Both of my dogs were never in a crate at night, there beds were beside mine and since I am a light sleeper if I heard them stirring around I took them outside. They were confined to my bedroom. Neither one had an accident or chewed anything, the only time they were crated was if I had to leave the house. Once they were potty trained and trustworthy they had free roam of the house while I was gone. I may have just been lucky, but both my lab and my gsd are good babies.


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## RMF

We've been leaving Deezul's crate door open at night here the last few weeks. So far, he's been good.


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## WendyDsMom

Wendy is 4 months... and still in her crate. Our only accidents are our fault - she rang the bell but no one came, or was gated out of the kitchen and couldn't get to the bells. BUT! She is a party animal, and if I were to leave her out of the crate - it would be party time the second she realizes she can get to Bailey and start a wrestling match.....

Nope, she will be crated until this puppy-hood stops. 

She is also a chewer; so that's a no-go. I can't imagine the amount of trouble she can get herself into... But that has been the case with all of my GSD's and Lab pups. 

Trigger was 16 months before he was allowed to be free 24/7, and Tabbie was NEVER crateless. Tabbie had separation anxiety in a bad way! She was a working grade Lab and not a domestic grade lab... my mistake.


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## GSDkid

When we first brought her home (11 Weeks) she would walk around all night! I'm a light sleeper and I cannot sleep with someone walking around. Sometimes, I would wake up hearing the sound of popping (She was chewing on something she shouldn't have). After 3 days of that, we needed a kennel.

When she turned 4 months, we could see she was used to our home now and wanted to give her another chance. Woke up the next morning refreshed with her just sleeping at the end of my feet and has been ever since. Only downfall is, she's bigger now so it's taking up a lot of room on my bed!


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## VegasResident

About 6 months old I could not take his turning over in the crate with such long legs. So we let him out, shut the bathroom door and put towels around the bottom of the wood furniture. He sleep on his bed next to me now or draped over the feet at the bottom of the bed. He is now 18 months old but still has to stay in bedroom with us. No house free 24x7 as he love to EXPLORE things with his mouth. No set rules on when. My first was never in a crate. She was good from day 1 even waking me up to go out...and stupid me I thought that was true of all GSDs.....LOL


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## _Crystal_

I let Crystal out on her first night at about 8 months old. We didn't let her out earlier because we didn't trust her bladder, lol.

Nour is 3 months old and I don't think we are letting him out anytime soon. He had an accident last week, although it was my fault.


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