[SmokeyMokaMountain]

Our current set up is blocking off the den with a gate and his crate is inside always open. Lately I have noticed that he almost never goes in his crate when we are home. He is usually napping on his bed in our bedroom (where he sleeps at night) or he will lay at any one of the door mats. I have came home to him napping beside the crate in a spot where more sunlight comes through the patio doors.

We were thinking of removing the metal crate from the den and just put another bed or mat down for him to nap on when he's in there when we are out. I understand the importance for him to have a place he feels safe so I am wondering if removing this crate will give him any issues. We have never even closed it, only used the gate at the den. I would eventually like to put the computer desk back in the den. I would also like to eventually leave him to roam the house as he is not a big chewer but lets try one step at a time

Any thoughts?

 

[AZLAB]

Good Luck

Cinnamon has not been crated n 3 years but she still naps in it. I tried to remove it several times and she stares and whines until we put it back.

 

[BigBrownDog]

Personally - I would be putting my dog in there now and then for a few hours with it closed. If you need him to be crated in a pinch (emergency, visiting somewhere he needs to be crated, injury) I would want him to be OK with that. If the first time he is in a closed crate is in a new situation it won't go over well.

Other than that - I doubt he will care that the crate is gone. My oder dog did not care when we took it down - but he was crated until he was 2 and a half when we were out.

 

[georgie]

How old is he? Our girls were crated and once they were 100% trustworthy we took thre crate away. They did not have any problems. They all were at different ages when they were trust worthy. Kate is 8 1/2 months old & she is crated when we are not home.

 

[SmokeyMokaMountain]

Well he is only 5 months. Defenitly not close to being out by himself at all yet. But we wanted to remove the crate in the next few weeks. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[EMA]

Just be careful. Our 5 month old wasn't a chewer at all. At about 6-7 months, he chewed a hole in the drywall while he was left loose during a nap, loves towels at 10 months, and has eaten a few beds, chewed a corner of the bed. This is all with proper exercise. He is not trusted anymore unless we are in the same room. So just be wary that his destruction could come soon - at 5 months you really have no idea. I wouldn't get rid of the crate if he were my dog.

Of course there are some dogs that never have a problem. My girl has been loose from day one - never chewed anything she wasn't supposed to. I guess sometimes you get lucky - but she also is used to a crate. It is very important that they are comfortable being in a crate no matter what goes on in case of emergency, leaving at the vet, friends house, car/plane travel, etc. It is a useful tool.

 

[Henery&Ollie's mom]

My almost-7-year-old hasn't had to be crated during the day (or night for that matter) since he was about 2.5 (unless we're travelling or he's staying at my parents'), but I keep his crates up (he has one in the kitchen and one in our basement) because he likes to go in there and chillax. I'm sure he'd be pretty out of sorts without his "place".

My 18-month-old may be crated forever. lol.