We discussed the many benefits the use of a crate can offer, and hopefully put to rest any fears you may have had regarding the use of a crate being cruel in the previous article: ‘Why use a dog crate – and is it cruel to crate a dog‘.
This article flows on from the previous one, so if you haven’t yet, I recommend you read that first.
This article answers the question how to use a dog crate, going through the reasons and times at which you should consider using one, and then the times and reasons that it’s very important you NOT crate your dog.
It’s a long article, but it needs to be to make sure you use a crate correctly, effectively, and above all humanely and never in a cruel way.
QUICK RECOMMENDATION: Still looking for a crate? We recommend the Midwest Life Stages Crate. We’ve had the exact same crate for 14+ years and still use it today.
How To Use a Dog Crate
To get the most effective start possible you first want to prepare the crate.
This means buying a good crate of the correct size, a few required accessories, have a location and a crate training plan all ready before you even bring your Labrador home.
This way you can start crate training as soon as possible…the younger they are, the easier it is!
The crate must be large enough for your dog to stand, turn around freely and stretch out laying down comfortably.
But not so big that they’re able to go to toilet at one end and still be comfortable at the other as this defeats a lot of the purpose.
You can see our hand-picked list of the best, most highly recommended dog crates by clicking here.
You should always leave a chew toy or two in with your dog to keep them occupied, and remove any collar or harness so there’s no risk of snagging and choking.
QUICK RECOMMENDATION: One of our favorite chew toys for our heavy chewing Labs is the KONG Extreme. Try stuffing your KONG with canned pumpkin and freezing it. Your puppy will love it!
Purchasing the correct style and size of crate, as well as placement, preparation and required (and optional) accessories is discussed in more depth in the next two articles in this series.
Don’t Just Crate When You’re Leaving Them Alone
It’s extremely important that you crate your Labrador for short periods at regular intervals throughout the day when you’re home, not only when you’re about to leave the house.
This prevents your Lab from learning that going to the crate always means they will be left alone which can result in them becoming reluctant to enter and use it.
The Crate is Your Dogs Den, Not Your Children’s
The crate is your Labradors special place of their own and it must remain just that…their own.
So if you have children, be very stern about the fact they must NEVER bother the dog and especially never tease them when they’re in the crate.
And never let them go inside, or play on or around it. It’s your dogs own special place and they must learn that they can go there for peace and quiet and will not be disturbed.
But having said that, you should make sure your Lab allows human contact and entry to the crate and doesn’t learn to resource guard it because you’ll need to place items in there, remove items from there and sometimes touch your dog when they’re inside.
Take Them To Toilet And Exercise Them Before Crating Any Length of Time
You should always make sure your Lab has recently been to toilet and had some exercise and interaction with their human family before you crate them for any length of time.
If they haven’t been to toilet, it could get very uncomfortable having to hold it and they may even eventually be forced to go in the crate.
If they haven’t been exercised and enjoyed some interaction, they may have pent-up energy and feel isolated, ignored and alone which can lead to anxiety.
When To Use a Dog Crate
I’m now going to discuss the times and reasons that you should use a dog crate, before providing instruction after on the equally important times when you should not use a crate.
I’m forced to repeat here a little of what was spoken in the last article on ‘why use a dog crate’, but there’s a lot of new points as well. At least it will serve to really hammer home the benefits of using one :-)
Always Leave The Crate Open For Your Dog to Use Voluntarily
First and foremost, the crate should be left open and accessible for your dog to use voluntarily when they wish.
It provides your dog with his own little place to go for peace and quiet where they’ll not be disturbed, which is particularly important in a house with small children.
Also, if you have to leave your puppy alone for short periods, being in the crate will make them feel safer and more secure than being free to roam around a big room or the whole house alone.
Keep Your Puppy Safe When You Cannot Supervise Them
If you’re busy around the house and cannot supervise your puppy properly, popping them in a crate for a short while will remove the potential for them to get into trouble such as chewing electrical wires or swallowing harmful, toxic or inedible objects in your home.
Protect Your Belongings When You Cannot Supervise Them
Related to the previous point, when your Lab puppy is teething and chewing everything they can get their little mouths on, popping them into a crate when you can’t supervise them will protect your belongings.
By spending $50 to $100 USD on a crate, you’ll get your investment back ten-fold by protecting your shoes, furniture and other possessions when you can’t keep an eye on your furry little chewing machine.
Perhaps more importantly you can protect against possible damage of irreplaceable things that hold sentimental value.
True story: My sister’s roommate left an envelope with $500 in cash (rent money) sitting on the handle of her door.
We weren’t paying attention to my puppy, Linus who found the envelope and proceeded to shred the envelope and money into what seemed like 100 tiny pieces! Luckily the bank accepted the money all taped back together.
Moral of the story: If you can’t supervise your puppy then using a crate is a smart idea.
When You Can’t Supervise Your Dog With Small Children
Labradors are widely known for having an excellent temperament and being loving and patient around children, but keeping a small child and dog apart is as much for the dogs safety as it is for the child.
You should never leave a dog or puppy alone with small children.
Children very often ‘play rough’ with dogs, pulling their ears and tails and can easily hurt a small puppy. And this can lead to a puppy becoming very nippy and potentially hurting the child in return.
So if you cannot supervise them, do not leave a very young child and your dog alone together. Pop your lab in a crate for a short while until they can have your supervision.
During The House Training Process
You can take advantage of a puppy’s innate instinct to keep their den clean to help speed up the house training process.
You would normally keep a vigilant eye on your puppy, looking for signs they’re about to go potty and move quickly to take him outside to the correct place.
But if you can’t watch them carefully there’s a high chance you’ll miss the signals and your puppy will have accidents inside the home. And each little accident you’ve missed is a missed opportunity to teach where you want them to go.
When you can’t watch them, pop them in the crate and they will hold it as long as they can. Then when you take them out, go straight outside, they’ll need to go and you have an opportunity for praising them for going in the right place.
The more they get praise for going in the right spot, the quicker they learn what you want them to do and the quicker the house training process becomes.
Being in a crate will also prevent them eliminating in the house during the night which can set things back.
QUICK TIP: If you’re house training your puppy your bound to have an accident. If you’re puppy can smell the odor he’ll be tempted to potty in the same spot again. We highly recommend an enzymatic cleaner like Rocco & Roxie Stain and Odor Eliminator to completely remove the smell of urine.
Use The Crate For a Timeout
When your puppy becomes way over-excited, begins to get a bit nippy and they won’t calm down, (and this happens a lot with young Labrador puppies) you can pop them in the crate until they’re relaxed and have regained control.
Never do this to punish your dog, always stay calm and speak positively throughout.
You don’t want them to have any negative feelings about the crate. Just calmly take them to the crate with a toy to relax for a couple of minutes.
Managing Problem Behaviors as Part of Solving Them
Problem behaviors, such as jumping up on visitors or begging for food at the table, needs a two-pronged approach to being solved: Training the desired behavior and preventing or managing the unwanted behavior.
By not allowing an unwanted behavior to occur, you automatically lessen it’s frequency and dramatically speed up the training of the desired alternative behavior.
A crate is a very useful tool for this, temporarily confining your dog to prevent problem behaviors at the times they might occur.
For instance, crating for 2 or 3 minutes after a new visitor arrives until they’ve calmed down, or for the half hour your family sits down to eat.
Introducing a New Puppy Into a Home With an Older Dog
You can never be quite sure how an older dog will behave with a new puppy, and a puppy can be too boisterous to be put up with kindly by an older dog, especially an elderly one.
When you can’t supervise their time together and step in if things get too much, you should crate your puppy a short while until you can give them your full attention.
For Safety Traveling
Whether by road or by air, traveling in a crate is the best and safest way for your dog to travel.
It keeps them calm, offers protection for when an accident occurs and protects the driver from the distractions of a loose dog in the car.
It’s also very useful for when you stay in a hotel or take your dog places where they aren’t welcome to run about freely, allowing your dog to travel with you but keeping them out of mischief by confining them to a place they’re accustomed to and feel comfortable in.
When NOT to Crate Your Dog
There are times when you shouldn’t crate your dog. Sometimes for medical reasons, sometimes for psychological reasons and sometimes because it may set back your dogs development and your training efforts so far.
And I think most importantly because sometimes it’s just plain unnecessary, mean and not within your dogs best interests for quality of life.
These are the times and reasons that you should not crate your dog:
If Your Dog is Afraid Of The Crate
Not all dogs like a crate and it’s cruel and inhumane to force a dog showing fear and anxiety to use one.
You’ll know if your dog fears the crate because they’ll look incredibly scared: Ears flat, tail down, trembling and in extreme cases may even vomit or defecate.
NEVER force a dog into a crate, they must be willing to go inside and should feel happy and comfortable there.
In some cases they may seem happy when you first put them in, but when you return after some time you see damage to the crate caused by attempts to escape, wet fur or a wet floor due to drooling, urine or feces in the crate or reports from neighbors of barking and crying.
This could indicate delayed fear of the crate that takes a short while to take hold, or could be separation anxiety.
For temporary alternatives to use until you complete crate training and your dog learns to love their crate, please see this article by The Whole Dog Journal: What to do when your dog hates his crate
Dogs Who Suffer With Separation Anxiety
A dog that already suffers with separation anxiety should never be confined in a crate as this will only make things worse.
If your dog shows any of the following signs of separation anxiety when left alone you need to discuss this with professional help and avoid crating them: Destructive chewing, soiling the house, excessive drooling, scratching at doors and windows trying to escape or non-stop barking and whining.
Although nearly all dogs come to see their crate as their special place that makes them feel safe and secure, this isn’t the case with those that suffer separation anxiety and crating them could in fact make their feelings worse.
In the most extreme cases of dogs in a severe state of anxiety they’ve been reported to rip claws and break teeth trying to escape a crate…and those not in crates to destroy entire doors and interior walls. You can imagine the fear and panic they must be feeling to do this!
Regardless of whether you use a crate or not, if your dog has separation anxiety problems, you MUST speak with a professional to solve the problem as it severely affects your dogs quality of life.
NOTE: Regarding fear of the crate and separation anxiety, I suggest if you can to set up a video camera and record your dog in the crate when they’re left alone. This way you’ll have a true sense of how they find the experience. If they’re anxious and fearful you need to work on this and go back to crate training before using one. They aren’t ready yet.
QUICK RECOMMENDATION: We love our Pet Cube for monitoring our dog’s activities when we leave the home. There’s even a laser pointer so you can play with your dog while you’re away.
If Crating Will Exceed The Time They Can Hold Their Need to Toilet
The time will vary depending on the age of your dog, but you know how uncomfortable it is when you really need to go but can’t?
A dog will feel the same when trying their very hardest not to soil their crate, so don’t put them in this position.
If it does get to the stage where they end up soiling their crate, they’ll feel very disappointed with themselves and anxious, so avoid this all costs. It’s basic care to allow your Lab the opportunity to go to toilet regularly.
Your Dog Begins To Toilet In Their Crate
As discussed above, this could be due to fear of the crate or separation anxiety. But it could also be for medical reasons or just that they’ve ‘unlearnt’ to keep their crate clean.
If they’re soiling their crate due to medical reasons or sickness and diarrhea, they cannot be expected to hold it, truly cannot help it and it’s totally unfair to have them crated when they’ll defecate in such a confined space.
So don’t confine them until they’re well again, leave the door open so they may use the crate, but can leave when the inevitable happens.
But if it’s due to losing their instinct to keep their sleeping place clean it could undo all your house training efforts and not only this, it’s very bad for the health of your dogs skin to lie in urine and excrement.
A dog that soils their crate shouldn’t be confined in one but instead should be managed with a pen or by gating off a section of the house until you’ve fully trained them to be clean inside once again.
A Medical Condition That Could Be Worsened By Being Crated
Although a crate is very useful, recommended and will even be sought out by your dog when they’re ill or convalescing, some conditions require that a dog be able to move about freely to prevent their health from worsening.
An old dog with arthritis or a younger dog with inflamed joints may become stiff and sore if they’re confined with little movement.
There are other ailments with which being confined isn’t recommended, your vet will be able to advise if this is the case.
For Lengths of Time Exceeding 5 Hours
With the exception of night times and one-off exceptional circumstances, you should avoid crating your dog for more than 5 hours at a time, and the frequency of this should be kept to an absolute minimum.
When a dog’s crated for long periods, they get no exercise, no interaction or socialization and this can lead to depression and anxiety.
This is particularly true of Labradors, a sociable breed that truly needs companionship from their human family. Please try to avoid this.
As A Punishment
Never use a dog crate for punishment! If you do, you aren’t using it in the dogs best interests or as a management tool, you’re using it as a prison.
And in all fairness, you’re probably imprisoning them just for being a dog and having done something that dogs naturally do. Something that you haven’t taken the time to train and teach them otherwise not to do.
Please don’t punish your dog for your own failings!
If you do confine them as a punishment, they’ll start to dislike their crate and will then lose the benefit of a place of safety and security all of their own. And you’ll no longer be able to use it for time-outs and management as they’ll start to fear the crate and feel anxious.
Your dog should only ever have pleasant experiences while crated, to promote a happy association with it and to keep its power and benefits for both you and your dog.
Don’t Ever Crate Them Just Because You Want Peace and Quiet
If your Labrador puppy’s being a nuisance and begging for attention when you’re tired and want to relax, this isn’t an excuse to confine them to a crate.
A puppy can be annoying, they can demand all your time, but you signed up for this and it’s a part of being a Lab parent until they’re fully grown.
It’s nothing short of negligence to lock up your puppy if you ‘can’t be bothered’. You have to play with them, interact with them and provide the training they need.
Uncomfortably High Temperatures
Your dog should be able to seek out and find a way to cool down if it gets too hot and being confined to a crate doesn’t allow this.
Especially some with relatively solid walls that allow little air-flow and can get extremely hot, even dangerously so if the general weather is hot outside.
While leaving dog in crate while at work is not recommended, if this must be tried, it shouldn’t be more than 8 hours. If crating a puppy while at work is not an option, dog-proof the room you’re keeping them in to ensure they can’t injure themselves while you’re away.
Then it’s absolutely vital that your dog is well exercised and given lots of attention before and after being placed in the crate, and you have somebody come and take your dog out for exercise and go to toilet half way through the day.
But personally, I’m very strongly against crating a dog while at work this way.
However, I do also realize people’s personal circumstances change, relationships break up and somebody may find themselves suddenly in a situation where they live alone with their dog and have to work all day.
If this is you, try your very best to leave your dog with a family member, hire a pet sitter or use a dog daycare service to cut the amount of time your dog must spend alone, particularly in a crate.
A sociable dog such as a Labrador cannot be left alone and isolated 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year.
This is a poor quality of life. This lack of interaction and companionship will likely end with your dog developing emotional problems, depression, anxiety and behavioral issues.
Common Questions Asked when Leaving Puppy in Crate While at Work
How long is considered ‘too long’ to leave a dog in a crate?
Leaving a puppy alone in crate while at work is unacceptable. As a rule of thumb, you can leave a puppy in a crate for a maximum of 5 hours straight ONLY, depending on their age. Adult dogs can handle up to 8 hours of confinement, but it shouldn’t be an everyday thing.
How long is it okay to leave a dog in a crate?
Adult dogs shouldn’t be left in crates for more than 6-8 hours. Puppies of 17 weeks and older can handle up to 4 or 5 hours in a crate at a time. Leaving a dog home alone in a crate longer than this can hurt their mental and physical health.
Crating a Dog at Night
Should I Put My Dog in a Crate at Night?
YES, you can crate your dog at night. Place the dog in the crate with a treat and a cue like “kennel up” or “kennel” given in a happy manner.
The crate should be near to you so that you can hear the puppy whimper or whine if he needs to eliminate during the night. (Dogs will usually make some kind of noise rather than make a mess where they sleep.)
QUICK RECOMMENDATION: One of our favorite treats are the Wellness Soft Puppy Bites. We cut them up into even smaller bite sized pieces as rewards/treats for our Lab puppies.
A Crate Is Not For Life – With Maturity, The Need For Crating Lessens If Needed At All
The main aims of a crate are safety, security, protection of belongings, to help house training and management of behavior problems.
So if you have a dog who behaves wonderfully when left alone in the home, is very well house trained, has no destructive tendencies and no behavior problems, you have little reason to use a crate, so why would you?
If your dog’s reached the stage where they can be trusted, crating only deprives them of the freedom to move around that they’ve earned by working hard with you in training, to learn and abide by the rules you want them to live by.
Stop using the crate at this point. This is their reward. Like when your child can be trusted to stay safe and not destroy things in the home, you no longer confine them to a play pen do you? Please give your dog the same honor.
You should plan to use a crate until your dog is over their destructive chewing stage. For Labradors this is usually between 2 and 2 1/2 years of age.
Once they’ve proved you can trust them in the home, please stop crating them. They’ve earned the right and it’s a little boost to their quality of life.
You should still keep the crate unless you need the space in your home back.
Your dog will still covet it as their own little space to get away, and you can use it if you visit relatives, or your vet advises to crate them during illness or after surgery.
And it may become useful as a management tool again if your older dog develops a behavior problem.
Further Reading
For more information on when and when not to use a dog crate, the following two article has some good information:
Crates have literally saved the lives of countless dogs, and they’ve helped countless others to deal with life in a human world with less stress and fear.
But there are a worrying number of people who overuse crates with their dogs.
The ability to spend several hours a day roaming freely about the house rather than spending time in a crate will benefit your Labrador in many ways.
A dog loose in the house, interacting with its family enjoys a far greater level of mental stimulation and a better quality of life.
To train your dog to be trusted and reliably free in your house, have them out of the crate and with you whenever you can to supervise and more importantly, train and teach them.
With maturity and training, the majority of dogs will learn to behave well in the house when you’re not watching as well as when you are, and then you can stop using the crate.
But during the puppy and adolescent stages, considerate use of a crate will keep your dog safe, your possessions safe and stop bad habits forming.
For those small number of dogs that truly fear a crate, you should never force them, that’s cruel and inhumane.
But you should attempt to crate train your dog because this really is only a very small number of dogs and the benefits to crating are huge.
The more you understand the benefits a crate can provide, and when you should and shouldn’t use a crate, the better you’ll be able to use it for the incredible tool it is to manage your dog for the benefit of their safety and happiness.
Hopefully the articles in this series so far have helped you to understand just that. Why and how to use a dog crate, when to crate your Lab and just importantly, when not to.
Here’s a recap of some of the products we recommended in this article:
This was part 3 in an 8-part series that details everything you need to know about the use of a crate and crate training your puppy. The information applies equally well to dogs of all breeds and not just Labradors.
I’ve tried to cover literally every question I could imagine on dog crates and crate training in the article series above, but of course it’s hard to cover every question that people may possibly have.
So if there’s anything you need to know but cannot find an answer for above, please feel free to leave your questions in the comments section below and I will happily give all the help I can :-)
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BEST DOG TREATS We Like:Crazy Dog Train Me Treats - One of our favorite treats for training our service dog puppies.
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How To Use a Dog Crate – When and When NOT To Crate Your Dog was last modified: December 18th, 2024 by LTHQ
49 comments
AndreaMay 3, 2014 at 10:21 pm
Great article and very helpful for brand new puppy owner.. thank you! Haven’t got the pup yet – am preparing!
I’m a little confused about where to put the crate at first. I know where to put it during the day, which is where the family are. But you say it’s beneficial to maybe take it up in the bedroom for the first few nights. If I do that, won’t it be confused?
Also, I have a cat! The cat lives in the room where the crate will be in the day – am worried about them getting on. Do you have advice for that as well???
Yes, it’s beneficial to have the crate in your room for the first few days as the puppy has just had a 100% percent change of life with new people, a new home…and the loss of permanent company in the way of mother and litter-mates.
By having them crated totally alone for the night they can feel totally abandoned, all on top of the stresses of a 100% life change. So by having them in your room for the first few nights, you’re kind of delaying some of the inevitable stress.
Initially they must get used to a new life and surroundings in your company, and just knowing you are there for the first couple of nights will be soothing while they get used to their new life. And when they’re confident in their new lives or at least spent a couple of days or more there, you then start to introduce some time alone by removing the crate from your room.
Your article has helped a lot thank you. I just had one question. When a puppy is ok left in the day without a crate should you then stop the crate at night? Or is it best to always use a crate at night throughout the dogs life, or let them sleep in a dog bed? Many thanks
My wife and I both work 8 hours a day. I was wondering if it would be better to leave the dog in a fenced yard for the day, rather than crate her during crate/potty training? Weather permitting of course, i.e. not too hot or cold, rainy, etc.
Sorry for the (very) late reply, I’ve been on holiday for 2 weeks and haven’t touched a laptop until today!
To answer your question, it really does depend on your particular dog. Some dogs prefer the safety and security of a confined space and can find being out in the yard with all the sounds and smells they can sense but not see and get access to quite frustrating. It can put some dogs into a high state of alert and arousal which can leave them stressed and may result in problem barking.
However, some dogs are the opposite and much prefer to have some room to roam around in.
I would say having the extra room and freedom is a massive positive for any animal, and if your dog does seem to get stressed with the extra freedom and all the sounds and smells going on, you can slowly get her accustomed to it, it’s not all or nothing.
Anyway Jim, either way, 8 hours is a long time for a Labrador to be alone 5 days per week. I understand some people are unavoidably in this situation (we all have to work!) but it will be hugely positive for your dog if you can arrange a family member or professional dog walking service to visit your lab at the mid-way point in the day so she can get some exercise, interaction and stimulation. This will benefit her in lots of ways…though may come with a financial cost if a family member cannot help out.
Thanks for the article! I’m looking for some advice about crate training at night.
We have had our four year old dog since she was six weeks old. She was crate trained as a puppy and graduated from her crate soon after she stopped being destructive. She now has free reign of the house while we are gone and we also have a dog door to give her access the backyard. She hasn’t used her crate for maybe three years. It’s always been an option for her to use it, she just chooses not to go in on her own.
My wife wants to start crate training her again at night because we can’t keep her out of our bed. Our dog is a restless sleeper often kicking us while she dreams (presumably about running) and makes the bed dirty with her muddy paws. We can’t keep her off our bed and in her own dog bed on the floor. She is sneaky and has learned to jump onto our bed without waking us during the night – an impressive feat for a seventy-five pound dog. We eventually want her to sleep in her crate (next to the bed) without the door being closed, but she won’t do that yet. On top of being a messy bed-hog, she has become possessive of the bed. Once or twice she has growled and snapped at my wife after being told to get off the bed. If she refuses, and we go to pat her bottom encouraging her to move, she will growl and snap.
We also just had a baby a couple months ago. Along with controlling the possessiveness of our bed, we want her crate to be a safe, comfortable retreat for when the baby becomes mobile and more active.
Last night, we closed the crate door on her. She slept for about an hour but then cried for almost an hour. When I got up to sleep in the guest room so that I could function at work today, I left her in the room with my wife and the baby. My wife said she stopped crying as soon as I left and slept the rest of the night peacefully in her crate.
How can we make this a more positive experience for her and keep her from crying in the crate? Any advice for making this a smooth transition?
The problem is that at 4 years old, she has had A LOT of time to develop the habit and get used to sleeping on your bed. It’s an ingrained way of life. And dogs, labs especially, are very sociable and want to be near their family.
So your Lab is totally used to sleeping with her family, curling up with them at night and this is exactly where she wants to be. And now you are saying she can’t do this. So not only will she feel hard done by with having something she truly wants taken away, but you are also changing something she has done all her life. To her, sleeping on the bed with her family *IS* a way of life, she’s known no different, this is what life is. But now you are trying to change that and being a dog she will not understand why.
For these reasons I’m not surprised she is desperately trying to resist and keep things as they are.
You have a few options, but I would think none of them will go particularly smoothly and I’d expect a lot of resistance, whining and a few sleepless nights, but due to the fact she will have no choice, she will soon get used to the new arrangement.
Common to all solutions though is that she simply cannot be allowed to get on your bed to sleep. Not ever, not at all. Just a single time will be enough for her to think that it’s possible and she will always try. It’s all or nothing, so make it nothing.
You can have her on the bed sometimes during the day if you really must, just NEVER at night and to sleep. Although I strongly recommend you NEVER let her on the bed as this will be far easier for her to understand. If you want to allow her on the bed sometimes then you need to spend time training her ‘UP’ and ‘OFF’ commands.
Go back to basics here, using high value treats to lure her both ‘UP’ and ‘OFF’ By teaching her exactly what these commands are, and only allowing her ‘UP’ when you have given the command, there’s a chance she can learn to never get on the bed unless given the ‘UP’ command, she will be able to differentiate between times she is allowed up and when she isn’t. i.e. only when asked.
First of all, call her to the bed and say ‘UP’. If she gets on, praise and reward. If she doesn’t, entice her up with a treat and say ‘UP’ the second she gets on. Then entice her off the bed with a treat and use the ‘OFF’ command, praising and treating when she does, or luring her off with a treat in your hand that she follows and using the command when she does so. Repeat this exercise 10 or so times, a couple of times a day for a couple of weeks and she will truly learn what ‘UP’ and ‘OFF’ mean. That’s a good start. Then only ever let her on the bed after an ‘UP’ command. See her there or attempt to get on there any other time, give a firm ‘OFF’ and make sure she gets off!
Anyway, on to some possible choices of what you need to do. And remember, she can NEVER be allowed to actually sleep on the bed, not once, or all and any work will be undone. A single time will be enough for her to gamble and try again, and again, and again in the hope she succeeds. She can NEVER sleep on there.
The first option is to completely keep her out of your room. Use a barrier, baby gate or something to close off your bedroom door and at night keep her the other side of it. Place her crate or bed or whatever by the door where she can see you and leave the door open, but with her on the outside. As long as she can see you, she will not feel alone and this is in no way cruel. After many weeks, you can try sleeping her in your room again, but on the floor like she is used to.
The second option, and it sounds as if you’ve tried, is simply to place a crate beside your bed and close her in there. I would go through my crate training guide first, go right back to basics and follow all the advice in there to get her comfortable in the crate first before trying to make her sleep in there a whole night. Going from not sleeping there, to being locked in all night will not be a pleasant experience, it’s too big a change, and this may make her start to dislike the crate. You have to crate her little and often first, to get her used to it, and then gradually increase the time, and not only at night or she will make the connection. Crate her during the day too, with toys and stuffed frozen kong toys to keep her happy.
So spend two or three weeks of dedicated, frequent crate training while not making her sleep in the crate at night first, to get her used to the idea and comfortable. And after a couple of weeks, place her in the crate at night and close the door. I can almost guarantee she will cry and whine at first, not being on your bed, but NEVER react to it. Do not go to her, try to calm her, give zero attention while she is in there or the habit will never stop. This is the few nights of little sleep I was referring to. But eventually she will learn to just settle…as long as you have crate trained her well beforehand as mentioned above.
Your third option is to tether your dog with a leash to a piece of furniture in your bedroom, like a dressing table leg or something. Place a bed for her on the floor, make it nice and comfortable, tether her so she can move around freely but not reach the bed. Make sure to use a suitable collar that will break away in case of emergency, NEVER a leather buckle or chain collar, but a quick release nylon type, the sort that will break open if she struggles too much…we need to avoid any choking risk!
But yes, tethering can work. You should spend some time teaching her a ‘place’ command, that asks her to go to her bed. Use the command often, not just at night, so again she doesn’t associate the bed with just being deprived of sleeping with you.
I hope this helps in some way? As I’ve said, it won’t be easy, no method will be without days of crying and whining I’m pretty sure. But be firm, ignore her crying completely and she will soon learn it gets her nowhere and will stop.
My French bulldog and my English bulldog tend to occasionally get on each others nerves. Would it be a good idea to separately crate them at night so they get a break from each other
Hi, We have an 19 month old Labrador. She has been crate trained since 8 weeks of age. She has always loved her crate. For the last month there have been the odd occasion where she does not want to go in her crate, mostly at bedtime. We have t find a reason for this change in her but we have not come up with anything. We are thinking about keeping her out of her crate at night and she can sleep on her bed in one of our bedrooms. What do you think and will it make it harder for her to go in her crate during the day? We dont completely trust her not to be destructive during the day so she still needs to be crated while we are not home.
That is a little unusual without there having been something to trigger the change. At night, when her family is asleep and the home is quiet should be the easiest time for her to spend in the crate, not missing out on anything. So I’d be surprised if there isn’t some trigger it can be traced to…but then you’ve said you’ve had a good think and drawn a blank. I hate that when it happens! haha.
Whether you crate her at night or not is entirely up to you and it doesn’t necessarily mean she will dislike it during the day, but she might and I’m afraid I cannot say for certain.
If she’s started actually disliking the crate itself, it’s likely she will start to dislike or rebel against it during the day also. The crate might be the object of her disapproval. But if it isn’t the act of spending time in a crate or the crate itself she doesn’t like, but solely spending time in a crate AT NIGHT, then she may not rebel against it during the day.
The thing is, dogs do not generalize well. They are very situation specific. Spending time in a crate at night when dark and her family is nearby but asleep is not at all the same as spending time in a crate during the day when everybody is out of the house at work anyway. These are completely different situations and a dog compartmentalizes these situations differently and will act differently towards them. She could be happy and comfortable crated in one of those situations while not being happy at all in the other.
BUT, if it’s the crate and being crated that she doesn’t like, then the situation is the same no matter the time of day and whether her family is there or not.
So whether or not crating her during the night will affect her approval of being crated during the day depends on what she is actually disliking…(I’m not sure I’ve explained that too well, had a little wine! :-s Does this make sense?)
Something else to be mindful of: At 19 months, she’s still the equivalent of a teenager and will occasionally push the boundaries set for her and kick against the rules now and then as she finds her place in the world and what she can get away with. My best guess would be she tested the waters by rebelling against the crate somewhat and got the HUGE reward of sleeping free in a room with her family members. If you set rules, you have to stick to them. Consistency and routine is key with our dogs.
I don’t know where her crate usually is, but is it out of the bedrooms and she’s alone? Or is it in one of the bedrooms where you sleep? The thing is, if her crate is out of everybodys bedroom and by making a fuss she got to sleep near a family member, that is a HUGE reward and for sure she will try it again. No dog really wants to be alone for the night and the behavior of rebelling and not going into the crate led to a rewarding night out of it and perhaps near to her family. Dogs do what leads to reward so it will be repeated.
Also, maybe she just prefers not to sleep in her crate and enjoys more freedom. Most dogs would. But it shouldn’t really be her choice…unless you want to give her the choice of course…but personally I wouldn’t allow it to be up to her but would make it your decision. If you want her crated at night, you have to crate her at night and not let her decide as this trains her that she can decide by changing her behavior to get her way.
If she’s rebelling at night and gets to stay out of her crate against your request, you’re training her (inadvertently or otherwise) that she can make a fuss and stay out of the crate. So my worry would be: Why shouldn’t she try this during the day or at any other time also? She will have found out what she needs to do to stay out of the crate.
Are you still actively crate training her now and then? Or just relying on the fact she knows and is happy with it? I’m not sure of your situation, but you should avoid only crating her when you leave the house and for the whole night. Crate her also randomly at other times, for random durations. Crate her at night for half hour, then let her out again. Crate her while you’re vacuuming during the day, or while you pop to the shop and so on. Randomize it so she doesn’t think that whenever she goes into the crate that’s her lot for a few hours.
It will almost certainly help to undertake some further crate training, helping her to understand the crate is a good place, a happy place, fun things happen there and there’s nothing to be afraid of.
For the record, my Lab never sleeps in his crate at night now but is happy to be crated whenever we ask during the day. Monty’s now over 5 years old and he stopped destructive chewing completely a couple of months before 3 years old (to big cheers all round, haha.) So he earned the right to be free in the house a long time ago.
I do still make a point of locking him in his crate now and then to maintain his level of comfort in one, pretty much once per day for anything from half hour to a couple of hours, but i have no need to crate him as I know he is OK when alone and will not destroy the house. We’ve kept a crate as he does love it, he goes in and out of his crate a few times per day of his own accord. Generally speaking he’s pretty much either right under your feet being a part of everything or chilling in his crate with the door open and not much in between.
But when it comes to sleeping in a crate: I used to have 2 crates in my house, one in my bedroom where he used to sleep (we’ve now removed this) and one in the living room that he uses to this day.
I have an 11yo son who has always wanted his best mate in his bedroom and of course Monty’s rather partial to this also. I always slept him in a crate in our bedroom until 3 years old or so but then I allowed the odd night in our sons room. Then it became more frequent. Then, well, we allowed him to become…or he graduated himself into…a ‘free in the bedroom’ dog at night and sleeps on his bed in my sons room. Or on the bed in my sons room (too often!). AND I have been known to let him sleep on the bed with me when the Mrs is away, and it’s not completely unknown to happen even when she’s here! What can I say, we’re suckers for the love of our dog :-)
Anyway, gradually allowing him to sleep out of the crate and sometimes on our beds has lead to him not liking being in his crate at night as he’s experienced better. It got to the stage where instead of going straight in when asked, he began to go to it, move away, go to it, move away, fall to the floor and offer his belly, run off and grab ANYTHING in his mouth to give to me playfully, try to get into my sons room, bark at his door and so on. He pretty much tried everything NOT to go in the crate. He knew when it was bed time and he fully expected to sleep in our sons room or ours and not in the crate. Well now we don’t even bother asking anymore. My son leaves his bedroom door open, Monty goes up sometimes when my son does, other times he stays in the living room with us but beats us upstairs once we turn the living room light off on our way out to bed.
But during the day he will go into the crate without fuss when I ask him to. He knows the situations are completely different.
What I’m trying to highlight with my situation is, not being crated at night doesn’t necessarily mean a dog will rebel against it during the day. But you MUST maintain your dog’s approval and happiness of being in a crate when you ask by regularly using it.
If your lady is beginning to dislike being in the crate itself, then that’s a problem. But if she’s just preferring not to go in at night it may not affect her during the day, but you must make sure this is the case.
If you’re going to allow her to stay out of the crate at night, stop asking her. If you ask and fail, she’s learning she can ignore you and will likely try this trick at other times like it’s her decision. But you can still crate her during the day when needed and have her sleep on a bed at night. Just keep using a crate often, whether needed or not. Basically ‘maintenance crate training’ so you’re sure she’s happy with it.
We have two moderately sized labs. They each weigh about 60 to 70 pounds. We have a large crate that supposedly will fit two dogs. Is it OK to sleep the dogs together in the crate? If so, should we leave the door open? The dogs look like they fit, but when one wakes up, I wonder if it wakes up the other dog, as the crate is a strong metal one, but it rattles with movement. Thank you.
I wouldn’t worry about one waking the other. The one that’s woken will likely raise an eyebrow, take a quick glance, roll over, sigh and go back to sleep. Our Lab can sleep through four 11 year old boys tearing around our house if he’s in the mood (or not in the mood depending on how you look at it!)
As you’ve intimated, yes, if you sleep both your dogs to a single crate it’s best to leave the crate door open. Please read an answer I gave to a similar question before clicking here: Sleeping two dogs to a crate.
this was very helpful. i still have a question though. my siberian husky(year old) has separation anxiety and destroyed his last wire crate and put a hole in his outdoor kennel(which is chain link). when left in the house alone he gets into stuff and i was told he scratches the door. i’m underage and no one will invest anymore money in my dog except for feeding him. i’m lost and i don’t want to have to move out of my grandma’s due to his behavior. do you have any good advice or websites i can look at to help him?
When you say you are ‘underage’, do you mean a child under 16? If so, it is an enormous task and incredibly difficult for you tackle alone. I’m sorry to hear you’re in this position but respect you a lot for trying your best!
I’m going to e-mail you some information that I’d like you to read through that will give you a lot of info on the subject. Please read through it, try and get your grandma (and any other adults in the house) to read through it too if you can. Separation anxiety takes a lot of dedicated and on-going effort to treat and sometimes nothing less than professional help is needed. But read what I send you, see how you get on.
I wondered if you could help me with our lovely gentle Labrador who is 16 months old as l am at my wits end. She has only ever been locked in her crate a couple of times when we were out & she was a puppy but l have kept it open for her to use as she is terrified of my two grandchildren plus kitchen machine/Hoover noises and she runs to hide in it when they visit but lately instead of joining us in the sitting room in her comfortable bed during the evening she now leaves the room and goes into the cage and l have tried turning the TV off incase it was the noise but it makes no difference & if l close the door to keep her in the room with us she goes into the furthest corner & curls up looking miserable – we have never smacked her or raised our voices to her as she is so gentle – what do you suggest?
I’m afraid this is beyond the scope of what I can help with, I would be ‘dangerously’ guessing and wrong advice could do more harm than good. It sounds like a severe anxiety / fear of something in her environment. It will need an expert behavioral specialist to assess and treat. So the only advice I can give is to speak to a professional. Your vet should be able to put you in contact with somebody suitable in your area.
Sorry, and I hope you can get this sorted. best of luck!
Hello! We have a 2 year old Lab mix who we have recently (in the past month) adopted from a shelter. We have no knowledge of his background, but we do know that he is potty trained but knows little else. We crate him at night using treats to encourage him to enter and leaving him with a chew toy and he does just fine. When I try to crate him during the day (to go out for about 3 hours or less) he resists and whines continuously. We have walked before crating and left him with a Kong filled with treats and other chew toys but he panics and tries (usually succeeding) to escape the crate. When he stays out when we leave the house he scratches at the doors and chews anything left out. Any advice on how to ease his daytime anxiety? Thank you!
As you rightly say, it sounds like he may be suffering from mild separation anxiety. This can be helped by you if truly mild, but usually needs the skilled hand of a professional to tackle effectively. Please see a short section I wrote on separation anxiety here: Separation anxiety
Hey I’ve always enjoyed these articles. I own a 6 month lab and love him more than anything. One thing I DO NOTa agree with is to never crate your puppy when you need a time out. tHis is dangerously. F someone loose some their patience, they could take it out on the puppy. We have to remember they are animals and deserve respect but our needs as humans come first.
I agree. I love my dogs and spend all my free time with them. Sometimes tho I need an hour or so to just relax. Dogs are dogs. They are not children. I understand they have feelings and emotions but they are still dogs. Putting them in a crate for an hour or so just so you can relax and enjoy some alone time is not neglect and to say so is just silly.
Thanks for the article! I just brought a 3 month Lab puppy home and would like to start crate training it but I have a question: If the maximum time period I can crate it is 5 hours, how should I do during nights?. If I am lucky and it toilets by midnight, do I need to take him out by 5.00? Or are they able to hold it longer during nights? Thank you.
The 5 hours applies to the waking and living day, not overnight. You can sleep a dog in a crate overnight, they are asleep with the rest of the house and do not mind. The limit of 5 hours is applied to the day when they would prefer to be and should be roaming around, exploring, playing, training, exercising their mind and body – living basically. Not being confined the whole day.
So you can crate for a good 7 hours over night, but only 5 max during the day is recommended.
Hi my question is a little different we have two rescues a boxer mix and a cocker spaniel mix. The boxer came to us terrified of being created so we decided against using one. The spaniel was a an infant so we crate trained her. Nine years later the boxer is using the spaniel crate. Needless to say this is not going over well with the spaniel. Why would an older dog who hated the crate suddenly want to be crated. Nothing has changed in our household and there is no specific trigger. Thank you. Lisa
That is strange, I cannot think of a reason at all. Are you sure nothing has changed at all in their environment? No furniture changes, people moving into your home or moving out, strange sounds, nothing at all? Absolutely certain that your Boxer mix isn’t ill with something and maybe looking for a place to convalesce in peace?
Hi, I got my boxer at 21/2 months. Shes,a great do but trying to crate herwhen we leave the house. She is teething and afraid she will destroy house. When I kennel her, she’s ripped up her bed, toys, blankets etc she barks and crys, throwing herself against cage to get out. At night I put her in smaller kennel by my bed and she sees me, so sleeps all night fine. I cannot leave her lose until she gets out of puppy stage.the vet said don’t give up, eventually she will get out of it. I just want to make sure she won’t get hurt. She is now 3 months and doing the same thing. I tried yesterday putting her in smaller cage so she can’t knock around so much but I think it confused her because at bedtime she started the barking and scratching which she hasn’t done before. I don’t want that. So I’m thinking leave her in other ennel when I go somewhere and leave her night time one by bed just for sleeping. Please give me your opinion. It would be greatly appreciated. I don’t kennel her long, few hours when I have no choice like going shopping or have an event. Tonight we have a party to attend and I’m so confused on what to do with her
Some dogs initially dislike the crate and require careful training to be happy spending time in there which can take time and patience. There aren’t really shortcuts. Until that time, you should try to set up a confinement area your puppy can spend time within instead. A completely puppy-proofed room, with everything and anything he could potentially destroy well out of reach. A laundry room, unused spare room, or a large puppy play pen are usually used for this purpose.
Have you been through my entire crate training series, linked to at the bottom of the article above? All the advice and guidance you need can be found within that series of articles. Please take a read through and if you have any questions afterwards, feel free to contact and ask.
These are really good tips and an informative article. One thing I will disagree with though is getting rid of the crate after you can trust your dog. My old lab LOVED his crate, which was in our bedroom. He would go in there just to relax and chill out. We left the door open all the time, but he still sought out his little cave. So I would suggest you can make the dog’s crate “open use,’ but see if the dog still seeks it out before getting rid of it.
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the article. And I agree with you completely about keeping the crate, I say as much in the last couple of paragraphs. Also quite a large section on keeping the crate for their little den – and just not locking it – is described within the actual ‘crate training your puppy’ article in the series. So we do agree on that :-)
We have a 9 year old golden lab. He was crate trained but after some destructive behavior/increase anxiety (drooling, destroy crate & self injury) behavior about entering & staying in the crate developed after 2-3 years we allowed him to stay out confined to the main floor of the house. We started with an hour and increased the time outside the crate the more comfortable we became.He originally was outside dog but began to jump a chain link & then wood privacy fence to get around to the front door-which led to the crate. He now has become incredibly fearful of rain showers and has jumped up and torn through 3 couches & a chair. I can’t continue to tolerate the behavior. He removes his thunder coat and rolls it into a pile in the middle of the floor & anti-anxiety meds don’t help. Suggestions on what to do?
This is way beyond any advice I could give, I can only suggest seeking out the help of a professional animal behaviorist who can asses the situation in person and provide actionable advice to move forward. Sorry.
We have a 13 year old beagle/foxhound mix named Mindy. She is in great health and very social. She does get loose on occasion and visits all the neighbors in friendly, aloof manner. Kids in the neighborhood love her, but when we are gone for the day at work, if the temperature is nice we put her on a covered porch with water and food, or we leave her in the house. For a while we would put her in the garage when it is not hot out.
In all instances, she will go into destruction mode, bark, or leave messes. She actually does not bark at all. Seriously! BUT when we are gone for a bit and she is on the covered patio, she barks non stop and we hear it from our neighbor. There are messes on our patio furniture and patio rug. In the garage, she pawed at the window sill and scratched all the paint on the trip and wall and left messes on the floor. In the house, she will urinate in the carpet.
What is amazing is that we will have taken her out for potty before leaving. My wife even comes home from school at lunch time and lets her relieve herself and she still makes these messes. I literally am at my end. I am so angry when this happens. I am so tired and frustrated and anxious myself wondering what mess I will come home to that I don’t know what to do.
She has even been in kennel and she rubs her nose raw, squeals like a baby and paws non-stop at the cage. Oh, and can I mention, she leaves nasty messes where both she and the kennel need cleaning. This is nearly a daily deal unless someone is home with her.
I am not sure extra exercise will do anything in this case. A muzzle is not the route for barking and likely won’t solve the problem with messes or destruction.
My only other option is to investigate dropping her off at a kennel on a daily basis to let someone else walk her, etc., but that seems like a very costly solution. I do have a dog groomer down the street that I take her to monthly. Perhaps I could ask her to watch her, but she has a full house and plenty of dogs she works with on a daily basis. I just worry as she continues to age, this will be even worse. A combo of behavioral and geriatric and that will NOT be a pretty sight. —
My dog happily goes to bed every night to sleep. I do use the bolts only while she is sleeping at night because I hope she feels more secure at night. I always walk her shortly before she goes to sleep and talk to her and pet her before she sleeps. She gives a contented sigh. As soon as she wakes we go for a walk. My wife is concerned that I bolt it at night. Should I keep the den unbolted in case of a fire or etc. She is a 1.5 years old Irish Setter.
Thanks for the article- very informative. My family just got an 8 week old lab puppy. We are crate training and he is doing great. What I’m not clear on is how long he should be in the crate each day, and how many times a day. I work from home and I’m just not sure how much time he should be spending. He seems to be Ok out of the crate for about 10-15 minutes at my feet while I work. But more time than that outside of the crate results in accident. What does a “typical day” in the life of a crate- training adult (who is at home with the dog) supposed to look like?
Three weeks ago we got a chocolate lab puppy. She is now 11 weeks. We started introducing the crate at around 9 weeks, and at first she loved it. She went right into it (still does) to just chew a bone or eat her meal. We take the crate into our room at night and she has no problem whatsoever sleeping in it quietly for 7 hours or so. The problem is during the day, she cries and cries if we put her in her crate. Even if we are in the same room with her, she will NOT stop long enough for us to praise her and let her out after she has started crying. I’m not sure if she has separation anxiety already or if this is something that can be corrected with training. We have been giving her treats and praise and letting her out when she IS quiet and in her crate. It’s just that she freaks out if we are in the same room but doing something else and not paying attention to her. We have left her home alone about 5 times, and one of those times she pooped in the cage, and I feel like she is crying the entire time we are gone. How do we get her to love her cage?! Please help!
Hello! Absolutely loved the article, very helpful. We are crate training our sixth dog over 30 years, but we’ve forgotten! We have a 12 week old rescue that has always slept in a crate at night with his siblings. We are on our second night. We haven’t used it much during the day. Potty training well with frequent trips outside. My question; if he starts crying when we put him in, do we continue to crate him? How long to cry is too long? He doesn’t ever go in on his own during the day.
My boy turns one year old at the end of this month. We stopped crating him at night at 6 months of age, as he sleeps soundly in our bedroom for 8 hours – even amongst our cats. Better than I ever expected. We still crate him during the day while we’re at work, but he does get a break at lunch with our dog walker. This totals to 6.5 hours he is in a crate during the day, but never longer than 5 hours straight. That was always my rule – we just work around it. He is already non-destructive in the house, so I am hoping in a few months (when he’s closer to 1.5 years old) we can start leaving him out of his crate. He is already fine for short periods, and doesn’t need to be supervised when we are home, but it’s still tough to make that transition fully and not worry about it.
At night I leave Glory (a 10 wk. old lab-chow mix puppy out of her metal kennel. She has access to it. she’s secured in the kitchen area. I have it gated off from the rest of the house. She has a kennel, (apartment). One side potty, one side bed w/ pass thru. And 2 end openings, with a front opening as well. Am i alright in doing this, or am i missing a good training point. Is it more important to leave her in the kennel or not necessary.
Hello Janice If your pup is using her apartment the way she should, you should not worry about formal modes of training. Once she understands this is her space and the functionalities within you should not worry. Letting her out at night is also training, for as she gets older she will be used to being on watch at night. Cheers
hi, i have a question. we are looking at getting a second dog, we have a 3 year old dachshund that is house broken and stays out free roaming all day i work 8-10 hour days 5x a week so we leave a potty pad out for her if she does have to go. with this new puppy which will be a 12 week old great dane when we get her. im not sure if i should try to crate train her being she will be in there such an extended time at a young age and the older dog will be out roaming or should i get like a play pen to keep her in during the day with pads and a bed for comfort to not keep her so confined. our current dog sleeps with us at night and the new dog will probably as well as to not show favoritism. im just not sure what will be most beneficial to the new puppy so i can soon once trained leave her out all day with the older dog. thanks izzy
My family just adopted a lab/shepherd mix from a local rescue. My fiance and I both work full time first shift jobs. Our new dog is alone in the house with our two cats for about seven hours. When we first got him he was incredibly well behaved. He never made a mess and everything was just as we left it. We have had him for two months now and he has just gotten progressively worse. He never goes to the bathroom in the house but he destroys everything that is in his reach. He seeks out things to destroy. We have tried putting up baby gates to contain him to one room but he still manages to escape from them or find the smallest thing that we have overlooked and destroy that. I really don’t want to crate him up while we are at work because like you said that is a poor quality of life. He gets plenty of attention before and after he is left alone. He is well fed and he gets exercised but as soon as he is left alone he starts hunting for something tear up. Is there anything else that I can try and do?
My husband and I will be getting two 8 week old Westies. We both work and I have read that you recommend not crating for over 5 hours. My first question is, can they be crated together? My second question is, if they are crated for 5 hours and someone comes and let them out for a hour can they be crated for another 5 hours? If not, would it be better to put up a baby gate and let them roam in the kitchen freely with the crate or crates there for them to enter at their leisure?
I’ve had many dogs over the years and have always found the crating method of training to work so well if done responsibly. Your articles are so well written and I couldn’t agree more with the points you make on ensuring that the crate feels like a welcoming spot that creates a sense of security for your dog, especially when you’re away. Thank you for sharing!
Reading the article on crating while at work…you make some very interesting points. It’s a challenge sometimes but I agree…8 hours should be the absolute maximum on hours your dog is regularly crated alone while you’re away. Thank you for sharing!
Hello! Thanks for all the great advice so far! We recently got a labradoodle puppy (we got her when she was about 8 weeks at (10/24/20), this is currently her 3rd day with us! Even when she first got home, we’ve been making MANY positive associations with the crate, we feed her in it, train/play with her in and around it, and we put her toy that smells like her litter mates, a teething toy, and a stuffy that has a heart beat. Her first night here was pretty rough, we had her crate surrounged by a playpen but the pen wasnt attatched to the wall or crate. We made a small mistake by putting potty pads in there so when she needed to go pee in the night she didn’t wake us, put peed on her pads, she also didn’t really sleep in her crate, she would go in there for a little and then move out to the pen to sleep. By the morning she found a way out of the pen, so we decided that the current set up wasn’t the best idea.
That day we kept her crate where it was (by my bed), but then moved her play pen by my desk so that while I’m working, she could be near me. She is pretty good with her pen, she takes naps in it, plays in it, but sometimes she try’s to climb out of it, but we just say ‘no’ firmly. Sometimes when I leave to get something in the house she would be quiet, but other times she would whine. That night (the second night) she slept the whole night through without whining in her crate. I lured her in with treats, gave her kisses and snuggles, then closed the door, slipping one last treat then putting the blanket over the crate. I slept on my bed next to the crate and I had my had dangling down by the crate the whole night.
Today, she’s been mostly in her playpen but then when i tried to put her in her crate for nap time she whined and whined!!!
How do I get her to love her crate so much that she goes in it voluntarily. Should I change the set up and get a different gate that attaches to the crate so that during the work day, if she decides she wants to take a nap she has the choice to go in?
Also, how do I fix her whining when I sometimes leave for a few minutes?
I know its only the 3rd day but I’ve tried soooo much!! I cant believe all the toys in her crate, all the playtime around and in her crate, the food and treats I give her inside my crate isn’t working!
Congratulations on your new puppy! Puppies require a lot of patience. Here’s an article to help you with crate training: https://www.labradortraininghq.com/labrador-training/how-to-crate-train-a-puppy/. Regarding whining, you need to ignore it until she stops the give her praise for being quiet. Good luck with your puppy!
Hi there, no idea if you’re still checking and answering comments on this post, but wondering if you have any advice on how to get to the point of trusting your dog to be out of their crate during the day. I have a 1 year old schnauzer mix that is very well trained in all other ways of obedience. We’ve started to test out leaving him out (along with out other 3 year old dog) of the crate when we leave and he chews up rugs, which end up leading us to not leave him out as much. Any thoughts on how to stop the chewing? Thanks! Brianna
A coworker brought her 2 month old Vizsla puppy to work and is keeping it alone in a crate over the garage while she works. Those of us who have dogs think this is cruel. She shows her other two dogs and said it needs to learn to be content alone. We think it would do better at home in familiar surroundings with its mother and the other dog.
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Great article and very helpful for brand new puppy owner.. thank you! Haven’t got the pup yet – am preparing!
I’m a little confused about where to put the crate at first. I know where to put it during the day, which is where the family are. But you say it’s beneficial to maybe take it up in the bedroom for the first few nights. If I do that, won’t it be confused?
Also, I have a cat! The cat lives in the room where the crate will be in the day – am worried about them getting on. Do you have advice for that as well???
Thank you
Hi Andrea,
Yes, it’s beneficial to have the crate in your room for the first few days as the puppy has just had a 100% percent change of life with new people, a new home…and the loss of permanent company in the way of mother and litter-mates.
By having them crated totally alone for the night they can feel totally abandoned, all on top of the stresses of a 100% life change. So by having them in your room for the first few nights, you’re kind of delaying some of the inevitable stress.
Initially they must get used to a new life and surroundings in your company, and just knowing you are there for the first couple of nights will be soothing while they get used to their new life. And when they’re confident in their new lives or at least spent a couple of days or more there, you then start to introduce some time alone by removing the crate from your room.
I touched on that in this article: https://www.labradortraininghq.com/labrador-training/what-to-put-in-a-dog-crate-and-where-to-put-it/
With regard to introducing your puppy to the cat I’m afraid I have nothing written on this just yet but the following article has good advice: http://www.cleverdogcompany.com/introducing-a-puppy-to-your-cat.html
I hope that helps…and don’t forget to share a picture of your pup on our facebook page when (s)he arrives :-)
Hello
Your article has helped a lot thank you. I just had one question. When a puppy is ok left in the day without a crate should you then stop the crate at night? Or is it best to always use a crate at night throughout the dogs life, or let them sleep in a dog bed? Many thanks
My wife and I both work 8 hours a day. I was wondering if it would be better to leave the dog in a fenced yard for the day, rather than crate her during crate/potty training? Weather permitting of course, i.e. not too hot or cold, rainy, etc.
Hi Jim,
Sorry for the (very) late reply, I’ve been on holiday for 2 weeks and haven’t touched a laptop until today!
To answer your question, it really does depend on your particular dog. Some dogs prefer the safety and security of a confined space and can find being out in the yard with all the sounds and smells they can sense but not see and get access to quite frustrating. It can put some dogs into a high state of alert and arousal which can leave them stressed and may result in problem barking.
However, some dogs are the opposite and much prefer to have some room to roam around in.
I would say having the extra room and freedom is a massive positive for any animal, and if your dog does seem to get stressed with the extra freedom and all the sounds and smells going on, you can slowly get her accustomed to it, it’s not all or nothing.
Anyway Jim, either way, 8 hours is a long time for a Labrador to be alone 5 days per week. I understand some people are unavoidably in this situation (we all have to work!) but it will be hugely positive for your dog if you can arrange a family member or professional dog walking service to visit your lab at the mid-way point in the day so she can get some exercise, interaction and stimulation. This will benefit her in lots of ways…though may come with a financial cost if a family member cannot help out.
Thanks for the article! I’m looking for some advice about crate training at night.
We have had our four year old dog since she was six weeks old. She was crate trained as a puppy and graduated from her crate soon after she stopped being destructive. She now has free reign of the house while we are gone and we also have a dog door to give her access the backyard. She hasn’t used her crate for maybe three years. It’s always been an option for her to use it, she just chooses not to go in on her own.
My wife wants to start crate training her again at night because we can’t keep her out of our bed. Our dog is a restless sleeper often kicking us while she dreams (presumably about running) and makes the bed dirty with her muddy paws. We can’t keep her off our bed and in her own dog bed on the floor. She is sneaky and has learned to jump onto our bed without waking us during the night – an impressive feat for a seventy-five pound dog. We eventually want her to sleep in her crate (next to the bed) without the door being closed, but she won’t do that yet. On top of being a messy bed-hog, she has become possessive of the bed. Once or twice she has growled and snapped at my wife after being told to get off the bed. If she refuses, and we go to pat her bottom encouraging her to move, she will growl and snap.
We also just had a baby a couple months ago. Along with controlling the possessiveness of our bed, we want her crate to be a safe, comfortable retreat for when the baby becomes mobile and more active.
Last night, we closed the crate door on her. She slept for about an hour but then cried for almost an hour. When I got up to sleep in the guest room so that I could function at work today, I left her in the room with my wife and the baby. My wife said she stopped crying as soon as I left and slept the rest of the night peacefully in her crate.
How can we make this a more positive experience for her and keep her from crying in the crate? Any advice for making this a smooth transition?
Thanks for your advice!
Hi Kyle,
The problem is that at 4 years old, she has had A LOT of time to develop the habit and get used to sleeping on your bed. It’s an ingrained way of life. And dogs, labs especially, are very sociable and want to be near their family.
So your Lab is totally used to sleeping with her family, curling up with them at night and this is exactly where she wants to be. And now you are saying she can’t do this. So not only will she feel hard done by with having something she truly wants taken away, but you are also changing something she has done all her life. To her, sleeping on the bed with her family *IS* a way of life, she’s known no different, this is what life is. But now you are trying to change that and being a dog she will not understand why.
For these reasons I’m not surprised she is desperately trying to resist and keep things as they are.
You have a few options, but I would think none of them will go particularly smoothly and I’d expect a lot of resistance, whining and a few sleepless nights, but due to the fact she will have no choice, she will soon get used to the new arrangement.
Common to all solutions though is that she simply cannot be allowed to get on your bed to sleep. Not ever, not at all. Just a single time will be enough for her to think that it’s possible and she will always try. It’s all or nothing, so make it nothing.
You can have her on the bed sometimes during the day if you really must, just NEVER at night and to sleep. Although I strongly recommend you NEVER let her on the bed as this will be far easier for her to understand. If you want to allow her on the bed sometimes then you need to spend time training her ‘UP’ and ‘OFF’ commands.
Go back to basics here, using high value treats to lure her both ‘UP’ and ‘OFF’ By teaching her exactly what these commands are, and only allowing her ‘UP’ when you have given the command, there’s a chance she can learn to never get on the bed unless given the ‘UP’ command, she will be able to differentiate between times she is allowed up and when she isn’t. i.e. only when asked.
First of all, call her to the bed and say ‘UP’. If she gets on, praise and reward. If she doesn’t, entice her up with a treat and say ‘UP’ the second she gets on. Then entice her off the bed with a treat and use the ‘OFF’ command, praising and treating when she does, or luring her off with a treat in your hand that she follows and using the command when she does so. Repeat this exercise 10 or so times, a couple of times a day for a couple of weeks and she will truly learn what ‘UP’ and ‘OFF’ mean. That’s a good start. Then only ever let her on the bed after an ‘UP’ command. See her there or attempt to get on there any other time, give a firm ‘OFF’ and make sure she gets off!
Anyway, on to some possible choices of what you need to do. And remember, she can NEVER be allowed to actually sleep on the bed, not once, or all and any work will be undone. A single time will be enough for her to gamble and try again, and again, and again in the hope she succeeds. She can NEVER sleep on there.
The first option is to completely keep her out of your room. Use a barrier, baby gate or something to close off your bedroom door and at night keep her the other side of it. Place her crate or bed or whatever by the door where she can see you and leave the door open, but with her on the outside. As long as she can see you, she will not feel alone and this is in no way cruel. After many weeks, you can try sleeping her in your room again, but on the floor like she is used to.
The second option, and it sounds as if you’ve tried, is simply to place a crate beside your bed and close her in there. I would go through my crate training guide first, go right back to basics and follow all the advice in there to get her comfortable in the crate first before trying to make her sleep in there a whole night. Going from not sleeping there, to being locked in all night will not be a pleasant experience, it’s too big a change, and this may make her start to dislike the crate. You have to crate her little and often first, to get her used to it, and then gradually increase the time, and not only at night or she will make the connection. Crate her during the day too, with toys and stuffed frozen kong toys to keep her happy.
So spend two or three weeks of dedicated, frequent crate training while not making her sleep in the crate at night first, to get her used to the idea and comfortable. And after a couple of weeks, place her in the crate at night and close the door. I can almost guarantee she will cry and whine at first, not being on your bed, but NEVER react to it. Do not go to her, try to calm her, give zero attention while she is in there or the habit will never stop. This is the few nights of little sleep I was referring to. But eventually she will learn to just settle…as long as you have crate trained her well beforehand as mentioned above.
Your third option is to tether your dog with a leash to a piece of furniture in your bedroom, like a dressing table leg or something. Place a bed for her on the floor, make it nice and comfortable, tether her so she can move around freely but not reach the bed. Make sure to use a suitable collar that will break away in case of emergency, NEVER a leather buckle or chain collar, but a quick release nylon type, the sort that will break open if she struggles too much…we need to avoid any choking risk!
But yes, tethering can work. You should spend some time teaching her a ‘place’ command, that asks her to go to her bed. Use the command often, not just at night, so again she doesn’t associate the bed with just being deprived of sleeping with you.
I hope this helps in some way? As I’ve said, it won’t be easy, no method will be without days of crying and whining I’m pretty sure. But be firm, ignore her crying completely and she will soon learn it gets her nowhere and will stop.
Good luck, let me know how you get on.
My French bulldog and my English bulldog tend to occasionally get on each others nerves. Would it be a good idea to separately crate them at night so they get a break from each other
Hi, We have an 19 month old Labrador. She has been crate trained since 8 weeks of age. She has always loved her crate. For the last month there have been the odd occasion where she does not want to go in her crate, mostly at bedtime. We have t find a reason for this change in her but we have not come up with anything. We are thinking about keeping her out of her crate at night and she can sleep on her bed in one of our bedrooms. What do you think and will it make it harder for her to go in her crate during the day? We dont completely trust her not to be destructive during the day so she still needs to be crated while we are not home.
Thanks for your help!
Hi Lynne,
That is a little unusual without there having been something to trigger the change. At night, when her family is asleep and the home is quiet should be the easiest time for her to spend in the crate, not missing out on anything. So I’d be surprised if there isn’t some trigger it can be traced to…but then you’ve said you’ve had a good think and drawn a blank. I hate that when it happens! haha.
Whether you crate her at night or not is entirely up to you and it doesn’t necessarily mean she will dislike it during the day, but she might and I’m afraid I cannot say for certain.
If she’s started actually disliking the crate itself, it’s likely she will start to dislike or rebel against it during the day also. The crate might be the object of her disapproval. But if it isn’t the act of spending time in a crate or the crate itself she doesn’t like, but solely spending time in a crate AT NIGHT, then she may not rebel against it during the day.
The thing is, dogs do not generalize well. They are very situation specific. Spending time in a crate at night when dark and her family is nearby but asleep is not at all the same as spending time in a crate during the day when everybody is out of the house at work anyway. These are completely different situations and a dog compartmentalizes these situations differently and will act differently towards them. She could be happy and comfortable crated in one of those situations while not being happy at all in the other.
BUT, if it’s the crate and being crated that she doesn’t like, then the situation is the same no matter the time of day and whether her family is there or not.
So whether or not crating her during the night will affect her approval of being crated during the day depends on what she is actually disliking…(I’m not sure I’ve explained that too well, had a little wine! :-s Does this make sense?)
Something else to be mindful of: At 19 months, she’s still the equivalent of a teenager and will occasionally push the boundaries set for her and kick against the rules now and then as she finds her place in the world and what she can get away with. My best guess would be she tested the waters by rebelling against the crate somewhat and got the HUGE reward of sleeping free in a room with her family members. If you set rules, you have to stick to them. Consistency and routine is key with our dogs.
I don’t know where her crate usually is, but is it out of the bedrooms and she’s alone? Or is it in one of the bedrooms where you sleep? The thing is, if her crate is out of everybodys bedroom and by making a fuss she got to sleep near a family member, that is a HUGE reward and for sure she will try it again. No dog really wants to be alone for the night and the behavior of rebelling and not going into the crate led to a rewarding night out of it and perhaps near to her family. Dogs do what leads to reward so it will be repeated.
Also, maybe she just prefers not to sleep in her crate and enjoys more freedom. Most dogs would. But it shouldn’t really be her choice…unless you want to give her the choice of course…but personally I wouldn’t allow it to be up to her but would make it your decision. If you want her crated at night, you have to crate her at night and not let her decide as this trains her that she can decide by changing her behavior to get her way.
If she’s rebelling at night and gets to stay out of her crate against your request, you’re training her (inadvertently or otherwise) that she can make a fuss and stay out of the crate. So my worry would be: Why shouldn’t she try this during the day or at any other time also? She will have found out what she needs to do to stay out of the crate.
Are you still actively crate training her now and then? Or just relying on the fact she knows and is happy with it? I’m not sure of your situation, but you should avoid only crating her when you leave the house and for the whole night. Crate her also randomly at other times, for random durations. Crate her at night for half hour, then let her out again. Crate her while you’re vacuuming during the day, or while you pop to the shop and so on. Randomize it so she doesn’t think that whenever she goes into the crate that’s her lot for a few hours.
It will almost certainly help to undertake some further crate training, helping her to understand the crate is a good place, a happy place, fun things happen there and there’s nothing to be afraid of.
For the record, my Lab never sleeps in his crate at night now but is happy to be crated whenever we ask during the day. Monty’s now over 5 years old and he stopped destructive chewing completely a couple of months before 3 years old (to big cheers all round, haha.) So he earned the right to be free in the house a long time ago.
I do still make a point of locking him in his crate now and then to maintain his level of comfort in one, pretty much once per day for anything from half hour to a couple of hours, but i have no need to crate him as I know he is OK when alone and will not destroy the house. We’ve kept a crate as he does love it, he goes in and out of his crate a few times per day of his own accord. Generally speaking he’s pretty much either right under your feet being a part of everything or chilling in his crate with the door open and not much in between.
But when it comes to sleeping in a crate: I used to have 2 crates in my house, one in my bedroom where he used to sleep (we’ve now removed this) and one in the living room that he uses to this day.
I have an 11yo son who has always wanted his best mate in his bedroom and of course Monty’s rather partial to this also. I always slept him in a crate in our bedroom until 3 years old or so but then I allowed the odd night in our sons room. Then it became more frequent. Then, well, we allowed him to become…or he graduated himself into…a ‘free in the bedroom’ dog at night and sleeps on his bed in my sons room. Or on the bed in my sons room (too often!). AND I have been known to let him sleep on the bed with me when the Mrs is away, and it’s not completely unknown to happen even when she’s here! What can I say, we’re suckers for the love of our dog :-)
Anyway, gradually allowing him to sleep out of the crate and sometimes on our beds has lead to him not liking being in his crate at night as he’s experienced better. It got to the stage where instead of going straight in when asked, he began to go to it, move away, go to it, move away, fall to the floor and offer his belly, run off and grab ANYTHING in his mouth to give to me playfully, try to get into my sons room, bark at his door and so on. He pretty much tried everything NOT to go in the crate. He knew when it was bed time and he fully expected to sleep in our sons room or ours and not in the crate. Well now we don’t even bother asking anymore. My son leaves his bedroom door open, Monty goes up sometimes when my son does, other times he stays in the living room with us but beats us upstairs once we turn the living room light off on our way out to bed.
But during the day he will go into the crate without fuss when I ask him to. He knows the situations are completely different.
What I’m trying to highlight with my situation is, not being crated at night doesn’t necessarily mean a dog will rebel against it during the day. But you MUST maintain your dog’s approval and happiness of being in a crate when you ask by regularly using it.
If your lady is beginning to dislike being in the crate itself, then that’s a problem. But if she’s just preferring not to go in at night it may not affect her during the day, but you must make sure this is the case.
If you’re going to allow her to stay out of the crate at night, stop asking her. If you ask and fail, she’s learning she can ignore you and will likely try this trick at other times like it’s her decision. But you can still crate her during the day when needed and have her sleep on a bed at night. Just keep using a crate often, whether needed or not. Basically ‘maintenance crate training’ so you’re sure she’s happy with it.
Hope this helps.
We have two moderately sized labs. They each weigh about 60 to 70 pounds. We have a large crate that supposedly will fit two dogs. Is it OK to sleep the dogs together in the crate? If so, should we leave the door open? The dogs look like they fit, but when one wakes up, I wonder if it wakes up the other dog, as the crate is a strong metal one, but it rattles with movement. Thank you.
Hi Phyllis,
I wouldn’t worry about one waking the other. The one that’s woken will likely raise an eyebrow, take a quick glance, roll over, sigh and go back to sleep. Our Lab can sleep through four 11 year old boys tearing around our house if he’s in the mood (or not in the mood depending on how you look at it!)
As you’ve intimated, yes, if you sleep both your dogs to a single crate it’s best to leave the crate door open. Please read an answer I gave to a similar question before clicking here: Sleeping two dogs to a crate.
I hope this helps!
this was very helpful. i still have a question though. my siberian husky(year old) has separation anxiety and destroyed his last wire crate and put a hole in his outdoor kennel(which is chain link). when left in the house alone he gets into stuff and i was told he scratches the door. i’m underage and no one will invest anymore money in my dog except for feeding him. i’m lost and i don’t want to have to move out of my grandma’s due to his behavior. do you have any good advice or websites i can look at to help him?
Hi Vreel,
When you say you are ‘underage’, do you mean a child under 16? If so, it is an enormous task and incredibly difficult for you tackle alone. I’m sorry to hear you’re in this position but respect you a lot for trying your best!
I’m going to e-mail you some information that I’d like you to read through that will give you a lot of info on the subject. Please read through it, try and get your grandma (and any other adults in the house) to read through it too if you can. Separation anxiety takes a lot of dedicated and on-going effort to treat and sometimes nothing less than professional help is needed. But read what I send you, see how you get on.
I wondered if you could help me with our lovely gentle Labrador who is 16 months old as l am at my wits end. She has only ever been locked in her crate a couple of times when we were out & she was a puppy but l have kept it open for her to use as she is terrified of my two grandchildren plus kitchen machine/Hoover noises and she runs to hide in it when they visit but lately instead of joining us in the sitting room in her comfortable bed during the evening she now leaves the room and goes into the cage and l have tried turning the TV off incase it was the noise but it makes no difference & if l close the door to keep her in the room with us she goes into the furthest corner & curls up looking miserable – we have never smacked her or raised our voices to her as she is so gentle – what do you suggest?
Hi Mary,
I’m afraid this is beyond the scope of what I can help with, I would be ‘dangerously’ guessing and wrong advice could do more harm than good. It sounds like a severe anxiety / fear of something in her environment. It will need an expert behavioral specialist to assess and treat. So the only advice I can give is to speak to a professional. Your vet should be able to put you in contact with somebody suitable in your area.
Sorry, and I hope you can get this sorted. best of luck!
Hello! We have a 2 year old Lab mix who we have recently (in the past month) adopted from a shelter. We have no knowledge of his background, but we do know that he is potty trained but knows little else. We crate him at night using treats to encourage him to enter and leaving him with a chew toy and he does just fine. When I try to crate him during the day (to go out for about 3 hours or less) he resists and whines continuously. We have walked before crating and left him with a Kong filled with treats and other chew toys but he panics and tries (usually succeeding) to escape the crate. When he stays out when we leave the house he scratches at the doors and chews anything left out. Any advice on how to ease his daytime anxiety? Thank you!
Hi Megan,
As you rightly say, it sounds like he may be suffering from mild separation anxiety. This can be helped by you if truly mild, but usually needs the skilled hand of a professional to tackle effectively. Please see a short section I wrote on separation anxiety here: Separation anxiety
All the best!
Hey I’ve always enjoyed these articles. I own a 6 month lab and love him more than anything. One thing I DO NOTa agree with is to never crate your puppy when you need a time out. tHis is dangerously. F someone loose some their patience, they could take it out on the puppy. We have to remember they are animals and deserve respect but our needs as humans come first.
I agree. I love my dogs and spend all my free time with them. Sometimes tho I need an hour or so to just relax. Dogs are dogs. They are not children. I understand they have feelings and emotions but they are still dogs. Putting them in a crate for an hour or so just so you can relax and enjoy some alone time is not neglect and to say so is just silly.
Thanks for the article! I just brought a 3 month Lab puppy home and would like to start crate training it but I have a question: If the maximum time period I can crate it is 5 hours, how should I do during nights?. If I am lucky and it toilets by midnight, do I need to take him out by 5.00? Or are they able to hold it longer during nights? Thank you.
Hi Rafael,
The 5 hours applies to the waking and living day, not overnight. You can sleep a dog in a crate overnight, they are asleep with the rest of the house and do not mind. The limit of 5 hours is applied to the day when they would prefer to be and should be roaming around, exploring, playing, training, exercising their mind and body – living basically. Not being confined the whole day.
So you can crate for a good 7 hours over night, but only 5 max during the day is recommended.
All the best!
Hi my question is a little different we have two rescues a boxer mix and a cocker spaniel mix. The boxer came to us terrified of being created so we decided against using one. The spaniel was a an infant so we crate trained her. Nine years later the boxer is using the spaniel crate. Needless to say this is not going over well with the spaniel. Why would an older dog who hated the crate suddenly want to be crated. Nothing has changed in our household and there is no specific trigger. Thank you.
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
That is strange, I cannot think of a reason at all. Are you sure nothing has changed at all in their environment? No furniture changes, people moving into your home or moving out, strange sounds, nothing at all? Absolutely certain that your Boxer mix isn’t ill with something and maybe looking for a place to convalesce in peace?
I really am bamboozled by this one, sorry!
Hi, I got my boxer at 21/2 months. Shes,a great do but trying to crate herwhen we leave the house. She is teething and afraid she will destroy house. When I kennel her, she’s ripped up her bed, toys, blankets etc she barks and crys, throwing herself against cage to get out. At night I put her in smaller kennel by my bed and she sees me, so sleeps all night fine. I cannot leave her lose until she gets out of puppy stage.the vet said don’t give up, eventually she will get out of it. I just want to make sure she won’t get hurt. She is now 3 months and doing the same thing. I tried yesterday putting her in smaller cage so she can’t knock around so much but I think it confused her because at bedtime she started the barking and scratching which she hasn’t done before. I don’t want that. So I’m thinking leave her in other ennel when I go somewhere and leave her night time one by bed just for sleeping. Please give me your opinion. It would be greatly appreciated. I don’t kennel her long, few hours when I have no choice like going shopping or have an event. Tonight we have a party to attend and I’m so confused on what to do with her
Hi Roseann,
Some dogs initially dislike the crate and require careful training to be happy spending time in there which can take time and patience. There aren’t really shortcuts. Until that time, you should try to set up a confinement area your puppy can spend time within instead. A completely puppy-proofed room, with everything and anything he could potentially destroy well out of reach. A laundry room, unused spare room, or a large puppy play pen are usually used for this purpose.
Have you been through my entire crate training series, linked to at the bottom of the article above? All the advice and guidance you need can be found within that series of articles. Please take a read through and if you have any questions afterwards, feel free to contact and ask.
All the best!
These are really good tips and an informative article. One thing I will disagree with though is getting rid of the crate after you can trust your dog. My old lab LOVED his crate, which was in our bedroom. He would go in there just to relax and chill out. We left the door open all the time, but he still sought out his little cave. So I would suggest you can make the dog’s crate “open use,’ but see if the dog still seeks it out before getting rid of it.
Hi Heather,
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the article. And I agree with you completely about keeping the crate, I say as much in the last couple of paragraphs. Also quite a large section on keeping the crate for their little den – and just not locking it – is described within the actual ‘crate training your puppy’ article in the series. So we do agree on that :-)
All the best!
We have a 9 year old golden lab. He was crate trained but after some destructive behavior/increase anxiety (drooling, destroy crate & self injury) behavior about entering & staying in the crate developed after 2-3 years we allowed him to stay out confined to the main floor of the house. We started with an hour and increased the time outside the crate the more comfortable we became.He originally was outside dog but began to jump a chain link & then wood privacy fence to get around to the front door-which led to the crate. He now has become incredibly fearful of rain showers and has jumped up and torn through 3 couches & a chair.
I can’t continue to tolerate the behavior. He removes his thunder coat and rolls it into a pile in the middle of the floor & anti-anxiety meds don’t help. Suggestions on what to do?
Hi Jill,
This is way beyond any advice I could give, I can only suggest seeking out the help of a professional animal behaviorist who can asses the situation in person and provide actionable advice to move forward. Sorry.
We have a 13 year old beagle/foxhound mix named Mindy. She is in great health and very social. She does get loose on occasion and visits all the neighbors in friendly, aloof manner.
Kids in the neighborhood love her, but when we are gone for the day at work, if the temperature is nice we put her on a covered porch with water and food, or we leave her in the house.
For a while we would put her in the garage when it is not hot out.
In all instances, she will go into destruction mode, bark, or leave messes. She actually does not bark at all. Seriously! BUT when we are gone for a bit and she is on the covered patio, she barks non stop and we hear it from our neighbor. There are messes on our patio furniture and patio rug. In the garage, she pawed at the window sill and scratched all the paint on the trip and wall and left messes on the floor. In the house, she will urinate in the carpet.
What is amazing is that we will have taken her out for potty before leaving. My wife even comes home from school at lunch time and lets her relieve herself and she still makes these messes. I literally am at my end. I am so angry when this happens. I am so tired and frustrated and anxious myself wondering what mess I will come home to that I don’t know what to do.
She has even been in kennel and she rubs her nose raw, squeals like a baby and paws non-stop at the cage. Oh, and can I mention, she leaves nasty messes where both she and the kennel need cleaning. This is nearly a daily deal unless someone is home with her.
I am not sure extra exercise will do anything in this case. A muzzle is not the route for barking and likely won’t solve the problem with messes or destruction.
My only other option is to investigate dropping her off at a kennel on a daily basis to let someone else walk her, etc., but that seems like a very costly solution. I do have a dog groomer down the street that I take her to monthly. Perhaps I could ask her to watch her, but she has a full house and plenty of dogs she works with on a daily basis. I just worry as she continues to age, this will be even worse. A combo of behavioral and geriatric and that will NOT be a pretty sight.
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My dog happily goes to bed every night to sleep. I do use the bolts only while she is sleeping at night because I hope she feels more secure at night.
I always walk her shortly before she goes to sleep and talk to her and pet her before she sleeps. She gives a contented sigh. As soon as she wakes we go for a walk. My wife is concerned that I bolt it at night. Should I keep the den unbolted in case of a fire or etc. She is a 1.5 years old Irish Setter.
Thanks for the article- very informative. My family just got an 8 week old lab puppy. We are crate training and he is doing great. What I’m not clear on is how long he should be in the crate each day, and how many times a day. I work from home and I’m just not sure how much time he should be spending. He seems to be Ok out of the crate for about 10-15 minutes at my feet while I work. But more time than that outside of the crate results in accident. What does a “typical day” in the life of a crate- training adult (who is at home with the dog) supposed to look like?
Three weeks ago we got a chocolate lab puppy. She is now 11 weeks. We started introducing the crate at around 9 weeks, and at first she loved it. She went right into it (still does) to just chew a bone or eat her meal. We take the crate into our room at night and she has no problem whatsoever sleeping in it quietly for 7 hours or so. The problem is during the day, she cries and cries if we put her in her crate. Even if we are in the same room with her, she will NOT stop long enough for us to praise her and let her out after she has started crying. I’m not sure if she has separation anxiety already or if this is something that can be corrected with training. We have been giving her treats and praise and letting her out when she IS quiet and in her crate. It’s just that she freaks out if we are in the same room but doing something else and not paying attention to her. We have left her home alone about 5 times, and one of those times she pooped in the cage, and I feel like she is crying the entire time we are gone. How do we get her to love her cage?! Please help!
Hello! Absolutely loved the article, very helpful. We are crate training our sixth dog over 30 years, but we’ve forgotten! We have a 12 week old rescue that has always slept in a crate at night with his siblings. We are on our second night. We haven’t used it much during the day. Potty training well with frequent trips outside. My question; if he starts crying when we put him in, do we continue to crate him? How long to cry is too long? He doesn’t ever go in on his own during the day.
My boy turns one year old at the end of this month. We stopped crating him at night at 6 months of age, as he sleeps soundly in our bedroom for 8 hours – even amongst our cats. Better than I ever expected. We still crate him during the day while we’re at work, but he does get a break at lunch with our dog walker. This totals to 6.5 hours he is in a crate during the day, but never longer than 5 hours straight. That was always my rule – we just work around it. He is already non-destructive in the house, so I am hoping in a few months (when he’s closer to 1.5 years old) we can start leaving him out of his crate. He is already fine for short periods, and doesn’t need to be supervised when we are home, but it’s still tough to make that transition fully and not worry about it.
At night I leave Glory (a 10 wk. old lab-chow mix puppy out of her metal kennel. She has access to it. she’s secured in the kitchen area.
I have it gated off from the rest of the house.
She has a kennel, (apartment). One side potty, one side bed w/ pass thru. And 2 end openings, with a front opening as well.
Am i alright in doing this, or am i missing a good training point. Is it more important to leave her in the kennel or not necessary.
Hello Janice
If your pup is using her apartment the way she should, you should not worry about formal modes of training. Once she understands this is her space and the functionalities within you should not worry. Letting her out at night is also training, for as she gets older she will be used to being on watch at night.
Cheers
hi, i have a question. we are looking at getting a second dog, we have a 3 year old dachshund that is house broken and stays out free roaming all day i work 8-10 hour days 5x a week so we leave a potty pad out for her if she does have to go. with this new puppy which will be a 12 week old great dane when we get her. im not sure if i should try to crate train her being she will be in there such an extended time at a young age and the older dog will be out roaming or should i get like a play pen to keep her in during the day with pads and a bed for comfort to not keep her so confined. our current dog sleeps with us at night and the new dog will probably as well as to not show favoritism. im just not sure what will be most beneficial to the new puppy so i can soon once trained leave her out all day with the older dog.
thanks
izzy
Hi Izzy
The playpen is an excellent idea if you don’t want the pup to feel comfortable and to start potty training.
Cheers
My family just adopted a lab/shepherd mix from a local rescue. My fiance and I both work full time first shift jobs. Our new dog is alone in the house with our two cats for about seven hours. When we first got him he was incredibly well behaved. He never made a mess and everything was just as we left it. We have had him for two months now and he has just gotten progressively worse. He never goes to the bathroom in the house but he destroys everything that is in his reach. He seeks out things to destroy. We have tried putting up baby gates to contain him to one room but he still manages to escape from them or find the smallest thing that we have overlooked and destroy that. I really don’t want to crate him up while we are at work because like you said that is a poor quality of life. He gets plenty of attention before and after he is left alone. He is well fed and he gets exercised but as soon as he is left alone he starts hunting for something tear up. Is there anything else that I can try and do?
My husband and I will be getting two 8 week old Westies. We both work and I have read that you recommend not crating for over 5 hours. My first question is, can they be crated together? My second question is, if they are crated for 5 hours and someone comes and let them out for a hour can they be crated for another 5 hours? If not, would it be better to put up a baby gate and let them roam in the kitchen freely with the crate or crates there for them to enter at their leisure?
I’m happy reading your article. The website taste is great, the articles are on point.cheers!
I’ve had many dogs over the years and have always found the crating method of training to work so well if done responsibly. Your articles are so well written and I couldn’t agree more with the points you make on ensuring that the crate feels like a welcoming spot that creates a sense of security for your dog, especially when you’re away. Thank you for sharing!
Reading the article on crating while at work…you make some very interesting points. It’s a challenge sometimes but I agree…8 hours should be the absolute maximum on hours your dog is regularly crated alone while you’re away. Thank you for sharing!
Hello! Thanks for all the great advice so far!
We recently got a labradoodle puppy (we got her when she was about 8 weeks at (10/24/20), this is currently her 3rd day with us! Even when she first got home, we’ve been making MANY positive associations with the crate, we feed her in it, train/play with her in and around it, and we put her toy that smells like her litter mates, a teething toy, and a stuffy that has a heart beat. Her first night here was pretty rough, we had her crate surrounged by a playpen but the pen wasnt attatched to the wall or crate. We made a small mistake by putting potty pads in there so when she needed to go pee in the night she didn’t wake us, put peed on her pads, she also didn’t really sleep in her crate, she would go in there for a little and then move out to the pen to sleep. By the morning she found a way out of the pen, so we decided that the current set up wasn’t the best idea.
That day we kept her crate where it was (by my bed), but then moved her play pen by my desk so that while I’m working, she could be near me. She is pretty good with her pen, she takes naps in it, plays in it, but sometimes she try’s to climb out of it, but we just say ‘no’ firmly. Sometimes when I leave to get something in the house she would be quiet, but other times she would whine. That night (the second night) she slept the whole night through without whining in her crate. I lured her in with treats, gave her kisses and snuggles, then closed the door, slipping one last treat then putting the blanket over the crate. I slept on my bed next to the crate and I had my had dangling down by the crate the whole night.
Today, she’s been mostly in her playpen but then when i tried to put her in her crate for nap time she whined and whined!!!
How do I get her to love her crate so much that she goes in it voluntarily. Should I change the set up and get a different gate that attaches to the crate so that during the work day, if she decides she wants to take a nap she has the choice to go in?
Also, how do I fix her whining when I sometimes leave for a few minutes?
I know its only the 3rd day but I’ve tried soooo much!! I cant believe all the toys in her crate, all the playtime around and in her crate, the food and treats I give her inside my crate isn’t working!
PLEASE HELP!
Congratulations on your new puppy! Puppies require a lot of patience. Here’s an article to help you with crate training: https://www.labradortraininghq.com/labrador-training/how-to-crate-train-a-puppy/. Regarding whining, you need to ignore it until she stops the give her praise for being quiet. Good luck with your puppy!
Hi there, no idea if you’re still checking and answering comments on this post, but wondering if you have any advice on how to get to the point of trusting your dog to be out of their crate during the day. I have a 1 year old schnauzer mix that is very well trained in all other ways of obedience. We’ve started to test out leaving him out (along with out other 3 year old dog) of the crate when we leave and he chews up rugs, which end up leading us to not leave him out as much. Any thoughts on how to stop the chewing?
Thanks!
Brianna
A coworker brought her 2 month old Vizsla puppy to work and is keeping it alone in a crate over the garage while she works. Those of us who have dogs think this is cruel. She shows her other two dogs and said it needs to learn to be content alone. We think it would do better at home in familiar surroundings with its mother and the other dog.