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  1. #1
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    How Much Is Too Much Crate Time?

    Our new puppy is almost 4 months old now. She has slept through the night in her crate since we got her. The problem is she will only sleep during the day when she is in her crate. We have tried to get her to settle down on the sofa or on the floor but no dice. This puppy is our third pup but with our other two they would get tried out and just far asleep where ever when they were puppies. I am currently not working so I am home during the day all day, so what I have been doing is letting her out for an hour to an hour and half at a time and then putting her back in her crate for an hour to two hours. She is pretty good about going in her crate she will only whine for a minute or two than calm down and play with her chew toy or fall asleep. My question is since she is older now am I putting her in her crate too much? I feel bad and I don't want her to think I am isolating her all the time, if that makes sense.

  2. #2
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    Mine didn't automatically fall asleep on the floor and by mid to late afternoon would seem to get over tired and a little wild so I put them in the crate for a morning nap and an afternoon nap, kind of like a little kid. Once they woke up, we went outside to potty and play a bit then they'd be out in the house as long as I could keep an eye on them. If your pup is housebroken, you might stretch the time out of the crate a bit longer as long as you can keep an eye on her and she isn't getting in trouble. If I needed to take a shower, fix dinner or anything during which I couldn't keep an eye on the pup, I'd use the crate. That isn't to say I didn't restrict where they could go when they were out of the crate. I'd use baby gates or doors to keep them in the room I was in so they weren't off chewing wires or table legs or baseboards where I couldn't see them but they weren't in the crate either. They'd play with toys or we'd do some short training sessions. I left the door of the crate open when they weren't in there so they could go in and lie down if they wanted to, which they often did/do. I don't know where your crate is, I had one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom so if they were in the crate and I was at home, I was usually nearby so they weren't especially isolated.

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    Stephveda (01-29-2018)

  4. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by smartrock View Post
    Mine didn't automatically fall asleep on the floor and by mid to late afternoon would seem to get over tired and a little wild so I put them in the crate for a morning nap and an afternoon nap, kind of like a little kid. Once they woke up, we went outside to potty and play a bit then they'd be out in the house as long as I could keep an eye on them. If your pup is housebroken, you might stretch the time out of the crate a bit longer as long as you can keep an eye on her and she isn't getting in trouble. If I needed to take a shower, fix dinner or anything during which I couldn't keep an eye on the pup, I'd use the crate. That isn't to say I didn't restrict where they could go when they were out of the crate. I'd use baby gates or doors to keep them in the room I was in so they weren't off chewing wires or table legs or baseboards where I couldn't see them but they weren't in the crate either. They'd play with toys or we'd do some short training sessions. I left the door of the crate open when they weren't in there so they could go in and lie down if they wanted to, which they often did/do. I don't know where your crate is, I had one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom so if they were in the crate and I was at home, I was usually nearby so they weren't especially isolated.
    Thanks for the reply.. and yeah one of the problems is our house is all open plan so that is another reason I have been putting her in the crate a bit more than I probably would. At the moment she is of course into anything and everything. I have managed to put a baby gate so she can't go upstairs but it would be nearly impossible to block off an area downstairs. She is pretty much potty trained has not had an accident for almost a week in the house. We do kind of have a wall that splits the great room and front living area. So her crate is in the front living area. I was thinking of moving it into the great room but she is in a good routine of going to bed at 10pm when the lights go off in the front room.

  5. #4
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    If you have an open floor plan, another alternative for you might be tethering the pup to you, putting your belt through the handle of a leash and hooking baby puppy to the other end. That way she isn't wandering around unattended, she can move from area to area with you, you can see if she's starting to look like she needs to go outside, and she can learn to sit quietly with you if needed. Some people also use exercise pens to confine their pups inside and maybe have their crate inside the pen so they can go in and out of the crate if they wish but they're not limited to the crate only. Hopefully any of these will not be long term requirements anyway since right now she's still a baby but she's growing and learning every day.

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    Stephveda (01-30-2018), Tanya (01-30-2018)

  7. #5
    House Broken jertom's Avatar
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    Why did you get a puppy? To share your life with? Why the need to lock her up unless you're leaving the house? If you insist, gate off one or two rooms.

  8. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by smartrock View Post
    If you have an open floor plan, another alternative for you might be tethering the pup to you, putting your belt through the handle of a leash and hooking baby puppy to the other end. That way she isn't wandering around unattended, she can move from area to area with you, you can see if she's starting to look like she needs to go outside, and she can learn to sit quietly with you if needed. Some people also use exercise pens to confine their pups inside and maybe have their crate inside the pen so they can go in and out of the crate if they wish but they're not limited to the crate only. Hopefully any of these will not be long term requirements anyway since right now she's still a baby but she's growing and learning every day.
    Thanks Smartrock for the suggestions. I hadn't thought of some of those. Thanks again, I just can't wait until she gets out of the chewing and getting into everything stage.

  9. #7
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    I think an expen in your main area is a good idea. I bet you won't need the crate, plus you can drape a sheet over the expen.

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    Stephveda (01-30-2018)

  11. #8
    House Broken jertom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stephveda View Post
    Thanks Smartrock for the suggestions. I hadn't thought of some of those. Thanks again, I just can't wait until she gets out of the chewing and getting into everything stage.
    And they are good suggestions, but......... 4 months old and not housebroke? you need to spend more time with her, not less.
    Pups chew and get into things, some of us actually miss those days.

  12. #9
    Senior Dog zd262's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jertom View Post
    And they are good suggestions, but......... 4 months old and not housebroke? you need to spend more time with her, not less.
    Pups chew and get into things, some of us actually miss those days.

    OP never said that she wasn't housebroken. And it is best for the dog and their safety to be either in a crate or expen if they are chewing and getting into things, which is absolutely not unusual for 4 months.
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    Stephveda (01-30-2018)

  14. #10
    Senior Dog ZoeysMommy's Avatar
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    Instead of crating so much, have you tried leashing her to you? Good behavior only occurs by training, she will never understand what exactly you want from her if shes in a crate so much. Just my opinion

 



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