Transitioning out of the crate at night...

[Jamilupine]

How do I transition Lucy from sleeping to her crate at night to sleeping out of it? When do I know she's ready for this? What kinds of things can I expect when I first try?

I felt bad about Lucy being cooped up in the crate while I'm at work all day - I wouldn't feel so bad if she could sleep out of the crate during the night. She's almost six months old. any suggestions on how to make this transition is greatly appreciated.

[sharona1973]

Jami, I'll tell you what I did with both my dogs and you can decide what you want to do for yourself.

Mishka, my 6 year old Sheltie was bought from a breeder and crate trained since she was a pup. She slept in her crate until about 6 months and at that point I felt confident that she was potty trained as she consistently would whine to let me know she needed to go out...even when she was crated. So I felt comfortable in allowing her to transition out of her crate. What I did was leave her crate door open and gave her the command to go to sleep in the crate (she would willingly go in everynight...it was like her safe haven), but I left a little doggie bed by my bed for her if she felt safe enough to venture out of the crate. Slowly she would actually start sleeping on the doggie bed on her own and I just let her do it because I was confident that she would whine to be let out at night if she needed to...but I knew she was fully potty trained at that time. It was very easy with Mishka because she was practically potty trained already by the time I got her.

Now with my little Mocha, it's been harder because of his background. As you know, Mocha is crated during the day for long hours and I have the same kind of guilt you're facing....that he is crated too long and I even have a hard time spending time away from home in the evenings (makes it hard for a social life). Anyway, Mocha is good in the crate during the day but horrible at night and has always been. For the sake of sanity and sleep, I started allowing Mocha to sleep on a doggie bed while on a leash. I know this has not been highly approved of here and I'm not telling you to this but merely telling you what I've done and you decide what to do.....It is a 6 foot leash and he can move around a lot and probably could end up peeing if he wanted to, but he hasn't done it yet. He is now sleeping on the bed with me (he prefers that...doesn't like to sleep on the doggie bed) still leashed.......and it's because I don't trust him yet as he is not fully trained.

Good luck with Lucy! You're doing a great job!

[Barrett]

When I felt it was time to let my pups sleep out of the crate I puppy proofed my bedroom and let my pup sleep on the bed with me. I made sure I closed the door so I could easily find any surprises. I set the alarm for every 4 hours and took my pup to go potty during the night. After a few days if all was well I set it for 5 hours and so on until my pup could be trusted in the night. I kept the bedroom door closed for a few months because of boredom chewing. I scattered chew toys all over the bedroom floor and made sure nothing else was available for my pups to get a hold of. I did this with each of my pups and it worked out really well both times.

[Kade]

We tried this with Winston about 6 weeks ago, and he just couldn't settle down for the night if he wasn't in his pen. He wandered the bedroom and played until 2 am, at which time I set up the pen, set him inside it, and he fell right to sleep!

That's one situation you may encounter.

We may try again soon now that he's older and sleeps in.

[mrsgrubby]

We did what Sharona did, puppy proof a small room and put the dog bed next to the crate, she choose to sleep on the dog bed somenights and in her crate other nights. Now she always sleeps on her dog bed. At bedtime we put a treat on her bed, and tell her goodnight. She goes over and curls up and goes to sleep. I always, always leave her some sort of chew toy though in case she wakes up and gets bored. (she chewed my vertical blinds one night). Usually I leave her a stuffed kong, or an old raw bone, or a bully stick, or something. Some nights they are still laying there in the morning and other nights they are all gone.

[Mom2Many]

We just left the crate door open once we figured that the pup was reliable enough not to potty or chew anything. We also leave goodies in the room for the pup to chew on. Usually they still sleep in the crate with the door open, it is their safe place. Neva is six and still loves her crate. Gunnar never really had to be crated, he was really good puppy so he isn't so attached to the crate, he rather enjoys his pad of luxury...two crib mattress's on top of one another.

[Fran27]

For my first one, at 6 months he was fully potty trained so we just let the door open at night. He lay down in the bedroom at our feet as soon as we turned off the light and that was it, he never wanders at night.

For the second one, we tried at 5 months, he wouldn't settle down and started wandering in the house. I don't totally trust him not to chew everything yet, so we just put him back in the crate, where he went to sleep right away... We'll try again in a month or so.

[TribalRats]

We did what most everyone else here did. Waited until about 5 months and tried....she was not ready yet. We tried again at 6 months and she has been in bed with us about 4-5 nights a week ever since. We still crate her a couple nights a week so that she does not get fully used to sleeping with us as we travel allot for shows and I need her to still be comfortable and not anxious when in her crate.

[Maxwebr]

I recently adopted a chocolate lab. I was very fortunate that Haylee was fully house trained and was crate trained. After the first night, I felt bad keeping here locked in the crate. Now we have her in a section of the house where her crate is open and with her bed inside. It is hard when you cannot be with her as much as you would like. We both work, so only time she has play time is in the evening and early morning.
I would love to be able to keep her permanently out of the crate, but then again, it is good to have her accustomed and comfortable in the crate. Especially if you were going to travel. So I am not planning to keep her fully out. She will probably have run of half the house shortly. How can you say no to that face.