# When to let him sleep out of his crate?



## baumgartml16 (Jun 19, 2011)

Our pup is the same way ( one month older ) and we just recently tried this and it seems like they know to hold it better when in the crate so if you do this, expect to get up earlier than you normally would to let him out. Our girl mainly wants to just get up on our bed since she sleeps in her crate in our room so we kept her in there with the door open but once they are up and walking around they realize they gotta go...so that would be the only thing i would warn you about. After a week of letting her out of the crate we are going to go back to it and try again in a few months...


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## Bogart (Nov 14, 2009)

Our little guy has his one crate in our bedroom and a playpan in the family room. At night we go last time out and then like the geese we walk into the bedroom for night night. He goes right into his crate. I put a thick Blanket into his crate a few days ago and he actualy is useing it to put his head on it:bowl:. My plan is to put the blanket next to my bed and so he knows to spent the night there. I'll keep the bedroom door closed for a couple of months and so I can hear him when he is moving around too much. I wouldn't give him free run of the house either we'll see what he thinks about my plan:crossfing. He hasn't had an accident in weeks either and when he had a diariah episode (too much Horsemenure and Hot dogs from training class) it was a good thing he was in his crate because he let me know when he needed to go outside. But eventualy they have to be trusted he really doesn't mind his crate or the playpan and goes in without any trouble. He is better trained in the crate then Bogart ever was and Bogart has taken to the open exercisepan (too funny)


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Also consider safety - not just the potential for accidents. 

Leaving your pup out overnight is essentially leaving him/her unattended in your house, to get into anything that interests him/her. Unless you're going to leave your pup in a closed off, puppy-proofed place, I wouldn't just leave him free until he is 100% trustworthy not to get into garbage, chew on table rungs, or eat the sofa. For many dogs, their crate is a safe place, a place of comfort. So while they might love to sleep on your bed, sleeping in their crate is not necessarily a bad thing - and knowing your pup is in a safe, secure place while YOU'RE sleeping is good thing.


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## Brandiann (Jul 24, 2011)

I really have no advice for you about potential potty issues as Lola has never used a crate, we keep her in the living/dining room area of our apartment where there is nothing to get her into trouble/danger.. (Weirdly enough our outlets are halfway up our wall so there are no cords or anything that she can chew).. Just make sure you puppy proof the area she's in no cords to chew, nothing she can choke or break pieces off of, etc. I would also leave her crate open in the room with her at first if possible so she has a familiar place to sleep.. And maybe do it on a night you can check in on her a few times throughout the night to see how shes doing.. Good luck!


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

What about taking him into your bedroom-maybe putting a dog bed in a corner-and closing the door so he can't leave your room (your bedroom should have everything picked up off the floor and all closet doors closed so there is nothing he could chew on except his own toys). 
This way if he began moving around restlessly you would hear him and be able to take him outside.


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

I started leaving the crate door open at 4 months of age. Beamer could choose to sleep on my bed, on the floor, or in his crate. He doesn't get into anything over the night. I still crate him when I leave home though.


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## penparson (Sep 19, 2010)

We let Wakefield spend the night outside of his crate when he was about 5 mos. old (he just turned 1 last week). He's a camel, so a nighttime accident isn't a worry. He did really well for a couple of weeks, but he's a HUGE chewer and found all sorts of new trouble to get into one night. He's pretty stealth about it, and I found a favorite old doll torn to shreds one morning. That was it, and he's been in the crate in the bedroom ever since. He's comfortable there, and we don't have to worry about waking up to a mess.


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## ozzy'smom (Jun 18, 2011)

We just started leaving Ozzy out recently...probably about 6 months. He is gated into our bedroom though. He usually starts in his crate with the door open but then comes out and sleeps on a dog bed he loves. He's doing great and rarely moves around.

He's still gated when we're not home.


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