Where are your dogs?

[loveyorks]

Question for you - Where do you put your furbabies when you leave the house.
Hubby and I have been (gently) arguing for ever it seems as to where to puts the dogs when we leave for work. He wants them loose in the kitchen -gated - from the rest of the house. I would not mind but they are not 100% house trained and they will go where ever they feel like it if someone's not there to open the door for them, they are clean when we are home (go figure). I want to put them in their crate, they are clean in there. Hubby is usually home around 2 pm so their time in the crate is limited. But he thinks I'm being cruel, he's always saying ''how would you like to be crated''. HELP!! what's the general opinion on this sensitive topic. Thanks

[deanne]

mine are crated when we aren't home. They will potty if left out but not in the crate, even thou the crate they share is huge. It saves me from being angry at them when I get home and they seem just as happy to see me. your lucky your husband is concerned about it. good luck

[abaddon248]

I do crate my dogs because if I wouldnt my house would be destroyed. I had tried leaving them out alone but my sheltie Max is mr destructo! He will rip up all the walls and just chew on anything wood. Having cutie and max roam the house was bad due to the ripping and not waiting for mommy to come home to let them out to potty. Then we tried the bathroom..Max ripped up my blinds..lol and I was tiered of bleaching the floor after the potty. Also max was ontop of the chair in the living room and fell off and hurt his leg so after all that happend me and hubby had no other choice but putting them into a crate. They get walked before they go in and they dont mind it.

[abaddon248]

no potty inside crate! and they will wait . only time it has happend is when Max has a upset stomach

[ARCHIE]

Buddy has full run of the house. He goes where and when he pleases.
He almost 5yrs old now but was gated in the kitchen until about 10mos.
At that time he was fully trained and stopped chewing things that did
not belong to him

[browniesmom622]

Mine are 100% potty trained & they still get crated when we go out, It's safe place to put them where i dont have to worry about whats going on at home. They have food, water, pillows, blankets & we put the tv on.

[deanne]

Originally Posted by ARCHIE

Buddy has full run of the house. He goes where and when he pleases.
He almost 5yrs old now but was gated in the kitchen until about 10mos.
At that time he was fully trained and stopped chewing things that did
not belong to him

you're lucky mine chew on everything that is not theirs.

[monicabrooks]

We originally kept our furbaby in the bathroom, but my husband thought that was cruel. We have an empty nest now so we converted one of the bedrooms into a bedroom for her. So far (it has been 4 months) it has worked out well. She has not chewed on any of her furniture and although we leave a puppy pad down she will not use it until we come home. When I leave in the morning I turn on her tv and give her a treat in her kong. She is so happy when I leave she doesnt even look up at me.

[MeAndMyOlivia]

Olivia is in her crate when we are gone; she is 7 yrs old and sleeps most of the day anyway! I work from home on Thursdays, and she follows me around the house looking at me like "come on, sit down - I'm TIRED already!" LOL She doesn't seem to mind being in her crate.

[Felina]

I leave my two yorkies loose in the house when we're gone but we do have a baby gate up so they cannot go upstairs. My 8 month old yellow lab does get crated when we're gone though and my little 6 lb Shelby Rose lays right next to our lab, her "bigger" baby sister, who's crated ... I guess to keep her company. :^)

[Marilize]

I used to leave Cash in the bathroom when he was younger. He had his bed, water, toys and seemed quite happy there. I now only use it as a time-out.
Now, when I leave, he has full run of the house - he is almost two years old and didnt even chew on the wrong things when he was a pup. He does get mad when I am gone too long and he chewed my shoes on a few occasions. Im crazy about shoes, so just took it as an excuse to buy some new ones!!
I do close my bedroom door (if I remember), coz Cash would take anything that is in the trash bin in my room, rip it to shreds and then litter my entire room with it. Otherwise, we have no problems.

[Lexi Rae]

sorry , im with hubby.. crating for a couple of hours when they are
just puppies is ok.. but after a few months, give them more room,, a
gated place, for a few months and after that..run of the house...
i dont the idea of crating for a long time...dont believe in it and i think its
cruel too.

[yorkiepuppie]

i would maybe use an x-pen, but i wouldn't use a crate.

[Potter]

I leave mine upstairs (gated at the stairs). He has his own room where he has a lounger for him to see outside when we are gone and the hallway and the bathroom where I put a pee pad. I close the doors to the other rooms. So far he is happy with the arrangement. He never chews on anything even when he was a pup. He had a full run of the condo we used to live in at 6 months old. I never like to crate my dog and he is pretty well-behaved so I can't find a reason to crate him. The one hour walk each morning drains his energy enough to be well-behaved throughout the day. I am not really agreeing to the crating either. It could pent up the energy in your dog and make behaviour worse if not being drained out. An x-pen is a more versatile idea. You can choose to put a pee pad in there as well to make your dog more comfortable.

[joesmom]

I dont believe in crating.
My babies have free roam of the house.