How Long Is to Long to Keep Them Crated?

[Silipie23]

Hello...i need some advice! We have a 10 month old yorkie. She is pee-pad trained, which is what we decided to do when we got her. now my boyfriend wants to start training her to go outside as well since the weather is getting nicer and since we are thinking about getting another dog this summer. She is home alone during the day (another reason why we wanted to train her to use pee-pads, so she wouldnt have to hold it) and we have been keeping her in our second bedroom during the day. its big enough for her to be able to play and has her food and peepads. Now since he wants to start training her to go outside, he wants to keep her in a crate all day, so she will have to hold it until he gets home to let her out.

So getting to my questions....the crate we have is small. when we originally potty trained her we were told to keep in small so that way she'll learn not to go to the bathroom in there. its about 12.56"W X 19"D X 10"H. I have no problem keeping her in there for an hour or two, because she actually likes it in there. But the boyfriend wants to leave her in there ALL day, like 8.5 hours. I think thats a little intense and unfair i would rather get her a slightly larger crate/cage (still not big enough for her to really go the bathroom in) and one that she can see better through. I put a picture similar to the one we have below.

What do you guys think? Am i completly over reacting? Will she be ok in the small crate for over 8 hours? or should we get a slightly bigger one so she can move around a little bit more? OR should we just leave it the way it is now, and still just take her out when she has to go to the bathroom when we are home?

What does everyone else who has a full time 9-5 job do with their babies???

Im just concern because when she is caged either way she really wont have any access to water or food...which makes me nervous with the warm weather coming!

Let me know your thoughts!

Thanks!!


(my apologies if this has been asked before...i did a search but nothing came up exactly matching my question...)

[lisatodd]

we had a hard time training our muffie. after a year of her still messing on the floors we decided to crate her. yes, we did it all day. and yes, it did work. after about a month, she started going outside....yea!!!!! we were so happy. now she has the run of the house and never an accident. it does sound cruel but it does work. now muffie goes in her crate all of the time by her self. she loves it
i hope this helps

[daisy mae06]

here is a link that is very inforative in the Crate isue. good luck. the longest mine are left in their crate is 8 hours and that is rare.
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/crate2.html

[Sugar's Mom]

no, you are not overreacting. that is cruel!!!!!!!!!!

[ARCHIE]

If she is pee pad trained why keep her in a crate all day.
Just put a gate up and let her stay in the room. If she has
to she can pee on the pad. Take her out at least 4x daily and
reward her each time she goes outside. I am sure she will
catch on fast. Try taking the pee pad away and leave her
for a couple of hours and take her out. Remember you can't
leave water down during the day if she is not able to hold it yet.
Make sure she gets water before her last walk in the am and
right after her walk when you get home in the pm.
Good luck

[autumn star]

I think she might be alittle confused at first. Going from a big room to roam around in to this little space w/out her ppads. I do think that she needs a little bit of a bigger crate. To me what you have is more for traveling (just my opinion). Im sure at first she will have some accidents just because this is not what she is use to but in time she will adjust and hopefully be outdoor trained. Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

[onelovelylynn]

WHAT!!!!!!

Your thinking of keeping your 10 month old yorkie in that small crate for 8 hours a day???? OMG!!! You have got to be kidding me. And yes I believe that is CRUEL!!!

They make very nice x-pens that you can put up in a room that doesnt have carpeting. And put a bed and her food and water in the pen with her.

There are alot of ways to train them other than locking them up for 8 hours in a cage.. I know they are animals but come on they are domesticated and that means they rely on us for there comfort,food,water and companionship.

Just what do you expect her learn by caging her up 8 hours a day?

Poor baby, Please try the x-pen for her sake. JMO

[Pipersmommy]

What I was told by several trainers is 1 hour to 1 month of age. 2 months old 2 hours, 3 months old 3 hours. Not to exceed over 5 to 6 hours ever.

[lisatodd]

Originally Posted by daisy mae06

here is a link that is very inforative in the Crate isue. good luck. the longest mine are left in their crate is 8 hours and that is rare.
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/crate2.html

that was an awesome article. i do feel crating them is not cruel. mine love their crates and it has helped w training so much faster.

once they have been crate trained, they can have the run of the home with out any worries of accidents.

thru crate training they learn how to hold their pee and poo.

jmo if you use a pen, they can still poo and pee

they will not poo or pee if they do not have the room to do so

[daisy mae06]

here is another link if you go down to ? 9 you can see the safe time to leave in a crate.
http://www.pettoysplus.com/index.asp...20#stayincrate

9. How long can my pet stay in the crate?
Don't leave your very young puppy in his home all day. At six weeks, a puppy can hold his bladder about four hours. By eight weeks, five hours. By 12 weeks, six hours and by 5-6 months a puppy should be able to hold his bladder for an eight-hour work day.

[browniesmom622]

if she really has to go she will go in the crate
i would let her use the pads during the day and outside when your home
i think its unfair to ask her to hold it all day

[Brooklyn619]

Originally Posted by onelovelylynn

WHAT!!!!!!

Your thinking of keeping your 10 month old yorkie in that small crate for 8 hours a day???? OMG!!! You have got to be kidding me. And yes I believe that is CRUEL!!!

They make very nice x-pens that you can put up in a room that doesnt have carpeting. And put a bed and her food and water in the pen with her.

There are alot of ways to train them other than locking them up for 8 hours in a cage.. I know they are animals but come on they are domesticated and that means they rely on us for there comfort,food,water and companionship.

Just what do you expect her learn by caging her up 8 hours a day?

Poor baby, Please try the x-pen for her sake. JMO

I have a 5 month old who stays in a crate 8 hours a day. She gets let out after the first 3 hours for 30 minutes and then she stays until I let her out right after work. It's not cruel... it's a wonderful training tool. My baby's behavior has improved already after only the 4th day.. NO ACCIDENTS IN THE HOUSE! And she has her freetime in the evening where she has free reign of the house... still no accidents. I plan on keeping up this routine for 6 weeks and then slowly giving her more space.

[biewerlover]

I use this exact same crate during the day for my guy and he is on the larger side (8lbs). He has enough room to stand and turn around and chew his bone. My Yorkie guy is fully trained, I am speaking of my biewer puppy who is 7mos old this next week. He is in the crate from 830-115p when I go home for lunch, then he eats, and plays for about 25min. then is back in the crate until 515pm when I get home. If the weather is nice however, then they have run of the backyard (I live in a small village) and they can get in and out of the garage so that is a nice setup for them. The down side is my guy is NOT fully housetrained with the pee yet so then sometimes he wants to pee in the garage (Hello, the door to the backyard is wide open!!!). Anyways, I think a little toy breed in a crate all day long is too much but that is just my opinion. I think you are great for really thinking about your baby, sometimes men just don't get it, they think little dogs should act/behave like big dogs sometimes (well, they are big dogs in their little minds!!).

Good Luck, I know its hard.

Kathy

[mrlmonroe]

Hi,

My little girl who is 7 months old now started out in the crate all day - with a break at lunch time. We would have a dog walker come to the house, let her out, walk her, and then put her back in her home.

It worked! She pees outside now almost 100% of the time.

We did the crate training for a few months, and I hated the idea. But I don't think she minded.........although she did try to run away when it was time for me to go to work and her to go in her crate. I just think she knew playtime was over, and that's sad for her

Anyway, all day without a break might be too much..........but for the overall purpose of what you are doing, trying to potty train her, it might be ok short term

[Luckyone]

My lab was crate trained and I'm working with Bella. She stays in her kennel for about 5 hours, then I come home for lunch, let the girls out, feed them, play etc. Then she goes back in for another 4 hours until my husband comes home from work. This is what we did with Bridget and it seems to be working for Bella. Bella also sleeps in her kennel. If she cries halfway through the night, I get up to let her out. But often she sleeps right through. Her kennel is Bridget's old one, which is quite large (A metal one too) but I have it blocked off so she has room to lay down, turn around and for her food and water. When she gets a bit older, I'll let her have the run of the kennel.

Bridget has the run of the house. I think we started that when she was around a year/year and a half old. Eventually Bella will have the same once I'm confident she'll behave and Bridget and she won't tear our house apart.