Do you use a crate to put your yorkie in while away at work?
 

many of us here absolutely love crate training,other prefers xpens,you will find these are the two most popular methods of training a pup while you are at home,even adult dogs have crates or pens when their owners are not home.my bailee is a good dog but I can not see ever leaving her with complete free roam of my apt,there are just to many dangers for them to get into

I guess you can let him have run of the house when you see that the behaviors you don't like have stopped. You want to be sure that he won't potty in the house and that he won't chew on things that he could possibly choke on when he's alone.

I used to use crates for mine but now I use an ex-pen. It just gives them a little more room and they can be together. As they are getting older, I let them stay out more while I am gone.

How old is he? I think over 4 hours is too long for a crate, but you can use a crate inside an xpen, or put the crate in the kitchen with some pee pads. How long are you expecting him to hold it?

That makes me feel so much better...:) My Jack even knows the routine b/c he always gets on my bed (under the covers) thinking he's hiding from me...LOL. You would think he'd find a better hiding spot by now ;). He cracks me up. Like one of you said, I wouldn't want him to chew something and choke w/me not home. That would be horrible. Thanks for the advice. I knew someone here would make me feel better:thumbup:.
PS...not to sound stupid, but whats an xpen? Is that like a toddler gate?:animal-pa

He usually has to stay in his crate for about 7-8 hrs...:( But, he is almost a year old so hopefully I can get one of those xpens. He likes his crate b/c he'll go in there even if he doesn't have to. Probably to take a break from the kiddos.:animal36

I use xpens instead - with a crate inside for them to rest - as it allows room for pee pads if they can not hold it.

There are times I crate mine instead - but only for about 2 to 4 hours at the most.


You can purchase an xpen at Petco/Petsmart.....they come in different sizes. I think my areas are about 5 feet by 5 feet square.....and I prefer the taller ones because mine like to jump.

That's what i've been doing. using an x-pen and putting the crate inside of the pen. so it gives him a bit more room but still small space.

Canyon spends his day in an 18 sq ft x-pen with all his essentials, bed, food/water/toys and potty pad. I have it in my dining room so he can see out the patio door and I bought one of those heavy duty tarps to use as the flooring so he doesn't ruin my carpet when he misses the potty pad. If I could figure out how to resize the pic (too large to attach), I'd send it.

I would block of the kitchen area for your Yorkie. I think 3 hours is too long for a crate. Have you tried xpens. They will run you about 45 to 75 dollars but are great because they are open. Or just get a baby gate and close him off in the kitchen with his crate. Good Luck...

we used to
 

When we first got our Gracie she was in a crate when we were gone at work. My dh would come home for lunch and she would be in there for no longer than 4-5 hours. I felt bad like you do... so we cleared out an extra bedroom and we put her in there when we are gone.

She was a rescue and we can't trust that she will be safe without being confined in some way.

Thats a loooong time to be in the crate..do you have a room you could make safe and put a gate on the door...your kitchen maybe?
It would worry me leaving a dog locked up in such a small space for such a long time.

An xpen is open pen that looks like a play pen. They sell them at Petsmart for 45 to 75 dollars. You will love this...Its worth the money ....

I just bought a large crate (like for a Saint Bernard) for Ajah. I also bought a cheap cat hotel ($12 from walmart) and put that inside the crate. It gives Ajah enough room to play around, snooze, and there is room for a pee pad (although she rarely uses it).

Other pens with no tops she was like spiderman and always figured out a way to climb or jump out.

I've always done the xpen, except this time, as it's put up in the garage rafters, so, used a big pen instead, of course, the pup went bolistic in that, so, she has run in the family room like the rest of the dogs, all the wires are puppy proofed until she's done chewing, as she's 100% housebroken. op, do a search on xpens, I love them as they can have pee pads, water, toys beds, etc in them, and they won't be able to get hurt on anything. I've never much been in to the crate training, as I feel they should be able to potty without having to hold it, I don't like holding my bladder, so never could stand seeing a dog have to hold theirs

My girls are 10 and 11 yrs. old and I still put them in an ex-pen when I leave. IMO they feel safe. Now my Pommie would destroy the house if I let him have free run. He scares me even when I take out the trash so I put him in his ex-pen. If you have problems with your baby climbing out, I read somewhere here on YT to get lattice trim and use zip strips to connect it to the ex-pen.

All three of mine stay in their crate anytime we are away from home. My oldest is 8 and completely housebroken, but I feel they are safer when crated.

I have my 2 y/o Piper in a medium crate from Petsmart and plan on buying a pink crate(PetEdge: ProSelect Fold-Down Crates Fashion Colors) for my new baby Leah. Right now Leah is baby-gated in the bathroom until we get the crate. I have 2 kids who constantly leave stuff on the floor--I don't trust either yorkie to not chew up/eat things they shouldn't have. I know they find things when I am home and I would be devastated if something happened to either one of them. BTW, Piper's 3lbs, and Leah is 2.5lbs--so the crates have plenty of room for them.

Winston is gated in the kitchen while we are away. He is totally potty trained to go outside, I trust him 100%...but for his own safety, I do use a baby gate. I really think all he does is sleep while we are gone...he just jumps right in his bed, when he sees that we're leaving. He's such a good boy!!!

For Chloe I have a playyard from petsmart online ( but I'm thinking of switching to an x pen ...she is getting to be a jumper and the sides aren't to high on mine) I leave her in the playyard with her bed and blankets , toys , pee pad , food/water when we are going out. I never thought to put a crate inside the playyard it for her, Just her bed. She has never been in a crate except when she came to us. She has always just slept in the playyard. I was thinking about using a "cat type" bed that looks kinda like a little dome fabric tent at one time , maybe I will put that in there, so she would feel she has a "crate" to be in.

The longest she is usually in it is 5 hours on Sundays while we are at church, and she sleeps in it at night.

My other dog Sydney does have a crate ( a big on now that she is potty trained) and she stays in there with her blankets , some snacks and toys :) she is 3 years old , so she has no problem holding it till we get home.

I believe this is the ex-pen that I got:

24" Black Pet Dog Cat Play Exercise Pen w/Carry Case - eBay (item 250350560143 end time Jan-03-09 14:35:30 PST)

I got it from ebay with free shipping, and it looks like the same one, with a door in one of the panels.

Lexi was crate trained. When I had to go out for longer periods, and then when I went back to work at the end of the summer, I didn't want to leave her in the crate for too long. I liked the idea of the ex-pen. Plus, we were doing major construction on our house. The kitchen and our bedroom were the only liveable rooms, and when they were working in the kitchen, I needed a safe place to keep Lexi.

I like the ex-pen because it gives her room to walk around. In there are her bed and some toys. When we go out, I put in her food and water, and her litter pan with the pee pad in it. I used to put her crate in it, when the ex-pen was in a corner - the crate would go in that corner. And at night, she would sleep in her crate in her ex-pen.

When we moved the ex-pen, I couldn't keep the crate in there any more because she could climb on her crate and get out of the ex-pen. Now her crate is next to the ex-pen.

Over the summer, we had to be up early as the workers would come at 7. Once the worst of the construction was over, which was when school started and I was back to work, I wanted to grab any time I could to sleep a little later on weekends. But...I didn't want to make Lexi wait too long in her crate. So eventually, I just put her in her ex-pen for bedtime, with her litter pan. That way, if she should have to go during the night, which is pretty rare, or before I get up in the morning, which doesn't happen often, she can go on her own, and we don't get awakened by her barking.

Lexi rarely uses the litter pan in her ex-pen. She prefers not to go in there, and will usually only go if we are gone for an extended time.

HTH! :)