first day in crate alone, PLEASE HELP

[-x kellie x-]

I purchased a crate today and my puppy seems to like it, she is going in and out of it all day, but,
tomorrow there will be no one here to watch her for 4 hours!! as i have to go to work.
I have no idea what to do! should i put her in the crate for 4 hours and close the door? or do i leave the crate door open with a pee pad and water in the living room next to the crate? do i put water and toys in the crate with her?
The crate is small and has just enough room for her to lay down and move around a little
She is 10 weeks old and tonight is her first night in the crate, i was using a playpen with pee pad and toys in it for the last 2 weeks, please help, i really dont want her stuck in a small space for too long

[jnjtbmoore]

Originally Posted by -x kellie x-

I purchased a crate today and my puppy seems to like it, she is going in and out of it all day, but,
tomorrow there will be no one here to watch her for 4 hours!! as i have to go to work.
I have no idea what to do! should i put her in the crate for 4 hours and close the door? or do i leave the crate door open with a pee pad and water in the living room next to the crate? do i put water and toys in the crate with her?
The crate is small and has just enough room for her to lay down and move around a little
She is 10 weeks old and tonight is her first night in the crate, i was using a playpen with pee pad and toys in it for the last 2 weeks, please help, i really dont want her stuck in a small space for too long

I bought a baby play yard which is similar to an x-pen...Lined it with potty pads (since she is so small) and she has her crate in there which she just walks in and sleeps....She goes in and out as much as she wants.

[Sunny95]

We do the same thing as jnjtbmoore.

This is what we do - see attached picture. This has worked GREAT for us. Ginger can move around but does not have free roam of the house so she can't get in to trouble. She's still too young for that at 8 months.

[Britster]

I think your baby would be absolutely fine in the crate for 4 hours. 4-5 hours is my personal
limit for leaving my Jackson home alone. However, I didn't do the crate training very long. lol.
I bought Jackson an ex-pen, sort of like the picture above, and that didn't last long either
so I don't have much advice for you. Jackson's had free roam since he was around 5 months
old and has always been totally trustworthy. Most dogs just sleep the entire time you're gone
anyways.

[Lia]

Originally Posted by Britster

I think your baby would be absolutely fine in the crate for 4 hours. 4-5 hours is my personal
limit for leaving my Jackson home alone. However, I didn't do the crate training very long. lol.
I bought Jackson an ex-pen, sort of like the picture above, and that didn't last long either
so I don't have much advice for you. Jackson's had free roam since he was around 5 months
old and has always been totally trustworthy. Most dogs just sleep the entire time you're gone
anyways.

Wow you are so lucky! I put my Lucky in the kitchen and just seal it off witha baby gate and Lucky actually managed to jump into the sink and over the counter to get out! He's crazy!

[Desire123]

Hi there! When Jack was 4 months old we kept him in a little play pin for a few months when we went to work but now that he's 2 he pretty much has free roam, however he just gained these privileges a couple of months ago. For the most part my husband and I would leave him in our office with the doors closed and would leave him his crate,toys, food, water and pee pee pads. He loves his crate so much we got him a second one! He has one for the house and one for when we travel.

[redvalaria]

Well, we use a combination of things in our house.

Fergus LOVES his crate, and when he isn't in bed with us, he sleeps in his crate just as happy as can be. We leave the door open and he often "puts himself to bed".

But I also have a portable play pen for longer periods if I absolutely HAVE to be gone (4-6 hours).

He is 6 months old now and pretty well housebroken, so, he basically has free roam most of the time with the "big guys". Hamish, my 20 pound teapot yorkie would laugh his furry butt off if I tried to pen him up in any way, just not dignified enough for him!

[nadalia]

I like this smaller crate inside of the larger crate with pee pads on the floor! and food and water bowl there!

I just got a crate 24" now you gave me an idea!

thank you very much!

nadalia

Originally Posted by Sunny95

We do the same thing as jnjtbmoore.

This is what we do - see attached picture. This has worked GREAT for us. Ginger can move around but does not have free roam of the house so she can't get in to trouble. She's still too young for that at 8 months.

[Roxy_Mom]

Originally Posted by Sunny95

We do the same thing as jnjtbmoore.

This is what we do - see attached picture. This has worked GREAT for us. Ginger can move around but does not have free roam of the house so she can't get in to trouble. She's still too young for that at 8 months.

This is the way we do it as well. In fact, that looks almost exactly like ours . I would use a pen (baby playpen would work too) or a very small area and put the crate, foor and water, and the puppy pads.