Max time to spend in crate?
 

Hi everyone,

Brand-new to this forum. Our Yorkie puppy Sniper is now six months old and about 90% house trained for pee, but not poop. He will poop if he happens to be outside, but if he's not, he will go down the hall and find a private place inside to poop like my bedroom or the bathroom.

Anyways we've had him for about 3 1/2 months now and love him to pieces. :love: we crate him at night as well as when we have to be out during the day. He does not wine at all to go in his crate but also doesn't go in there voluntarily. we have managed to arrange our schedules so that he does not have to be in his crate ever more than four hours during the day, and that has only happened once or twice. Yesterday we actually kept our daughter home from school to stay with Sniper so he wouldn't have to be in his crate for five hours as both DH and I had to be out of the house for work that long.

It will get to the point that he will have to be in his crate for up to six hours in April when my husband is away working. I feel guilty about this but know that he is safe and okay. He will be 8 months old by that time.

Is that at acceptable age to be in his crate that long? I definitely don't think he's ready to be just wandering the house by himself at that time. I also think it would confuse him if I put his crate and food bowl etc. and closed him off in the bathroom. The main bathroom is relatively big, but he is used to his crate when we go out. it just still seems like a long time to be in such a small space.

If he has to be home that long I would start teaching him to use the wee pads. You can buy him a puppy play pen they are round and metal put his bed in there and the wee pad plus food and water. I think 8 hours is too long to be in the crate confined. My baby's potty outside but if I'm gone I leave a puppy pad down and they use it. Yorkies have small bladders and can't hold it that long.

If he is a year old when he has to be in the crate for about 6 hours he should be able to mange it. Just remember that he will need extra exercise and attention when you get home. If a dog is sleeping in a crate while you are away then it is like morning to them when you get home.

I think you are wise not to leave him in the crate for long periods of time especially as a pup since they do need to potty more often than an adult dog does.

You might consider giving him just one room where he is safe in order to break him into having more freedom. Sometimes a dog can mange one room better than a whole house to roam in. Puppy proofing first and leaving him for just short periods of time until he has proven himself trustworthy will help him to learn to be a well behaved family member.

I'm a stay at home mom now but before we got Rasta I worked and went to school being gone for 8 + hours a day. During that time we purchased an English Bulldog puppy. The first few weeks my hubby took 2 months of leave to stay with her (she was 8 weeks). After that he deployed and all responsibility rested on me...in my experience you can leave them alone for that long but I wouldn't recommend it. We had our bully confined to a bedroom and there's so much they can get into without you even thinking of it. If you were to do it I suggest you invest in an xpen if you don't have one already. That way ur pup will have an area to relieve itself, eat, sleep, and play. This way he won't feel so confined. Is anyone able to come home during lunch or something to check on him? Btw I would love to see pics!