How Long Is to Long to Keep Them Crated?
 

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...)

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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 :)

Chloe is in her kennel all day with hubby coming home once during the morning, at lunch, and once during the afternoon. She has the small wire crate that they sell at Petsmart and it works great. She has a washable pad (like they use in nursing homes for people) in the crate for comfort and in case she has an accident. She also has a blankie in the back of the crate. She is probably 95% housebroken at 7 months, and when she has accidents it is usually poop.

The kennel has been a lifesaver for us, but rarely is she kenneled over 4 hours without a break.

H

If you do plan to leave her in the crate, make sure you give her a break, or better yet two breaks, in the middle of the day. If you can't do that I would really advise against keeping her in the crate.

I crate trained Boomer until he was 1 year old from 7:30 until 12:30 and then 1:00 until 6:00. I think the key here is Not to crate for more than 5 hours with out taking them out to pee and stretch their legs and have a little drink/snack. Any more than 5 hours, is just not fair.

Good luck!

I agree with you on this "no more than 5 hours"and also I would never leave my babies without water...Never...No food is ok, but please leave some water for the little one. Good luck...:wink5:

I agree that 8 hours to be in a small crate is too long. I don't know how anyone could be expected to "hold it" for that long. There should be at least one potty break during that time.

I don't like the crate so I have been using a portable playpen for Nathan..which is big enough for his bed and food on one side and a pee pad on the other side....he is 7 months old now..our routine is we are up at 6:45am and he goes potty outside, he has full run of the house while i am getting ready for work ( which is only tue-thurs, other wise i am home working and he is out with full run of house) he is back in playpen by 8am and I am home by 3:45 and lately I have come home and he has not gone on the pee pee pad but will go outside when i come home..so it is working..i do leave it in the playpen just in case he has an emergency at night or i decide to sleep in a little later and not up but he usual barks to let me know he has to go and we go outside and then we go back to sleep for a little while longer!!! :) we still have a little issue with him peeing on the pee pee pad in side his little tent but he likes to poop on my rug!!! unless i catch him doing the sniff circling thing!!