[vcm5]

Riley is about a year and seven months now and I wanted to get your advice about when the right time was to let him out of the crate to have free reign of the house during the day. He is fully potty trained, I don't worry about that at all. I havent seen him chew anything except his own toys and pillows and beds since the first month we brought him home in May. But then again, he is never in the house alone out of the crate. It's not like I am constantly watching him while I am home, he just tends to always be in whatever room I am in. His crate is open all night while we sleep, so I guess he is unsupervised then, and all he does is alternate between cuddling in my bed and sleeping in his crate with the door open.

He is only ever in the crate for a few hours at a time during the day, and he is very good in there and even hangs out in there when I am home when the door is open. So what do you guys think? Should we give it a try? Should he maybe get one room at a time, like he can be free in the bedroom but not the whole house? Should a dog be left out of the crate alone at all? Any advice would be great!

 

[fostermom]

Danny was 18 months old when I finally stopped crating him during the day when I left the house. He was about 14 months old when I started leaving him out of the crate at night. He was a voracious chewer though, which is why I crated him for so long.

Jasper could never be crated (he'd injure himself in the crate trying to escape), so he wasn't crated at all, though he was originally gated into the kitchen. That didn't last long because he chewed through the baby gate. Overall, he didn't get into any trouble.

Until it was him and Danny, then they chewed a few things up.

Jasmine was crated until she was about 2 or maybe a bit younger.