Let's Talk Crates - How long will my dog need one?

by Bailey Coldwell

We recommend using the crate to help keep new puppies safe, your home intact, to help puppies learn contentment, and to give puppies downtime. But how long do we need to use the crate for? Do we use it forever?

When first bringing a puppy home, it is best to have a good crate schedule. Getting the puppy in the crate many times per day, varying the times and varying the circumstances. Everything is new for you and everything is new for the puppy. Giving them time in the crate can help give each of you space from one another. But as your puppy gets older, the hope is that they “fit in” better to your household. They are able to be outside of the crate, without destroying our couch. They are potty trained and can be trusted with more space. The puppies are now used to our work routines, family routines, and our overall lives. 

We often find that as time goes on, training might get less structured. Having a dog is just a normal part of your life and they now do great around the home (thanks to all your hard work). Naturally, you might start having less naps in the crate. Maybe you want to start experimenting with having your dog be out of the crate while you are gone or while you are sleeping. Before giving your dog more freedom we want to make sure that:  

• The puppy is potty trained so that more freedom doesn’t equal more accidents. 

• The puppy is no longer chewing up items around the home.

• The puppy is not doing unwanted behaviors that they are able to practice if we are not there. For example, if your dog is jumping on counters, barking out windows, or jumping on people coming into the home, the crate is likely still the best option for them when we aren’t there. 

• The puppy is content in the crate. We sometimes choose to not use the crate because the puppy has started to bark while in it. However, we want to know that if our dogs have to be in the crate or other confined spot, they are still able to settle. 

• The puppy has matured. I would recommend keeping the puppy consistently in the crate when you aren’t there, until they are close to two years of age. This is when a puppy graduates from being considered a ‘puppy’ to an ‘adult’. If your puppy is doing well and you want to experiment with giving more freedom before 2 years of age, you can, but it is just an extra risk of the puppy reverting back to some unwanted behaviors in the home. 

When you decide it is time to start giving more freedom to your dog, you will have the best chance of success if you do so slowly. Instead of giving the dog free access to the entire home right off the bat, try to leave your dog in one puppy-proofed room instead. Do something simple. Sit outside for 5 minutes, check the mail, or read a book. Give your dog a distraction such as a stuffed kong or lick mat. When you leave and come back, make it uneventful. If we have a dramatic exit or entrance, it can add more energy, excitement, and stress to the dog. If your dog does well with leaving for just a few minutes, you can start to add some variety in the times that you leave. You can also start slowly opening up more space in your home, if you would like. 

Be prepared to reduce freedom as needed. I have a 6 year old dog, Caliope. She recently needed to be prescribed medication that increased her appetite. She started to offer behaviors that she hasn’t in a long time. She was jumping on counters, getting into the trash, and just seeking out any type of food related item possible. Because of this, I took her freedom away. If I was not home or not around her, she was in the crate. Whenever our dogs start to get away with rewarding behaviors like this, we want to manage the environment to help set them up for success. If a dog is able to continually get away with a behavior, they will keep doing it. This is one of the reasons I continue to have crates permanently set up in my home. 

Another reason that I keep crates set up in my home is to ensure my dogs continue to be content in these small spaces. Going back to my dog, Caliope, she broke her toe a few years ago. It was a severe break and she had to be on crate rest for a few weeks. If she had not already been crate trained, this would have been extremely stressful for her. If she was not familiar with being alone in this small space, she could have injured herself worse by trying to escape the crate.

Caliope recently had to go to the emergency vet clinic. I spent 7 hours waiting in the lobby as more serious cases had to understandably be treated first. Caliope was in a crate during the majority of this time. She was so relaxed in the crate that I had to explain to the veterinary team that this was just her normal personality and not a result of her injury. Regardless of how careful we are with our dogs, they may experience injuries or normal procedures where veterinarians or groomers need to place the dogs in crates. The experience will be much less stressful for your dog (and everyone else) if they are familiar with the crate. 

If you live in an area where there is risk of natural disasters, emergency shelters often require that dogs are crate trained. If it has been months or years since your dog has been in a crate, they might bark or otherwise panic in the crate. There are also emergency boarding situations, due to us as handlers needing an immediate place to board our dogs. Many dogs act differently in other owner’s homes or boarding facilities. Otherwise well behaved dogs might act up in new locations. Therefore, many pet sitters will not take your dog if they can not be in a crate. 

Does all of this mean that I have Caliope spend hours in the crate everyday? No, not anymore. When she was younger, I surely had more of a set schedule with the crate. Now, I don’t have her exposure nearly as structured. But, I do encourage it everyday. An incredibly easy way to practice crate training is through meal time. I always feed Caliope and any dogs at my home, in crates. This gives them a safe and secure place to enjoy their meals, away from other dogs, cats, kids, etc. It is an awesome chance to give dogs super positive exposure in the crates. 

I also give her crate time randomly. There is no structure to this. I just tell her to “kennel” and she does. It might be for a few seconds, minutes, or hours. It is great for dogs to learn to be okay in the crate regardless of the time of day, what else is happening in the environment, or for how long. I also try to occasionally get her in different crates. I purposely have two crates set up in my home that are slightly different. I will also move the crates around. This will help her if she is in a different crate or a different house. Dogs like routine, a lot. Our lives as humans can throw unexpected twists at us. So, we can’t always keep our lives exactly the same. Schedules are great. But don’t be afraid to change your dog’s crate schedule sometimes. This way, they are okay regardless of if we have a doctor’s appointment or a dinner date at a different time than the dog is used to.

Some handlers don’t want to use crates long term because of the inconvenience of having a crate in the home. Sure, they can take up a lot of space. But we can purchase crates that blend into our homes. We can get crates with stylish covers. You can place the crate in an area of the home that isn’t as trafficked. Many crate companies, such as Diggs, purposely make their crates more visually appealing. Part of getting a dog is making adjustments to our home to help “dogify” it. 

It is good to know that some dog professionals will suggest that every dog should always be confined to a crate or crate-like structure, regardless of age and temperament of the dog, when left alone. This is because freak accidents can and have happened. Dogs can jump on stove tops and accidentally turn on burners. Dogs can break into cabinets and get into chemicals and medicine. They can knock furniture over and on top of them. Doors can be left ajar and dogs can escape.  Risk of injuries to the dog, other people, other pets, and the home increases when dogs are not in secure spaces when we are gone. It is up to the individual handlers if these risks are worth extra freedom for your dog while you are away. Some handlers choose to get cameras to monitor their dogs, keep their dogs in one room of the home, or change their home layouts to make these risks less likely. 

One final reason why I keep crates in my home is because many dogs learn to love their crates. As many of you know, crate contentment can be challenging at first. However, every puppy I have trained who started out howling in the crate, ends up loving the crate. I will often find Caliope laying in the crate with the door open, even if the option of my couch is right there. I have a photo of four of my dogs snuggled up with the crate door open, in one large crate, because this is where they wanted to be. The crates can become a very cozy and happy spot for your dog to rest and relax. 

I hope that this has helped explain when to start giving dogs more freedom, how to do so, how to keep the crate involved in your adult dog’s life, why we recommend keeping crate time, and the risks to giving more freedom. Feel free to reach out to any of us trainers to talk more in depth about the crate.