One week so far and all is well.
 We started in January to let him out of his crate at night and he has really done well so we figured it was time to try him out at the major league level of freedom. He still has his crate but it is now "crate optional" for him. We are actually wondering how he will handle it when we remove the crate completely. We are keeping our paws crossed and hopefully he will continue his outstanding behavior and not wreck anything, especially Baileesmon's Teddy Bear collection.  |
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Quote: Baileesmon's Teddy Bear collection that must be completely out of puppy's reach/climb. Otherwise, you do have your emergency clean up kit handy, right? That continues throughout the dog's life. |
| Yeah for Bailee! How is he doing? This past Saturday we let Gigi have the run of the house. No crate at night or day. She is doing great! |
Actually he is doing so well it SCARES US!  He hasn't gone near anything that isn't his. He is now 19 months and we thought it was the right time. We are increasing our time away during the day as we go. We are now up to a max. of 5 hours during which he was great. We will be "puppy-sitting" for our son and Daughter-in-Law and their kiddies when they go on vacation in the summer. They have an almost 1 year old Keeshond, who is crated at night. We are hoping she doesn't get upset when she sees the big furry guy walking around the house at night. That should be a fun week.  Lucky for us that Bailee and Jazmyn get along great together (so-far.) |
| So happy for you!!!! |
| Well, this is just an update on Bailee and his new found freedom outside of his crate. It has been more than a month now and he has been UNBELIEVABLE! NOT ONE mishap, nothing (yet). We want to remove his crate completely but he actually still likes to use it. He can open the gate and enter whenever he wants and he seems so content in there we are afraid to take it away. I had read posts that mentioned things like a "switch" being turned on at a certain age and other folks Sheepies just changing from all day puppyhood to (semi) adulthood. I think he threw the switch. I have noticed he is being better in everyday activities. Greeting people, walking just being so much nicer and behaving so well. |
| If you have room for it, I would leave it out. The fact that he still goes in it shows he draws comfort from it. If you remove it and he has an incident where he feels overwhelmed at home alone, you may be dismayed at what happens.... Years ago I read a dog behavior book that had only one thing that really stuck with me. It emphasized that sometimes dogs feel like they are responsible for the entire house (if loose) when you are gone. That is why you see the change in behavior when you increase from crated or confined to a small room - to going to the whole house. What would be manageable to them in the smaller space can be overwhelming with the whole house. And it can be something random - construction work in the neighborhood, loud vehicles, someone coming up to the house when you are gone, stuff like that. Just a thought....  |
yeah, if you can keep the crate the dog would appreciate it. Throw a nice piece of fabric over it and it becomes an end table.... They need their special "den," a place where they can go and rest and recoup. Often the door can be removed leaving just the dark comfortable space. Jack still uses his crate, it's in the garage now and he'll nap there or if the neighborhood is too noisey, he'll go there. Once in awhile he goes there only to find Glacier already there! She too appreciates a nice dark spot when times are stressful. It's a 48" crate and if they both curl, they will fit in it together  |
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