im just wondering when i could start lettig my doberman out of his crate at night. i put him upin his crate every night, but im scared if i dont he will chew everything and/or use the bathroom. he is 1yr old and his potty trained just feel badfor locking him up every night.
out of crate
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I guess try leaving him alone for short amounts of time to see how it goes and slowly increase the length of time.
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I let my boy have free reign at 6 months on the dot. I guess one would decide on a case by case basis, but denying the inevitable doesn't bode well for establishing a lasting trust with your dog.
I knew he would get into stuff and tear something up, fortunately the worst he has done, so far
is chew on the coffee table a bit. If we leave mail on the table, it's history, but that is to be expected. Keep the house tidy and promote a trusting relationship and you might be surprised.
Chewing on stuff, digging holes, tearing up this and that...I'd rather catch it early on, and encourage training and repetition so that once the dog hits the 1 year mark and further, starts to mature and come into themselves, they are already on a path to success.
You start other training early on right, so why wait to start correcting potential destructive behavior?
It's going to happen, sooner or later, unless you work from home and monitor the dog 24/7.
I guess it all depends on the dogs temperament as well. My boy is a sweetheart. Has never growled at another person and seems to be on the slightly submissive side, versus a head strong beast. He is stubborn and persistent, but he never showed me any reason to not be allowed a little roaming room at the time I chose.
Has your dog completely torn something valuable up, or are you just fearing that?
Keep in mind, we keep bedroom doors closed and we have wood floors, mainly. Accidents are easy to clean and he can't run on the wood floors at mach 7. He has his chew toys and two other dogs to mingle with when no one is home. So free reign might have been a little misleading, but he no longer has to go in his crate, the crate is put up.
I knew he would get into stuff and tear something up, fortunately the worst he has done, so far
is chew on the coffee table a bit. If we leave mail on the table, it's history, but that is to be expected. Keep the house tidy and promote a trusting relationship and you might be surprised.Chewing on stuff, digging holes, tearing up this and that...I'd rather catch it early on, and encourage training and repetition so that once the dog hits the 1 year mark and further, starts to mature and come into themselves, they are already on a path to success.
You start other training early on right, so why wait to start correcting potential destructive behavior?
It's going to happen, sooner or later, unless you work from home and monitor the dog 24/7.
I guess it all depends on the dogs temperament as well. My boy is a sweetheart. Has never growled at another person and seems to be on the slightly submissive side, versus a head strong beast. He is stubborn and persistent, but he never showed me any reason to not be allowed a little roaming room at the time I chose.
Has your dog completely torn something valuable up, or are you just fearing that?
Keep in mind, we keep bedroom doors closed and we have wood floors, mainly. Accidents are easy to clean and he can't run on the wood floors at mach 7. He has his chew toys and two other dogs to mingle with when no one is home. So free reign might have been a little misleading, but he no longer has to go in his crate, the crate is put up.
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I encourage full freedom in the house, as early as possible.
My 1st dobe was not perfect left alone till 12 months old. (also ate the corner off the coffee table)
My 2nd dog was perfect unsupervised, at 4.5 months old.
Each dog is different...watch for the signs, when they are ready to be trusted and tested.
- start at 10 minutes alone / then 20 min. / 30 min. / 1 hour / 2 hour / etc.
- toy training/play and teething only taken out, on toys, is what your looking for
(and not ripping up the couch cushions, when your at home)
My 1st dobe was not perfect left alone till 12 months old. (also ate the corner off the coffee table)
My 2nd dog was perfect unsupervised, at 4.5 months old.
Each dog is different...watch for the signs, when they are ready to be trusted and tested.
- start at 10 minutes alone / then 20 min. / 30 min. / 1 hour / 2 hour / etc.
- toy training/play and teething only taken out, on toys, is what your looking for
(and not ripping up the couch cushions, when your at home)
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We kept Keila in her kennel at night and when we would leave the house until about 6 months, then we started letting her stay out at night. she did amazing. sleeps by or on my bed and doesnt get up until she wakes me up in the morning letting me know she has to potty. We still Kennel her if we leave and no one is home. I wanna try to break her of being kenneled at all but I am scared. she has given me no reason not to trust her in the house alone, but as soon as I think she will be ok, i will come home with my house destroyed. lol. That would be my luck!
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I can't answer your question as I'm a new Dobie owner, but I can tell you that Dexter is 11 months old (tomorrow) and not trustworthy. It's mainly because he gets anxious - and he absolutely loves his crate anyway, which is huge and kept on a heated floor. I think MeadowCat is right that it depends on the dog. I personally would feel terrible if Dexter got into something and he got injured. He's safe, and happy, in his crate while we're gone or sleeping.
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We only use the crate with the door on it for the first few weeks a puppy is with us, then we leave the door open for a few weeks, close it once in a while for a few minutes, then open it back up, then we take the door off, and put favorite toys, a bone, other treat-type stuff in there, so the pup thinks of it as a positive, fun place to go. They think of it as their den, their own space, and not a prison. If we ever have to blockade a puppy for any reason, we do it in the kitchen, but if you begin right away to leave the pup for a few minutes - literally not long enough for him to get into any trouble, and then heap praise... and gradually increase the time frame, they learn not to freak out or worry. Ours just nap. We leave the dog door open, rooms open... and if you are in the same room, or put his bed in your bedroom, he's not going to want to go anywhere - except perhaps onto the bed with you, which you can allow, or not.
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Kyrah only slept maybe the first 2 nights with the door shut. She took turns sleeping with my daughters. I sometimes slept with her. Then I put a dog bed on the floor by my bed. Just recently I have moved her kennel by my bed. She sleeps there with the door opened. She kicked my butt on the kennel training when she came home. She has never chewed anything and goes to sleep when we leave. So I would say it depends on the dog.
If you know they are going to chew something. Then leave something that you dont mind that they chew. The terriers would shred paper when we left. Ididnt feel they really needed to spend hours in their crate for that so I left paper that I didnt care if they shredded or not. Kyrahs new thing is when I take a shower she likes to take something out the bathroom garbage can. So I have started leaving the empty toilet paper rolls on the floor next to the can. She grabs it walks around with it for a min. She may or may not shredd it up some. Then she drops it on the bedroom floor. Another thing she does is, is to move, not chew, my shoes around when I leave. So I purposely make sure there is a pair left in the foyer for her to be able to take to living room with her.
If you know they are going to chew something. Then leave something that you dont mind that they chew. The terriers would shred paper when we left. Ididnt feel they really needed to spend hours in their crate for that so I left paper that I didnt care if they shredded or not. Kyrahs new thing is when I take a shower she likes to take something out the bathroom garbage can. So I have started leaving the empty toilet paper rolls on the floor next to the can. She grabs it walks around with it for a min. She may or may not shredd it up some. Then she drops it on the bedroom floor. Another thing she does is, is to move, not chew, my shoes around when I leave. So I purposely make sure there is a pair left in the foyer for her to be able to take to living room with her.
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I think somewhere around 6 months we started leaving Dakota out of her crate, but confined to our room with a baby gate. I want to say somewhere around 9 months or so we started leaving her free to go where she wants. Up until recently, she would just go into bed with us, lay down and not move. Lately, since it's been getting cold and we've been having fires, she will leave us in the middle of the night to go lay by the fire, or on the couch. She usually comes back up before we wake up, but she loves laying by the fire.
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I was supposed to put Elza in her crate at night. Since she had an operation and wore the plastic big collar, it didn't work out physically. It was her 17 months old.
My bedroom is on the second floor and I prohibited her to come upstairs. So it was HER dream to come to the bedroom and stay with us at night. At her age she understood if she messed up anything she would be put herself back in the crate. She behaves very good, never chews any items!
When she wants to pee, she wakes us to open the door and runs down to her indoor toilet.
My bedroom is on the second floor and I prohibited her to come upstairs. So it was HER dream to come to the bedroom and stay with us at night. At her age she understood if she messed up anything she would be put herself back in the crate. She behaves very good, never chews any items!
When she wants to pee, she wakes us to open the door and runs down to her indoor toilet.
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Gunner is 6 months and crated at night and when we aren't home. My biggest reason is that we live in a rental house. If he chews something or causes damage, our landlord could ask us to get rid of him or move out. He likes his crate so there is no reason for us to change anything right now.
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Jack is the first dog I have ever crated, and I love it. He's now 2-1/2, and he still sleeps in a closed crate (a big wire one so that he has room to stand up and move around) overnight and when we go out.
But then, we both work at home, so he's out of his crate all day. I might feel differently if we worked outside the house and he were crated all day.
At night, he's crated not so much to prevent his doing damage to the house but so we can enjoy undisturbed sleep. After dark, critters explore our back deck, and in the evenings, Jack feels compelled to patrol and warn us — very, very loudly — about each visitor. I don't fancy having that go on all night.
As for when we're out, I just feel less worried if I know Jack is in the crate. Some years ago, when Jack's (non-crate-trained) predecessor was still with us, we arrived home one day to find blood everywhere. At some point, Fred had obviously perceived a threat and had managed to put a foot through a bedroom window and slash his leg on the broken glass. The injury wasn't too bad, though stitches were required, but I've often thought that the outcome could have been much more serious. And forever afterwards, I worried about leaving him alone.
So given that Jack is perfectly happy in his crate, I suspect that he'll always be crated when we aren't home. For my peace of mind.
But then, we both work at home, so he's out of his crate all day. I might feel differently if we worked outside the house and he were crated all day.
At night, he's crated not so much to prevent his doing damage to the house but so we can enjoy undisturbed sleep. After dark, critters explore our back deck, and in the evenings, Jack feels compelled to patrol and warn us — very, very loudly — about each visitor. I don't fancy having that go on all night.
As for when we're out, I just feel less worried if I know Jack is in the crate. Some years ago, when Jack's (non-crate-trained) predecessor was still with us, we arrived home one day to find blood everywhere. At some point, Fred had obviously perceived a threat and had managed to put a foot through a bedroom window and slash his leg on the broken glass. The injury wasn't too bad, though stitches were required, but I've often thought that the outcome could have been much more serious. And forever afterwards, I worried about leaving him alone.
So given that Jack is perfectly happy in his crate, I suspect that he'll always be crated when we aren't home. For my peace of mind.
My first male doberman was left alone at 1 year old. We picked up a stray doberman in the neighborhood and they were the best of buds.......well I left for work and returned a few hours later and my house was turned upside down. My living room cushions were all over the floor, my curtains were pulled off the windows. Ink pens were all over the house with ink all over. Toilet paper was run throught the house. The trash can was empty and all over the house. We found a good home for the stray............and as I read this I thought of my story.....I've never seen this again......
He was sleeping on what smells the most like his people (with whom I assume he'd rather be), and it is a short trip from there to consuming socks and underwear.
Well-behaved and trustworthy is part good decisions/maturity, part lack of need and part lack of opportunity.
Could he not sleep in a person's room or have a comfy bed outside of a person's bedroom door?
I'm just sayin'...
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When we first got Toby we had a crate set up in the living room (its position allowed him to see the corridor to the bedrooms). That was in the Winter, when Summer came it really gets quite hot inside so when my other dogs all moved outside to sleep on the covered flyfree terrace, he went out too. He was about 6 months. We didnt crate him from that time onwards. He now sleeps indoors with my small Terrier, Jack, Russell my big Terrier sleeps in the bedroom with my son. When we go out, I rotate the Terriers inside one day, Dobe the next. (this is to prevent a repeat of Dobe versus Terrier, the result of which I am sure you can guess without difficulty). Though to be perfectly honest it is rare that we all go out. With regards sleeping at night, I am literally 9 metres away from him and am a light sleeper, so if I hear something that is not right I get up and investigate. Thus far (touchwood) we have had no problems.
Toby did go through a stage at around 8-9 months of chewing stuff, I have 4 Camel Saddles (which we use as seats outside on the Terrace), he has managed to eat the leather straps off 2 (they now need refastening). But that is because or so I believe they are rawhide and taste extra yummy because it is made from camel sinew. He loves to chew wood, especially the logs I have brought in for the fire. We keep them on the Terrace until we need them. But the wood chewing isn't a problem, he just picks up a log, brings it in, chews bits off it, spits them out and looks at us as if to say, 'there mum, it's just the right size to put on the fire' of course we do so and he sits back and moans in contentment he is so warm and toasty.
Toby did go through a stage at around 8-9 months of chewing stuff, I have 4 Camel Saddles (which we use as seats outside on the Terrace), he has managed to eat the leather straps off 2 (they now need refastening). But that is because or so I believe they are rawhide and taste extra yummy because it is made from camel sinew. He loves to chew wood, especially the logs I have brought in for the fire. We keep them on the Terrace until we need them. But the wood chewing isn't a problem, he just picks up a log, brings it in, chews bits off it, spits them out and looks at us as if to say, 'there mum, it's just the right size to put on the fire' of course we do so and he sits back and moans in contentment he is so warm and toasty.
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