Time Spent in a Crate

[Wagonracer]

I have heard that Shelties should be crate trained. They should be placed in their crate at night and when nobody is home. What is the maximum amount of time during the day that a Sheltie could be left in a crate? If nobody is home for a 4-hour stretch, is that ok during the day? Also, should the crate be in a bedroom at night or is it best to place the crate by itself? Thanks for any help...

 

[Lightplum]

I have heard that Shelties should be crate trained. They should be placed in their crate at night and when nobody is home. What is the maximum amount of time during the day that a Sheltie could be left in a crate? If nobody is home for a 4-hour stretch, is that ok during the day? Also, should the crate be in a bedroom at night or is it best to place the crate by itself? Thanks for any help...

4 hours is fine in a crate, when they are puppies you may need to shorten that time but by the time they are 5 months or so that stretch is ok. If you dont mind the crate in your bedroom then I would say its fine..Mine are all in different bedrooms thoughout the house. I currently have 1 crate next to my bed for my littler one

 

[BarbV]

I'm a huge believer in crate training. Saved my carpet, saved my furniture (from chewing)., saved my sanity!

As Lightplum said, the length of time really depends on the age of the pups.

By 4 or 5 months old, 4 hours is fine. My pups are 11 months old and I still crate them during the day. Though I come home at lunchtime, I really don't need to. They could happily and easily go the entire day. Even when I come home at lunch, most times they just kinda look at me...."Mom, can't you see I'm enjoying my nap!" Neither one of them has accidents, unless sick. At night, I bring their crates up to my bedroom and it's their choice as to whether to sleep in the crate or on the bed. Indy almost always sleeps most of the night in the crate. I think pups do better sleeping with their humans, but that's my personal opinion.

Remember, crates aren't cruel. They are safe havens. My dogs crawl in on their own all the time, just because.

 

[TaraLynn]

Just like Barb said...FIRM BELIEVER in crate training!
You just want to make sure that you make it a positive thing for your pup. I always made sure to put Caliber in his crate while I was at home for 15 minutes at a time with a toy or a little treat to nibble on, then let him out. If you only put your pup in their crate when you are leaving home, they will pair the two together and most likely won't like it. Again, as Barb mentioned, Caliber also goes in and out of his crate whenever he pleases. He will usually come to bed with us when we go to bed, but after about 20 minutes of snuggling, he just hops off and in his crate. We even use it for games...I tell him to go in his bed and he runs like heck to get there, because he knows that...once I actually catch up(he runs fast when excited!) he gets a really good treat when I get there! As for the placement...that's really up to you. I would probably suggest keeping the crate in your room when he's a pup. I made the mistake of keeping it in our kitchen for the first few nights of him being home, and my poor little man would wake up at 5am whining to go potty then to come to bed with us. After I moved it in the bedroom his sleeping progressively got a bit longer. Good luck!

 

[Silaria]

Both my husband and I work all day and don't have anyone who can stop at the house in the middle of the day to let Edan out so he's crated for about 10 hours while we are at work. We did this with our prior dogs as well. All of them are fine in the crate for that long; and actually up to 12 hours which we hate doing but it does happen sometimes if we get caught late at work.

Edan's been in a crate for that many hours a day since he was 3 months old (he's currently 2.5 years); his breeder is a school teacher and lives by herself.

Quite honestly, all he does is sleep during the day; even when one of us is home from work on a given day. His crate is big enough that he can stretch out, stand up, and turn around easily. He has a few toys in there that are safe to leave him with unmonitored.

When we are home with him, we leave the crate door open and he'll go in and out of the crate at random times. It's his "room" in the house.