Sleep in crate or in the house?

[Peanut]

Hi everyone

Peanut is growing so fast! I originally bought a larger crate and sectioned off areas for crate training. The partition has been long gone and Peanut has the entire crate opened up. I’d say the crate is roughly 3ft long and 2ft wide, Peanut also has a fleece bed which covers the entire area. I noticed that, at best, Peanut can sit comfortably in his crate. However I’m concerned he might feel restricted because he cannot spread out his arms and legs. (Every morning when I open Peanut’s crate, he stretches for a long time).

As of now, Peanut only sleeps in the crate at night time. In the day, he’s running and playing around the house supervised. He getting darn good at pottying outside and hasn’t had an accident in a long (2 month, knock on wood!). Peanut hasn’t had an accident sleeping in his crate for a long time (+3 months) too.

So I was thinking (or it might be inevitable) maybe I should let Peanut

a) sleep in the house instead of the crate. I was thinking about sectioning off areas and just give him one room to start with (thinking about the kitchen).
b) Buy a larger crate to ensure he wont get into trouble or have accident in the house
c) Any other suggestions?

I have been thinking about this for a while and would greatly like to hear everyone’s opinion/story.
Thanks again!!

[Vannette]

I'd start with the kitchen...how old is he now? Can we (I) get a new picture? He's just so cute. Mine didn't get free run till close to year and half. But then there are two of them and Cody liked shoes and Katie likes slippers. Weird, huh? They both sleep with me. I bought a bigger bed for me. LOL I wouldn't waste any more money on another crate. If you use one, the one you have is big enough.

[MyPemCharlie]

Wow! Peanut is getting big! I was just bemoaning Charlie getting too big for the 24" cat carrier he's been sleeping in and Peanut's outgrowing 36"?

I put Charlie's "cat carrier" in the 48 inch x 30 inch dog crate from my last dog (I never took down). I took the door off the small crate and latch the big crate at night. Charlie still seems to like sleeping in the smaller crate (with his head hanging out now), but has a whole "playpen" if he wants to stretch. I think the smaller enclosure makes him feel secure.

At 6 months, I don't think our pups will get too much longer or taller, just filling out around, so you could probably move up one size if you want to keep Peanut kenneled. Or get one of those collapsible play pens that are wonderfully portable.

Vanette's idea is also good, if you want to baby gate of the kitchen or other small room. I like to have Charlie in my bedroom next to the bed, so he will have some kennel in my room (even if I eventually leave the door completely open).

My last dog loved to eat things, like the sofa, or door frames, while I slept, so he slept next to me in a latched crate his whole life.

[glencorgi]

Buy a larger crate (it will come in handy in the future for many reasons). IF you do decide to leave him loose at night, start with a small contained area as you were thinking and let him earn his freedom.

Debbie

[MattC]

Nick grew quickly as well and my wife and I had the same concern. We kept Nick's crate in the bedroom so he could sleep with us and we could keep an eye on him. What we ended updoing was taking the door off of Nick's crate and we closed the bedroom door. That seemed to work because he seemed to like to start off sleeping in his crate and then moving into his bed next to ours. It also made it easy for us to keep an eye on him and save for a couple of upset stomachs he has been fine!

Also, I beleive we did end up with the crate that is a next size up from the 2'x3' crate you described.

[Peanut]

Vannette- Peanut is 6 months old and weights over 22 lbs. He doesn’t particularly choose one thing to chew (although we always encourage him chewing on his bully stick tug rope, or kong) I’ve caught him red pawed chewing papers, corner of shoe boxes, slippers, and my jeans.


Matt - I especially found your suggestion helpful about facing the crate towards the bedroom. Now, I just need to do some MAJOR cleaning under the bed beforehand!
I’m thinking about leaving the bedroom door open, putting Peanut’s crate in front of the doorway and leaving the crate door open so he can choose between sleeping in his crate or in the room. That way we can walk over his crate and not worry about him following us out of the room.

Chris- That a great idea attaching the two crates. I’m sure Charlie appreciates the option to stretch out whenever he feels like it.

I’ll upload some new pics of Peanut in the next few days!

Thanks again everyone for your thoughts and suggestions, so helpful and much needed!