I'm just wondering at what age other people started leaving the crate door open when out or at night? I left Sandy out the other day whilst I went out for an hour, came back and there wasn't damage just shoes everywhere that were on top or her crate etc just things she wouldn't do when I am at home.

So Sandy is not ready to be left out of her crate yet but she is still young and she is never left alone long enough for it to be a problem.

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I left Sailors crate door open from day one... but had to start closing it over night when he was about 6 months and eating furniture
But then started to leave it open again after I moved all furniture out of my kitchen lol

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We leave Izzys crate open while we're out, and a baby gate at the kitchen door so she has the run of the kitchen (we're out for 3 hours at a time though so didn't want to leave her in the crate all day) but at night we still lock her in. We're wondering when to start leaving her crate open at night. I doubt she'd poo or wee in the kitchen during the night, I just don't know whether because she can get to the baby gate she'd sit there twining in the morning waiting for us to get up!

Did you leave her plenty of toys etc to play with while you were out? You said she wouldn't do those things while you were at home, but could that be because she has other things to play with while you're in? You could try it again but remove as much extra temptation as possible (don't leave shoes where she can reach them etc) and see what she does? God knows at what age we're going to finally remove the baby gates and let Izzy have run of the house while we're out!!

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i onyl ever shut jake`s crate at night and only for the first week - my oh kept opening it while i was sleeping and putting him on the sofa with me so the crate was quickly placed in the shed think i`ve been incredibly lucky with my jake though as some of the damage i`ve seen from friends dogs would have put me off back when i first got jake

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owned by:

jake - chocolate labrador
sydney - liver/white english springer
twix - dlh cat
lacey - dsh cat

never forgetting my baby banjo running free at the bridge, RIP baby xx

At the moment, both Lola's cage and Walters ( name change from Milo) cage are shut over night and if we pop out for an hour or so. They both just sleep when they are in there so i dont see the issue. I think when Walter is old enough maybe a year old than I would consider leaving them both out. However at the moment its still Lola's safe haven and she likes to be in there when we are out. She used to run to the door and nip at us when we tried to leave, now i just say get in your bed, she goes in and curls up and i can leave safely without a sound. At the moment they have there own cage each as often during the day we have to put the pup in for time out and Lola is left to roam. She normally only roams as far as the sofa though. When he is going through the night properly and not so excited to see Lola all the time we will try them in the cage together. Obviously have to get a larger one! I hope eventually we won't have to lock them in but i don't want to ruin Lola's den!

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Walter - Whippet
Lola- American cocker x Jack Russell
Ruby-Exotic Long hair
Pepper- Persian

I started to leave Kilo's crate open overnight at home about 3 weeks ago and had left it open a week or two beforehand when I went out - but only up to an hour. He has been left in my office uncrated for a few hours from the first day he came to work and (fingers crossed) no damage was done .

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When Florence got to 6 months old, she couldn't really fit in her crate anymore but still wanted to sleep in there so I HAD to leave it open.