Un-Crating

[JLinz]

Baxter 19 months now and I feel pretty bad about leaving him in his crate all the time. However he has this habit when I leave he likes to take things off tables and such and I dont know if he just wants me to come pick them up or what...

I really want to start uncrating him so hes not in there all day...anyone have any ideas on a method of getting him acustomed with the house without destroying everything?

[johann]

Lots of exercise beforehand, and start very slowly (like 10 minutes at first). I'd move anything he can get into or take off tables to keep him safe. Gradually increase the amount of time that he is left out of the crate unattented.

[Sansal]

And you might want to limit his access to one room or one area of the house at first. It's easier to dog proof one area than the whole house Happy and Sky are really reliable when left alone (they are never crated) but they still don't get access to the bedroom and master bedroom - mostly because I don't have the time in the morning to double check if there is anything around that they could possibly get into
You might also want to leave some safe chewing toys/bones/stuffed kongs for him to keep him occupied.

[CoraBoxer]

Wait till he's ready to be uncrated. Don't feel bad. Nothing wrong with wanting to teach him to stay outside of crate now that hes good about stayin in it. Give him a try if he's pulling this off put him back in the crate. Good idea to limit where he has access to. Remove everything he likes to throw around etc. Give him a spot outside the crate thats his (a blanket/pillow etc?). And like was said make sure he's tired before leaving him alone. Get yourself a webcam and watch him during the day if you can't figure out what happened :P

[JLinz]

Just a quick update. Baxter left out yesterday for about 3 hours...went home nothing destroyed...nothing moved...I was happy...

Today I decided to let him out and come home at lunch to check on him...I found him sleeping on the couch...he was happy to see me and I was so proud of him...after spending my lunch break with him I figured I would try to just leave him out the remainder of the day and see how it goes...Fingers crossed.

[Roge]

Well done to Baxter, he is very young to be so well behaved when left alone. As long as there is nothing left in his reach that can harm him it looks like he will be OK.