Is it bad that I don't keep her in her crate? She sleeps on her bed at the end of my bed. She hasn't really destroyed anything for the past 3-4 months.(Although she does chew the couch she already destroyed. I might find maybe a piece of foam once a week. But it's not like she's obliterating it.)

She's not really fond of her crate. She was when she was younger but not anymore.

Kale sleeps in my room at night =) I only crate him when I go to work in the afternoons and if I run errands and I can't take him with me.

I leave Luna to roam the house freely, should I not do that?

artoaky wrote:

I leave Luna to roam the house freely, should I not do that?

I guess it all depends on the dog, but I personally wouldn't give her free roam of the house while you're not home until she's older. She's a year old? Kody is a year and almost 6 months and I wouldn't leave him alone for more than 10min in a husky proof room Mya got free roam privileges when she turned 3 1/2. He does sleep in our bedroom uncrated, but the door is closed. He can't do much damage in our room. My main concern would be her eating something that can hurt her.

The only time I crate Blaze is if we are both going to be gone for more than 15 minutes. He does not care for the crate either but will go in and put up with it when we ask him to (he is only 16-17 months old)

Blaze sleeps 1/2 the night in our bedroom on a bed and 1/2 in the living room on another dog bed ( I guess he is bit spoiled he has two dog beds). He sleeps pretty soundly except when he moves to the living room.

He has been doing that since we brought him home my hubby could not stand to let me cry when we tried to crate him the first night ( he was 9 months old then )

I used to not crate Embry, until I realized he'd sneakily mark all over the house. If you really think you can trust her alone, go for it! I crate both of mine just to be safe..

Sleeping wise she sleeps perfectly fine in her bed. Doesn't roam to any part of the house and usually stays asleep. Occasionally I'll wake up or get out of the shower and she's on one of our couches. It's the same couch our old Husky mix slept in also. I think she might smell our old pooch so thats why she always goes to it. She doesn't sleep on nor jump on any other furniture in the house.

Most things I read online suggest that your dog's crate should be in the front room of the house, away from your room. I've never done that. It has always been in my room, tucked between the wall and my couch. She can only see the tv and my bed, and I think that helps her stay calm at night. I crate her when she sleeps every night, and while i'm at work. I got her acclimated with lots of positive training and treating, and have gotten to the point where she will go into her crate when I use the crate command, because she expects a nice treat, which she gets every time

She will sleep soundly through the night and wake me up at about 7am every day for her morning potty:)

River sleeps on the couch at night but goes to his crate when we leave the house but the only thing hes destroyed in the house was my blindes cuz my husband forgot to put him a way when he left the house at least it was cheap 10 dollar walmart blinds

I think it really depends if you can trust you're dog or not. I have 5 dogs (2 Dalmatians, 2 Yorkies, & Hayden) and when I leave for long periods of time without them I leave the Yorkies free roam (I know they wouldn't destroy anything), I've tried the Dalmatians, but I've came home to my living room literally in pieces, so I block of the stairs and they have full access to my room, bathroom, & hallways. Now, Hayden on the other hand I wouldn't trust if someone paid me! His little butt is an escape artist, has tried eating the couch and everything else he can fit into his little mouth! He gets crated and that's where he stays!

Point I'm making is, if you're dog messes up you're house and causes you extra work you wouldn't have to already do, then crate him/her. Throw in some yummy treats and long lasting toys and they should be just fine. If they stay out and don't make a mess and everything is just peachy, then letting him/her have free roam should be fine.

I used to hide treats in there but now she just completely ignores the crate unless I point to it and say get in your crate. haha. She's great. She fell asleep in it last night and then roamed to her bed in the middle of the night. I'm going to try to get her to sleep in there more often. We shall see!

That couch to her right is HER couch. She pretty much has run of it, all day every day. But she knows the difference between a nap/cuddled up on the couch, and into her crate for bed. I do hope to be able to trust her not to make mistakes at night though, so she can sleep with me. Hopefully around 8-9 months i can trust her bladder/decisions, but for now the crate is saving my carpet:)