Okay my mil is moving soon and our dog has been used to her being her all day going in and out and such. He has a crate that he sleeps in. I got this on advice from you all when he had went crazy a couple of times after being left in the bathroon and tore things up. Well now I can't see him sleeping in it all night and then being in it all day. Usually one of us can get home but that might not be every day. Once in awhile we wouldn't. So I was wanting to let him stay in a room in the basement. The problem is there is things down there he could tear up. ie... laundry and mainly my husbands hotwheel collection. I am telling you know if that dog got into my husbands things. He would not be here by the time I got home. I do mean the dog LOL! So I am at a quandry as to what to do. He is older now. I am just afraid to "test" him. I could try the bathroom again because I could take almost everything out. But my upstairs only has a window unit. With the door shut the bathroom would get no air. I think that's to hot. Any suggestions???

By Tonya on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 08:56 am:

If he is an older dog how do you know he is not ready to just be in the house? Couldn't you fence him off in the kitchen or somewhere that you could use a baby gate to hold him in.

For the first 4yrs we could not let Wilber out in the house alone when we were gone he would chew and pee on everything. Well he is 6 now and have no restrictions at all in our house. He has finally grown up a ton.

That sounds like and awful long time for him to be locked up every day. Good luck.

By Beth on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 01:34 pm:

When I say older I mean like he will be three in Oct. So still young, and I don't trust him. I would gate off the kitchen because that is where his crate is, and the floor is tiled. But he is a big dog, 70 lbs. He would just knock a baby gate down. The room in the basement is big. So he wouldn't be cramped up. But that is part of the problem he is used to the crate. I just remember when we got him. We were not going to do the crate thing. Well he went nuts in the bathroom a couple of times when my mil was gone for a month. Someone suggested the crate and that is what we did. I just hope we can make the room as safe as possible.

By Yjja123 on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 01:38 pm:

How about leaving crate open with his toys, etc inside. Put it in a room and see how he behaves. Our 1 year old (just had a birthday on Friday) black lab was crate trained. He now is without the crate, we can leave him in the bedroom and he behaves. If he can do it, I imagine yours can too. Labs are big chewers for 1-2 years! We just make sure he has a lot of chews and toys.

By Kaye on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 01:53 pm:

We gave up the crate and block our golden into the kitchen. She is also 3, but if she has the run of the house she potties where she shouldn't, but in the kitchen she never has an accident. Also she is known for finding things to eat. My dog doesn't knock down the baby gate. You might want to try that while you are home and see how it goes. My dog is odd in that she doesn't like to touch things to go through, so she won't go through a door that isn't fully opened. So we keep a box in the hallway where the cat box is and she won't go over there...strange dog. Anyway, my suggestion is try it out while you are home and see how she does.

By Hol on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 03:37 pm:

I have a friend who has two canine "ponies". They are purebred shepards. The male is 140 lbs, and the female is 100lbs. HE is not destructive at all, but she is. They bought the BIGGEST dog cage (not a crate. This is wire on all sides, so she doesn't feel so isolsated) that I have ever seen. It is as big as a child's playhouse. I'm 5'4" and I can almost stand up in it. They have it in their FAMILY ROOM. She has a bed in there, a pillow, assorted toys and treats. (You could ALMOST put a fouton in there. LOL!)

They leave the door open when they are home, and sometimes she chooses to go in there and lie down. Consequently, when they are out, she doesn't mind being in there, even with the door of the caged latched shut.

I don't know how big your room is downstairs, but that's a thought. That way, you'd have no stress worrying if he gets into your DH's stuff. If your house doesn't have AC, you could always run a fan near the cage.