I have two dogs and my Wife and I work kind of opposite hours at the moment. I work 12 hour night shifts so I get days off every couple of days, but my Wife works the standard 8-5 M-F. Currently we crate our dogs at night... at about 9pm to 8am and during the day we let them out to roam in our backyard.

The problem I have is in the summer it gets hot, so I dont want to keep them outside. I also don't necessarily want them to roam freely inside, in case they decide to have an accident and I'm sleeping or not home. Is it ok to crate them during the day as well as at night? As long as they have a daily walk and can go to the bathroom in the morning and evening?

My female GSD is now a little over a year and my male is about 8 months old.

Provided your dogs are properly walked BEFORE being crated there should be no problem with the times you give. The dogs will most likely sleep most of the day after a good walk and being put in the crate.

All this of course is dependant on how long your dogs can hold their water :-)

John

I have two 17-month-old males who are crated from 8:00am to 5:30pm every day, and then from 10:30pm to 5:30am every night. They actually look forward to their own space and I have never had any trouble calling them to their crates. We do have a 20-minute soccer session in the morning and then a good hour of play/training at night - both outside. The rest of the time is just free time with us. I have found that on my days off, they pretty much maintain the same schedule themselves and sleep much of the time during the day. Just be sure to exercise them well at night so they are ready for bed.

I agree that you shouldn't let them outside by themselves all day, and I do not leave mine unsupervised inside at all. It's much better to have them safe and secure in a crate than wonder what they are getting into on their own.

If they are not used to that much time in the crate, you may want to start on your days off by putting them in for a couple of hours during the day while you go outside or run errands. That way, if they protest, you won't hear them! Put a kong stuffed with peanut butter or cream cheese in with them to help adjust to the new routine. Keep increasing the time in the crates during the daytime (and I think at their ages you can increase it by an hour or two each time), and before long they and you will be very satisfied with the arrangement.

All this is said with the assumption that you have 2 crates.

Good luck - you will be glad your dogs are properly contained when not with you, and your dogs will come to rely on a structured daily routine.

I would not think it is not a problem as long as they are getting enough exercise while out of the crate.

As far as the heat goes, I have a couple of crate mountable fans that I use to keeps my dogs cool in the heat. I also have my pup's (13 months) crate in the basement because he seems happiest when cool (constant 60 degrees all year). My female's (8 years) is on the main floor of my house because she would rather be a little warmer.

I want to preface this post by saying I am a strong advocate of crate training. I crated my dogs and have my clients crate their dogs until they are trustworthy in the house. However, I do not think that one walk per day and two potty sessions constitute enough exercise. So the quick answer to your question is yes, I think that is way too much time in the crate. Even if you took the dogs on a 2 hour walk each day, that is 22 hours in a crate, day after day. Your dogs will start to mutilate themselves, and develop behavioral problems. They need much more time stretching their limbs, not to mention human interaction. You should try to gate off a section of your house so they can be left out or put a small kiddie pool and/or dirt bed as well as shade in your yard so they can be left outside. I don't understand people who get dogs and have no time to spend with them. By next summer, even if you have them as puppies now, they should be reliable in your house with consistent training. Perhaps you can hire a dog sitter to come in during one of those stretches to give them human interaction and reinforce training. Sorry to be blunt, this is a sore spot for me.
Hope that helps.
Michelle

 Quote:

22 hours a day, day after day

If that is the case, you are absolutely right - in a house crate; but somehow, I didn't get that impression. Perhaps the OP can clarify the total amount of time that will be spent in the crates.

 Quote:

I don't understand people who get dogs and have no time to spend with them. By next summer, even if you have them as puppies now, they should be reliable in your house with consistent training.

Respectfully disagree. My dogs will still be puppies next year at 2 years old, and I will not leave them alone in the house or outside no matter how well-trained I think I am, ooops, they are. Small amounts of time - perhaps, but doubtful. All day - never.

Sore spot for me too. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

"By next summer, even if you have them as puppies now, they should be reliable in your house with consistent training."

Why must as dog be left unattended in a house. I`ve had German Shepherds all my life and have never left them to roam when I`m not home. My dogs spend about 6 to 9 hours a day in their pens. When anybody in the family is home they are loose. I train with crates as puppies, when they are bigger and happily crate trained they graduate to indoor pens.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/kutzro357/crates.jpg

Total time in crate - about 9 hours at night and probably 7 hours during the day... which would give 8 hours outside the crates. Currently they are just in the crate for the 9 hours at night and are outside during the day... but I would like them to become better house dogs. Seems they get into a bit of trouble in the backyard... even with toys, they have some dig spots, which I haven't seem them lately do, but anyway.

 Quote:

I will not leave them alone in the house or outside no matter how well-trained

why not? <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

i've crate trained my pups. usually they are reliable in the house within a week, if i'm home to let them out. and they can "hold it" for 8 hrs at a time certainly by six months at the latest.

my adult dogs are free to hang out wherever they wish in the house, or confined to part of it. but crating them all day or night seems totally unneccessary if the dog is old enough to hold it and is trained. surely a dog that is past the chewing and mischief puppy stage can be trusted alone in the house?