I always cage Bandit when I leave the house. She goes in willingly but obviously she doesn't like it. Who would right. So how do I know when I can trust her not in there or ever? What do you guys do? Anyone use crating then switch to non crating? I was thinking about maybe starting to leave her in the bathroom and slowly giving her more free space. Think it's a good idea? Or am I worrying too much and she'll be fine in the crate

She is safe in the crate. Your house is safe with her in the crate. No chewed electric cords to fry her mouth. No pillow cushions chews to cause a blockage. No household cleaners eaten. No diving through a window (my end husky did this at the vet after her spay!)

From my experience, they really do sleep most of the time of no humans or other pals to play with. Ami, when outside alone, no Archer, without us but with several acres to roam, still sleeps until we come outside with him. Or until Archer shows up.

Do, please, don't feel guilty about crating.

I don't really feel guilty was just thinking to give her some more freedoms. I've set up my go pro and capture 4hrs of footage. She looks so bored sometimes though. Sleeping.Sleepijg, then just getting up and sitting there staring off in the distance. She doesn't even chew her toys in there ha.she just mopes. Prob cause she is just waiting for me to come home

She will most likely do the exact same thing only in a bigger space if you let her out. Curiosity will have her picking through what she can at first but if she can't find anything loose or pick anything loose then she will just go to sleep. Now, if she gets interested in a towel corner, toilet paper roll, or crack in the door trim then she can dismantle your room.

When I started leaving keno out it was for short trips and our room is extremely dog proof. We have still lost a couple computer cords to him being nosey. Doesn't seem to matter how well you think something is hidden. They have nothing but time. We decided to start letting him out just so he and Kenzi could occupy each other, and they do for the most part. If he was our only dog we would still be creating him. She keeps him out of most trouble he would without a doubt get in on his own.

If she is calm in the crate, which it seems like she is, there is no reason to not crate. Saves from worrying about her getting into something.

We crate Kesler all the time when we are not there to supervise. We attempted to crate Sinatra....which resulted in him freaking out so much that he broke out and hurt himself in the process (several times...we tried everything), so he is no longer crated (and doesn't seem to need to be). But I worry constantly that he will chew through a wall and electrocute himself.

Overall, if she is not having any extreme issues to the crate, I wouldn't change a thing.

My males are crated, but my female is not. She is a couch potato and literally only moves to go from the couch to the bed. I would never trust my males, but she has been trusted out for quite some time.

I'm wondering if I should try it for like an hour. Leave her out in the bedroom, set up my go pro and watch her from the living room. I guess what could go wrong if she doesn't know I'm watching her

How old is she? I found with my first dogs (not sibes) that they would be good for awhile (like weeks), then boredom would set in and things like my stairs would be removed. For my boys, I don't even care about trying to leave them out till they hit 3-4 years old. I learned from my past dogs that is when indiscretion seemed to stop.

She is about 9 months. I'd keep her in my bedroom to free roam in there or I have a spare bedroom with literally nothing in there

Are you sure you want to go there...my previous girl tore all the wallpaper off the apartment and shredded all the upholstery...

Oh boy Uhhh I knidof still wanna see lol but I know what's going through her mind

If you do it, make sure you are fine with whatever damage could happen. Also, I learned that just because a few days or weeks are fine, they can get bored like all teenagers. For me, I just don't want to deal with the damage anymore.

Newbie opinion alert!

But, I think that you've got a fine thing going with the crate, don't fix what isn't broken, ya know? If you give her a little taste of freedom she might decide that she's NOT ok in a crate and if/when you go back to it there may possibly be some issues.