New puppy crate time: How much is too much & can I hold him often?

Great question! Six hours a day is too long for a puppy to be in a play crate. He really needs to be let outside to potty and for a walk every two to three hours at a young age. Once he is around six months of age, he can stay inside the play crate for up to six hours, and when he is fully grown, he can be there for eight hours but no more than 10 hours. I would arrange from someone to come over to your place once during this six hour period to let him out and play with him. Good luck, I hope this helps!

The general rule of thumb for crating is 1 hour for every month of age plus one. This means he can be crated a maximum of 3 hours at a time before needing to come out, go outside, etc. It would be best at his age for him to be with someone throughout the day instead of short visits during the day.

Thanks for your question. There is no "right" amount of time for a dog to spend in the crate. A general rule we tend to follow is that puppies can go without a potty break for 1 hour for the age in months plus 1. So an 8 week old puppy is about 2 months, so if you add 1, that is 3 hours. During the day you really don't want to make Jasper wait much longer than this at a time, or he is likely to have accidents. Some puppies can hold it longer, and some more active puppies need to go more frequently. They can typically hold it much longer overnight while they are asleep. If you are crate training your puppy, I recommend they sleep in the crate at night, and some practice during the day is good. Occasional crating while you are home can be beneficial so they don't always assume crating means you are leaving. The length of time doesn't matter. Even 30 minutes is a good "practice" length of time. Then of course, keeping them in the crate when you are gone is the important part, so they stay out of trouble. I hope this answers your questions. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Good question! A dog should not be crated for longer than eight hours at a time, so you can wake up to let them out to potty and then go back to bed, or you could start having them sleep outside the crate. Good luck, I hope this helps!

They are adorable! At four months of age, 10 hours is too long for Coco and Chaz to stay in their crate. Their bladder isn't big enough to hold their urine that long, and they should be let out to potty every three to four hours. I would consider hiring someone to stop by at least once or twice a day to let them out to potty if you can't leave work to let them out. Dogs should be in crates no longer than eight hours, even if they are older. I hope this helps!

You can do this any time. Leave the crate open in the room, where he is to spend his time, so he can go into it at any time and feel safe. Realize that your puppy still cannot hold its urine for a very long time yet, so I would not leave him alone for more than 4 hours.

Hello. Crate training takes time, so keep persevering. That being said, expect dogs to be able to hold their bladders the number of months they are in terms of hours, as a general rule. They can hold it a little longer at night. Expect to have to wake up in the middle of the night to let him outside. Bring him outside, let him pee, then right back inside into the crate. No playing or else he will get used to that. The whining and barking should subside soon. HAve fun with him!