So why don't you just put it away and see what happens? Doesn't sound like she wants or needs it to me so why leave it taking up space?

Hi SusieL, haaha this was kind of what my original post was about ...it went off track somehow

I was wanting to know when ideally you know to trust your dog free in the house (or in our case kitchen) or do you just take the plunge?! xx

You and me both C&D

I didn't used a crate with my other dogs, but because we have the grandchildren around a lot I bought one for my latest pup. Bonnie, my golden retriever, was nearly five months when I packed the crate away. She didn't really use it much anyway, except for sleeping at night. Fortunately she was happy to settle down anywhere and I got fed up of seeing the crate doing nothing, so decided to do without it and she was fine. I have been lucky with Bonnie, she is not destructive and she settles down very well. I just make sure she is left in a room where she is safe and that she has something to chew on.

This is how I feel about Bella to be honest. I've just got to convince my OH now! He isn't so sure about leaving her in the kitchen, he doesn't trust her quite as much as I do I don't think.

For starters I am going to leave her in there for half hour or so, like a normal day, as if I'm going out and see what happens!!

Thanks for all your help guys xxx

Well as I have never had a crate, all the dogs who come here as adopted or fostered have free run of our bungalow from the start (except for the bathroom). I take them out every couple of hours initially to avoid accidents (and watch them like a hawk in between). They sleep in dog beds or on duvets beside my bed at night.

I do intensive 'alone training' from Day 1, so I can quickly judge if they are likely to be a problem or not. This is especially important when I have an 'only' dog but recent years I have always had at least one here when a new one came so intitally the new dog is not totally alone. After a few days when I can see they are not going to kill each other when left alone together, I start to take them out seperately briefly, so the new dog gets used to being left alone with the radio on but no toys or chews to occupy them. Guess we've been very lucky over the years and had very few toilet 'accidents' and virtually no chewing, barking etc.