Who confines their dog?

I keep Xerxes and Gaia babygated in my bedroom with 1/2 of the hallway.  It's not that I don't want them to have free roam of the house...it's that I also have a cat.  I don't think anything would happen to the cat, were I to leave them out, however; I would hate to have a situation where two prey driven dogs injure, maim or kill my cat.  So I'd rather suffer inconvenience than have to say "I should have..."

All three of mine are not crated and have free roam, except for upstairs. Although, Sammy has started to pee at will, so I think the crate is coming.

Indy (5 year old corgi) is loose, although he often chooses to nap in his crate while I'm gone. Malcolm is crated because otherwise he would eat the apartment. 

I'm just curious as to what you guys do with your dogs when you're not at home. In the crate?

My five are crated during the work day (8 hours, broken up by my lunch break). The two oldest (Zippy and Ginger) are often left out to roam from time to time, but the status quo is crated. The puppy is the only one crated at night.

My two have free roam of the house and access to the yard via their doggy door. We have lived in the same house for 16 years and I feel they are safe in our yard. However they are rarely left alone. And we are lucky that our neighbors are dog lovers too. We always keep an eye on eachothers dogs.
 
Our previous dog (years ago) before we lived here was always gated in the kitchen while we were gone. We had a fenced yard, but the circumstances were different, we lived in a big, busy city and I did not feel safe with them out of my sight.
 
 

Pofi and Mia were both crated initially, but graduated. We had Pofi from 8 weeks, he was crated at night and while we were gone till somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 months and then was baby gated in our bedroom.  I think we went till about 7 months with that and since then he has had free reign of the house with the exception of some cat areas - rooms with cat doors into them so cats have space they can call their own (they can access porch, basement, and one bedroom which is all theirs).
 
When Mia joined us, she was about 6 months.  She was crated at night and during our absences for only a couple of weeks as they got used to one another - we needed to be sure they would not be fighting while we were gone.
 
I think we then did a brief period where they were baby gated into second floor just to bring her into "freedom" in stages.  But since then, they are free.
 
The only hesitation I have is the "easy to rescue" argument in event of fire.  That gives me some pause, but I think they have a very good quality of life playing together while we are at work (and they do), so I have to sacrifice that additional safety element.

I kind of like having furniture to sit on.

 
lol
 
We don't crate either of the girls so they have full run of the house.  We tried confining Gracie to one room in the house before we knew how mellow she was and she clawed the door, ate wallpaper AND chewed carpet.  Once she was given the run of the house, she generally lays in the window watching the neighborhood, not chewing, eating or clawing anything. 

Bugsy (@ 15 mos old)  has just recently (4-6 weeks) been given roam of the kitchen and sunroom when we go out and is doing great with that.  Prior to then he was crated when we went out.  It was best for us and him as he is a CHEWER and finds everything tasty so he was safe and so was our house.  He has never been a problem re house training so that is not a concern.  He also doesn't go on the furniture so thats not a problem.

I have been trying to leave his crate open at night with the 2 rooms blocked off but he freaks out.  I can't help but laugh as after 3-4 goes of leaving the crate door open and/or closing it but unlatched I finally give in and latch it and he lets out this huge sigh - like wow I thought you'd never get it right!

so for now he sleeps - very happily - in his crate

I could only imagine the horrifying scene i would come home to if i didnt! Dutchess,Emmie,and Ty are not crated.Everyone else is.Mia could be left uncrated except for her incontinence,she needs an absorbent area to sleep in.

Loki would be fine if he was left out of his crate, but Odin tends to shred anything in sight as soon as I leave the house. So I crate both of them when I leave. I would feel bad for Odin, if Loki was just roaming around and he was locked up. They both happily run into their crates, though, so I don't feel too guilty.
 
At night, they're fine in the room with me and are not crated.

ORIGINAL: rolenta

Every once in a while, Tojo wrecks something while we're gone so I wanted to keep him crated, but DH doesn't like the idea.

 
Here's a way to explain crating to DH that puts it in a positive light. I'm sure he has some knowledge of children, or has at least seen them on TV. [] Ask him how they come home from the hospital (strapped into seat.) Ask him where they sleep at night (bed with bars on the side.) Once they become mobile, where do they go when we need to take a shower? (playpen) Ask him how wise it would be to leave a two year old unsupervised in the house?
 
Children are confined when we can't supervise them until they are mature enough and responsible enough to be trusted. As they grow, they gradually get more freedom. When they screw up, parents take a step backward and give less freedom for a time.
 
Both children and dogs can have too much confinement and then it is abuse. Used properly it is a wonderful management tool.
 
Ironically, those dogs who were crated most consistently and not given freedom until a later age tend to be most reliable in the house as adults. Like Spiritdogs said, they don't get to practice and learn bad habits. They learn the habit of being calm and sleeping while left alone.

I crate Sammy when we are gone but not at night.
 
For those of you that mentioned crating since it helps the dogs to be rescued in case of emergency - how would the fire/police know there's a dog?  (unless there was barking, etc?) - do you have a sign posted telling where the crate is?  if the dogs can't bark cuz of smoke, there would have to be something telling someone how to find them........... what do you use?

My dogs are only alone for about 4 hours a day during the week. I have four and the dynamics as we added each dog changed so we have had to adjust along the way. All of my dogs started out being crated as puppies..for their safety, for the wellfare of my house and furnishings and simply so they would be crate trained. If you think about all the times a crate may be needed..it's best that a dog be comfortable in a crate BEFORE it's needed. Flying, traveling long distance in a car, injuries or illness requiring confinement, shows, sporting events(dog ones)..the list is long. Waiting until one of those moments arises will only add stress to the occasion.
On a typical day at our house, Annie stays in my daughters bedroom with the door shut. She has attacked Darby before(he started it), so I can't leave those two alone. Darby has always been allowed to be free in the house until recently. He is going to be 15 years old in February and he has become lax in his "holding it until someone gets home" skills...so he is crated while we are gone and at night while we are sleeping. Witt goes to work with me...if he is home alone, he gets free roam of the house. Dooley is an opportunist and will get into the garbage if left out..so he is crated. We tried the locking garbage can..he mastered it..so back to the crate. Each dog is different and so must be everyones approach..but I do believe that with very few exceptions, every dog should be crate trained.
 
I have actually thought about crating Witt, even though he is extremely well behaved when alone in the house. I worry about someone breaking into our home and Witt getting  out. He is fear aggressive and I know it would be a horrible thing if he got out and was on his own..especially after a trauma.
I leave him out in hopes that anyone thinking of breaking into our home will hear him and get a look at him and decide not to. It's not likely anyone would have the nerve to actually break in...I have three large dogs that all alert when someone is on the property..but these days you never know.

Mine are crated, or confined (individually, NEVER together) to the mud room. If I left them loose, together, I'd likely come home to a dead dog, one day. If I left them loose, in shifts, I'd likely come home to a dead house[] I prefer to play it safe.

Max is crated, because if not, he wouldn't let me leave. I did have him uncrated for a while, and he tried to follow me out every time I left. He didn't really destroy anything, and he preferred to save that for when I was around. He'd sleep in my chair most of the time. But, he would also get upset if someone came home and didn't come to play with him, or if someone came downstairs to get something he'd try to follow them back up. Since the people in my house kinda suck and i'm really the only one who takes care of him unless I beg someone for a favor, that didn't work. Him being crated really won't help in terms of a fire, because he's in the basement, so he couldn't be easily removed, he'd have to be taken up the stairs, but ideally when I move out, i'd prefer to have his crate in an area so that it could be easily drug out the door. It used to be in the living room, and he was near the back door, so he could have just been pushed out that way.
Millie has free roam of the house, or well, free roam of whatever floor she is on. She doesn't go in the basement. That used to be restricted to her, but even when we've tried to let her in there, she won't go. She either stays on the main floor or upstairs, because there is a gate between the two to keep Max from running up there and getting into things. if she's on the main floor she has the dining room and living room, and kitchen is blocked off. Upstairs she stays in my parents' room or what is now nobody's bedroom where she really shouldn't be allowed because she likes to stare out the window and find things to bark at. She won't go in the bathroom, which is usually closed, or my younger sister's bedroom, even if they are open for her access. I prefer her to be upstairs, because if she is closer to Max, that can be a problem. If she starts barking, then he'll often start. She also has caused a problem for me getting Max into his crate. if she thinks he is going in his crate, she starts barking, which causes him to bark, so now he is in the habit of running into the crate and barking like a nut.