When you let your dog out of the crate?

I think your question is when did my dogs stop destroying my house when I left them out.

They stopped randomly chewing on things around 2.

ETA: my dog was crate trained until I stumbled in late one night and tripped into the crate and scared the piss out of him (literally). He never went back into that thing.

I have a 9 month old half yellow lab half German shepherd and he eats everything. Can't leave him alone. He is crated while I am work. I hope he grows out of his mischievous ways. Other than that he's a great dog.

I have a 7 month old dog and he is kenneled through the day like twice a week and usually when he sleeps (door open) because he likes his bed and I can already tell I will never trust him alone haha.

My dog loves her crate. She chills out in it all of the time with door open. It’s her own little room. It’s not cruel to put them in there.

My Boxer was crated daily, when she was 4 I decided to leave door unlatched so she could get out.
First day I came home she was trembling & panting, she thought she was in trouble.
2nd day she destroyed the blinds.
She had never chewed or gore stuff up as a puppy.

Some dogs it's their "safe space" & breaking their routine will make them freak.

It all depends on your dogs attitude to the crate. I grew up always crating the dog, but when I adopted mine, she went ballistic in the crate. Maybe something with her past owner and her anxiety, but she effectively destroyed both the metal crate and plastic one with the metal door. She would bust out and destroy the house. I started leaving her out during the day and she just sleeps in the bed the entire time (shes a pretty chill dog for being a lab / pit mix).

If your pup needs some stimulation while your gone, Kong makes a time release dispenser for its rubber toys that you can stuff with some food and can provide mental stimulation while you are at work. Also will give the pup something to look forward to throughout the day.

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When did you let your dog have run of the house while you're gone?

Leaving in yard isn't an option at this time.

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You dont because he will chew everything in the house. Its a dog. You have to spend alot of time with him inside so he understand that chewing things are unacceptable. Leaving him alone in the crate for 8 hours a day wont change his hapits.

My 15 year old lab has never been in a crate.

Every dog is different.

At about one year we began leaving our lab out for increasing amounts of time. A quick trip to the store for 30 minutes. Dinner for a couple hours. Half a day and so on. Many days I come home and he is chilling in his kennel by choice. It's where he eats and feels safe if he is in trouble.

He also chewed up his first bed in his kennel. I purchased him a flat bed with no stuffing that he prefers and there are no chewing issues.