My GSD was crated at night till 6 months old, and now he's 2 and has been out of the crate when I leave the house for the last month or so. But he's a calm relaxed dog most of the time, sometimes he gets mischevious though, I try and keep anything food related out of reach and he's confined to one room not the entire house unless I'm home. When I'm home he's never in the crate except feeding time.
My dutchie pup, well, she'll probably be a crate dog for the rest of her life LOL! Nah, I don't know what she'll be like as she matures, but as a pup she's in the crate most of the time except for play/training/potty times. Both dogs sleep in the bedroom at night, the GSD wherever he wants, the pup in a crate. During the day I sometimes stick her in an exercise pen so she as some more roaming freedom without getting into everything. She's actually pretty good at leaving stuff alone that isn't hers to touch, she's very focused on whatever toy I let her play with at playtime, she usually carries it over to the bean bag n lays down to chew it.
My dutchie pup, well, she'll probably be a crate dog for the rest of her life LOL! Nah, I don't know what she'll be like as she matures, but as a pup she's in the crate most of the time except for play/training/potty times. Both dogs sleep in the bedroom at night, the GSD wherever he wants, the pup in a crate. During the day I sometimes stick her in an exercise pen so she as some more roaming freedom without getting into everything. She's actually pretty good at leaving stuff alone that isn't hers to touch, she's very focused on whatever toy I let her play with at playtime, she usually carries it over to the bean bag n lays down to chew it.