My doodle is 13-14 months old and he was never crate trained. Luckily for me he isnt a chewer so thats never been a problem. I dont think Penny is too young but if she likes to chew on things that arent her toys then maybe she isnt ready to be left roaming around. Even then, if you make sure everything is cleaned up in your kitchen and nothing left out for her to get into then I think it would be ok!