House Roaming- What's The Right Age?

[Brooke&Ryan]

Hey All,
I was just wondering if and when you guys started letting your dogs roam the house durring the time you are gone durring the day. I obviously know that it should be after he is house trained, not getting into stuff and not tearing appart everything that he can get into his mouth. What age did you guys start allowing this if at all? I am guessing it wont be for a good while, I was just curious =-)


Ryan

[My3Rotties]

I have given my dog's run of the house when they are about 10 months to 1 yr. old. My 2 9 month old girl's are not allowed yet so they stay in a kennel when not home or at night. It might different from one dog to another as too where they know not to chew up stuff and are housebroken. 2 two girl's are housebroken but one will get the other into doing stuff they shouldn't be doing so with that in mind i kennel them. my 3 yr. old male got run of the house when he was 10 months old and was a perfect little man then. with these 2 destructos i'm afraid that they will eat the whole house. they have eaten a leather couch already

[mmgy]

Originally posted by Brooke&Ryan
I am guessing it wont be for a good while, I was just curious =-)
Ryan

No kidding!!!!!!:D

Isn't yours just a baby??


During the workday, none of my dogs have access to the whole house. They are either in a crate(the 2 1/2 year olds), or confined to one room by a baby gate (the 10 year olds, and the 14 year old).

M2

[Jack's Mom]

We never used a crate with Jack, but we did confine him to the kitchen for a while (that's the best place to clean up accidents!) After that he's pretty much had the run of the house. We do have to make sure we don't leave food around, but he never really got in to too much trouble. A few experiences with the trash can, but that's about it. Now, of course, even though he has the whole house to himself during the day, I don't think he hardly gets off his bed! I can't say that I blame him!

Once when I was leaving for work, I set up our camcorder in the corner and was going to let it run all day. For some reason, it only taped 15 minutes of him, but it was pretty funny. He just looked around, laid his head down, picked it up when the cat came in, etc. I think he knew he was on candid camera!

[sparklemom]

I would LOVE to find out what Sparkle does when I'm not at home. She has full run of the house. When I leave in the morning, she's on the sofa. When I come home at night, she's on the sofa. Part of me thinks she must be up to something during the day, part of me thinks she doesn't move a muscle.

[Birdie'sMom]

Birdie was in her crate until she was a year old. Now she is confined to the spare bedroom. I don't think I will ever give her access to the whole house - no point in taking any chances, since I think a whole room is big enough for her to get up and walk around if she feels the need.:)

[Skip]

It's totally behavior based. Some will handle it early, some will never be trusted. You just train as good as possible and start the "free-range when alone" in small time increments when you have no problems when you are there.

[LynnS]

I think Bella will be in her crate for the rest of her life
Just kidding bit at 9 mnths I can not imagine leaving her unsupervised for more than 5 minutes unless she is sleeping.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Here is an update on Julius' house behavior. To date he has never chewed on anything besides his toys, now granted there is not that much more to chew on in the house, but its amazing he hasn't started to take things off shelves, look in the garbage and so on. This ia another reason I was thinking about this. When I start to let him be out of his crate when I am away the only rooms Julius would have access to are my bedroom, the living room, kitchen & mudd room. I can't wait to be able to let him have run of the house!!

Thanks Guys!

Ryan

[Jaegergirl]

i don't think i'll ever let maverick have free reign of the house. he's very good and all, but i don't think i'm willing to risk it. plus, i've got a lot of house plants that i'm not willing to get rid of and i'm afraid he'd eat them out of boredom.

i would like to get he crate out of our family room eventually, so what i'd like to do is gate him off in the laundry room. but i have yet to dog proof that room.

[LynnS]

It wasn't until after Bella stopped teathing that she started to get more adventurous in her pursuit of whatever happened to catch her eye. For some silly reason this came as a suprise to me :p

[codglvr]

Bored 2 1/2 yr old and bored 5 yr old = one destroyed couch:o I trust them every day alone(to most rooms with selective doors closed), but usually don't start allowing my pups out alone until they are 18 mos to 2 yrs old. Even now, there are some days you just know they better be crated or all he**l's going to break lose. When it does, I blame myself for not enough exercise and not enough mental stimulation. I also build my pups up with short periods at a time, like a trip to the mailbox, a trip to the grocery store, etc.

[Carina43]

Cooper from when he was about 5 months old, no bad experiences with him. The dogs have free run of the house (the boys separated, Cooper's often at work with me). If we're gone more than a few hours though, Daphne is in the office where her open crate is, because she still has destructive moments. Like codglvr said, she's probably OK by herself, but if there's two of them and they get rowdy, I fear for our stuff!

As long as it's warm enough, they spend the day outside though. We've got a very secure set up for them.

[Jerseysdad]

I use a baby gate and allow Jersey the kitchen. I first left her alone at about 5 months b/c she had a bladder infection and didn't want to confine her to her crate when I was gone. She had a few accidents that day but nothing in the last 4 months. I let her have the run of the house (at night) when I had the flu a few weeks ago. The last I saw her that night she was on the couch and the last time I made a dash to the toilet she was still there. I believe I'll just confine her to 1 room. Don't want to take the risk of her eating my couch.

[Judy Chrusch]

Ryan, it does depend on the individual dog but I wouldn't try it till about 8 months or so and then I'd try it for short periods of time one room at a time. Put baby gates up if need be but try it first for about 15 minutes then slowly increase the time that he would be alone. My first rottie had the run of the house at 7 months and was a doll, NEVER touched anything or chewed anything. My second one was a chewer and couldn't be trusted till he was over a year and the one I have now is 2 years old and we still haven't tried him outside his crate when we go away bc he can't be trusted plus he loves his crate. Not sure when we'll try it but when I do it will be little by little and one room at a time:D. If you let them have the run of the house too soon there's too much they can get into and even harm themselves.

Judy