Crate Confusion

[CJsMommy]

I'm not sure what the norm is here. Our pup CJ, is almost 5 months old now and has been doing excellent with the crate training. We haven't had an accident in the house for over 6 weeks. So when is it okay to allow your pup free roam of the house while your home without constantly watching him? We want to give him more freedom but I'm not absolutely sure that he won't go pee somewhere out of sight. Is he still too young to take this chance?

[DJweiler]

tyson is now 5 1/2 months and he has been allowed free roam of only the main floor when we are there for the past 2 months. he is pretty good with not having accidents inside the house. when he needs to go out, he will either sit by the back door, or paw on it if he has to go badly. when i take him out & he does his business i praise him. i suggest as long as you are with your pup, u can let him roam around. just remember, u can't correct your pup if you aren't there to witness the wrong.

[gnwhite]

It depends on the dog. bear was fine in a couple of months. sampson is 5 months now and I normally make sure he is in the room with me. not for peeing but so i know he isnt getting into trouble; eating my couch chewing legs of furniture etc.

have you seen the sign as to when he needs to go? sampson goes to the door and waits, he will bark or lightly claw the door if he needs to go out.
If i could not let him out( if i was not home) im sure he would pee. maybe not but im not taking any chances just yet.

give him a few test runs and see what happens.

when we are gone/out of the house it is crate time.

good luck...jerry

[BostonRott]

I wouldn't worry so much about accidents as inappropriate chewing. This is an age when a puppy is teething and more apt to chew on things they shouldn't.

I guess I also don't see why a young puppy needs to have free roam of the house when it can't be supervised. Puppies need plenty of down time to sleep/grow, whether they tell you that or not. If you can't be directly observing the pup, he should be crated still.

[LadyEvil2172]

As long as your watching him I think it would be ok. They can get into so much trouble when your not. When your not supervising he should be crated.

[auntjulie]

I second the whole idea of constant supervision. If you can't really watch him, he needs to be in the crate.

[Curt]

If your not around to supervise i would use the crate! crate!crate!It's the best thing you can do for you and your pup.
Later Curt