Limited Freedom in the house...

[njl]

Well, Jaco is going to be 18 months tomorrow and we love him more than ever!

He's crate trained and has been in the crate:

When we are asleep
When we are at work
When we go run errands

I come home for lunch everyday (don't have anywhere else to go) and spend some time with him playing fetch and take him out for a pee and poop....

My wife and I feel that he's starting to be more trustworthy on letting him out while we are asleep (doesn't have access to our bedroom)...
I would like to let him out after my lunch hour until I get home (I take lunch from 2-3pm and get home from work at 5:05pm)....

I would really like to try to let him out alone between the end of my lunch hour and till' I get home from work today...I believe our house is "dog" proof right now (we did some spring cleaning over the weekend and everything is put up)...

He never chews walls or furniture and the past two night, I left out 5 strategically placed compressed rawhide bones BTW, he is potty trained (he'll mess up sometimes - very, very rare, but I only blame myself).

Here's the dilemma -

My wife would prefer to start him out roaming the house while we are asleep (she's a heavy sleeper)...I really wouldn't (i'm a light sleeper)...the past two nights, he did great for a few hours, but I put him back in because he barks at the front door (damn stray cats ). After I put him back in his crate, he was out cold (when I woke up for work, he was doing what a lot Rotts seems to like - lay on their backs with their legs wide open)....

The big question is:

Would it be wise let him roam when I go back to work for 2 hours today or am I being overly confident?

Thanks for any help!

[Sargeant_C]

Try it when you can sneak back home sooner. Like errand times. Or if someone can stop by and check on him.

And if all else he will just chew the couch up into tiny pieces. LOL

Or you can try a room first. Try one room and test. Then add another room when he is well behaved.

[njl]

Yeah, maybe I should just do it when I go to gas up the cars or something....or go pick up some burgers....

Makes sense....maybe i'm jumping the gun....but I can't help it, i'm so excited for Jaco! :)

[Sargeant_C]

Only you know your dog, and how well Jaco is. And only you will suffer what she destroys.
Take small steps and then make sure that there are no dangers around for him to chew up.

[brunie's mom]

My guy will be 18 months old on Thursday. I can't believe what a good pup he has been!!!
I'm not sure if it's because of his good breeding or my work with him??? or a combination of both.

We started off Baxter in a crate when he was a young pup....by the time he was 6-7 months old ,the crate he had, was starting to get a little small, and though I had a bigger sized crate...I thought I would just try a room with a babygate and see how he did. The room is our laundry room/pantry just off of the kitchen...same room as where he was crated.
He did very well in there at night or if we had to leave him alone for a couple of hours per day ( I work from home).

This June was so hot, as was the rest of the summer...I felt bad that he was in the laundry room. at night..with not much of a breeze ( we have no airconditioning)..so we decided to leave him loose for the night. We thought that he would find a cooler spot in the house on the ceramic tiles,or beside an open window,etc. He did very well.
He has now graduated to being loose in the house at all times and has done very well. I've left him up to 5 hours at a time...and when I came home had to wake him up...lol

I would start your pup slowly...an hour or so and see how he does and then work up from there.
I guess it depends on your dogs personality and temperment. Baxter has always been a good pup...never chewing or destroying anything that was not his. He still has the stuffed animal he came home from the breeder's with.

Good-luck!

Gina

[njl]

Here's a little report back:

Since Monday night, we have been leaving Jaco for a few hours at night, while we were asleep....

Well, last night, he was out the whole night!!! And was perfect!!! My wife woke up this morning and he was asleep in his crate (yay!!!) with the door open....he was in his cutest position - on his back with his back legs up in the air.

I have never been so proud of my pup! He's 18 months today and he's deserving his freedom....keep this up for a few months and then hopefully he's be out all the time (my wife and I are going start off with a few minutes of leaving the house, yada, yada, yada). My wife is happy for him as well.

I love my rottie and I thank this forum for all the help...

BTW, there was a snide remark from my wife's family about "caging up my dog"....well, both my wife and I wish we had the camera going to snap a shot of Jaco asleep in his crate WITH THE DOOR OPEN! He went inside to sleep on his own! But we all know that crates are the way to go....they don't and they are really just uneducated!

Once again, thank you rott.net!

[rottnelmo]

That is wonderful that Jaco is doing so well...but remember that he may just be testing the waters, so to speak and that he may do something naughty in the coming days...so remember to take baby steps.

Give him butt scritches for me!!!

[njl]

Originally Posted by rottnelmo

Give him butt scratches for me!!!

Just did...

[Judi W]

I would suggest that freedom should be won one room at a time. Give the dog a single room (hopefully one without valuable furniture) for several months. When that room proves to remain intact, then you can add another room.

[njl]

Last night was another successfull night! My wife, while I was out at a gig, went to Best Buy for about 30 minutes...she left him and came back - He did fine. Right now, no longer than 45 minutes at a time.

In re the one room at a time - absolutely - the bathroom has too much stuff for him to mess with (we'll have to work with him on this room)...

The spare bedroom has Rene, our parrot....my wife's office or my studio would always be off limits...are you kidding, I'M not even allowed in either of those rooms. Unless my wife or I are in them, he ain't going in!

In re our furniture...I think deep down inside, both my wife and I are hoping that he'll do something to the couches...we are just looking for a reason to replace those ugly things...

The big test is this weekend (as soon as tonight) - we have some evacuees coming in from East Texas (Rita)... we'll have to see how him manners are...

[Judi W]

It has nothing to do with whether you want new couches or not, but with whether the dog should have the opportunity to learn something that will be a bad precedent for the rest of his life.

[njl]

That was a joke, Judi...

[Judi W]

Originally Posted by njl

That was a joke, Judi...

Hey, I have a girlfriend who did subscribe to that idea. Her Dobe became so dedicated she had to wait until he died to get a new couch!

[fischtail]

Wow - I'm so impressed with this whole "freedom" concept! There is no way we could leave Lulu out when we weren't home. Maybe it's because she would jump all over the older one until she got eaten alive, maybe because she would discover another wall to eat, or she would chew through an electrical cord just for fun. Hrmph.

We did leave her out of the crate one night and she slept nicely on an old doggie bed next to me all night. In the morning when I woke up she had chewed a hole the size of my head through the bed. Lovely. She sleeps in her crate without anything on the floor because she chews EVERYTHING, including the cover I put over the top.

Luckily she's cute.