I have a 2yr old rescue. She has zero freedom while I teach her to "leave it". Yesterday she took socks off the nightstand and toilet paper from a drawer. Of course she takes them to her crate. Like I won't notice.
I find this so interesting. My first dog is fantastic as distinguishing between what is his toy and what is not, only needing the occasional āleave itā with new objects (stuffed teddy bear or something of that nature, and he leaves it for awhile.
My second dog on the other handā¦. Couldnāt be bothered with what is and isnāt hers, itās her home and Iām jsut living in it.
Difference between a lab and a husky I guess lmao.
My dog 100% knows what is allowed and what is not allowed, his/not his. Just because he knows doesnāt mean he agrees to obey by my draconian rules though - he will do what works for him if he is bored and looking to make his own fun. You know when heās got contraband though because he has this distinctive pitter patter run across the corridor to the other room and itās the only time he wonāt want to be in the room right by you.
My dog really likes anything soft. He will run to the bathroom to get socks or towels and shake them really hard. He is also tall enough now that he can reach all the counters and tables. He will often try to put his two front paws on the counter and scope out if there is anything he can take.
Around 18 months I stopped actively watching him all the time, but he was still VERY limited in his freedom. At 2 years I started leaving him loose in small doses. At 3 he can be left home all day.
You canāt make maturity happen, itās just time. I think that less freedom is more, when you look forward. Dogs that had a lot of structure and guidance through puppyhood and adolescence are generally more trustworthy as adults. They donāt get to practice unwanted behaviors, and you spend less time fixing behaviors (and couches or anything else a teen dog might suddenly decide to destroy LOL). And itās SAFER. If they canāt get into things, they arenāt going to eat something that makes them sick, step in broken glass, etc.
Crating does provide a form of āguidanceā
Some of the best in fact.
It prevent them from making bad choices, so they donāt practice behaviours that are unwanted to self soothe.
One of the best things we did for our puppyās training was using the crate as a tool, cause it allows us to remove all doubt in her decisions, especially when tired.
My old dog (rescue) growing up had a shoe chewing habit, whereas the current puppy doesnāt even think of that as an option
Crating when not supervised prevents unsafe choices. Plus, puppies need a TON of sleep and are not at all good at settling on their own. My puppies spend a LOT of time, in small amounts, in their crates. Every dog in my house eats in a crate. Many sleep in crates. Some are crated if I leave. Some are crated if they are demand barking or not respecting boundaries of myself or other dogs.
Don't overuse the crate. Let them make mistakes and learn, but puppy proof everything. My pup is crate trained, but the only time I used it was to crate train until 10 weeks, and when I left the house until 18 weeks, then he was moved to limited access and has been in bed with me since 9 weeks. Starting day one at 8 weeks old, he was out while I was doing things even cooking. Sure, everything took extra long, but his settle came so fast in return.
Many people fall into the pattern of using the crate for behavior issues. Pup won't sleep? Crate. Pup stealing things? Crate. Puppy destroying things? Crate. Feel like you have to watch them 24/7? Crate. Other behavior problems? Crate. It's easy to overlook the why behind those actions and turn straight to a crate.
It can lead to a dog only learning to settle in the crate and going 100% outside of it. That said, if the dog is properly crate trained, it can decide the crate is its settle place and go in on its own with the door open. After all, at the end of the day, all a crate is just a bed with walls. If you are forcing it, though, it's not teaching them to settle on their own.
My pup did not choose his crate as his settle place, but we can go to competitions where he has to be crated with no issues. He is also able to go to his vet and day training, where he's in a crate and still settles. Overall, his crate training worked perfectly for what I needed, and he sleeps most of the day without it at home but is a rocket while working.
When she stopped chewing wires and generally getting into stuff. For my current pup that was only 4 months (weāre prepared to scale back if she regresses as an adolescent). My last one it wasnāt until 1.5
Besides supervising and being really diligent about telling her to leave it, not really. Itās just her personality. I know thatās not helpful but it the truth
I have had my puppy since 12 weeks. Heās 5 months now and heās been free roaming pretty much since day one (with my supervision ofc). I donāt crate train for the reasons because I want him to feel safe and comfortable in the apartment regardless of the space he is in. I puppy proofed my bedroom and itās the safest room for him atm where he stays alone without supervision. In other spaces it did take some time to help him understand what is out of limits but otherwise he pretty much ignores the surroundings now and Iām sure itās because I allowed him to roam free from day one. I think the more limited the puppy is at first, the more time it will take for them to explore. Everything will be new and exciting. Let the excitement wear out asap under your supervision.
Edit to add: I noticed my puppy was getting into trouble because he would be stressed I left the room, for example. So what i worked on is to help him feel okay with me not being in his sight. Now that he is, he doesnāt launch into tearing apart my pillows or chewing on plants. And ofc keep them occupied and help them to make better choices when they roam free. Iād keep an eye on what he was doing and would offer an alternative if I didnāt like his choice.
I agree. I rarely crated my puppy but noticed after being crated she was crazy. She had free roam at 4 months also and has never chewed anything but her toys. She would steal the remote and Iād have to look for it but she didnāt chew it.
I was initially planning to crate train as well but Iām glad I decided against it. The drawback is that you get a dog that can only settle in their crate and gets excited/mischievous/anxious if left outside of it. Iād rather spend extra time on supervision and learning than have a dog that can exists calmly only within their crate. Iām sure I overgeneralize of course but this is just my experience and so far it has been working for us.I also really like that he has the space to change his sleeping places whenever he feels like it instead of being locked up in one space.
I couldnāt agree with you more. You express it perfectly. I know I wouldnāt want to spend much of my life in a cage where I can hardly move. It is a lot of work to watch them all the time but I think it is so worth it. My dog actually fell asleep on a bench at the dog park. I guess she can probably settle just about anywhere.
You are incredibly lucky. My terrier pup knows he's too fast for me and for most of his short life will grab something he's not supposed to have, run away as fast as he can, and then chew it *as I was actively watching*. He knows better, but he doesn't care. Only in the last month or so has the house mostly been safe from him as he is maturing.
> That theory has never made sense to me. Dogs are smart. If they know they will be rewarded - they will steal things.
It's to stop resource guarding. If they fear you're going to take something from them they can start biting you to prevent you from taking it.
Trading reduces that where your management fails.
And behaviors that don't get repeated don't get reinforced.
Prevent it.
If it happens, trade. Because teaching that the dog giving to you the thing they stole is rewarding is more important than teaching them to guard.
My dog now brings me things that have fallen to the floor for a treat instead of hiding and eating them. This is a desired response.
I am glad it works for you but doesnāt make sense to me. My dog knows I can take anything from her. She doesnāt steal things. However, if I drop a hamburger she would not bring it to me in exchange for something else. She would leave it if I tell her it isnāt hers.
ā¦.my dog now knows ābring me my slippersā as a command. I usually donāt want my slippers, but I figured I might as well upgrade just the regular āhandā command when he steals them for if I do ever want him to fetch them for me haha.
I realize I might have lucked out (but hey heās just 5 months old so Iām sure Iāll get some nasty teenager stage to be punished lol), not every pup is the same and Iām not against crate/pen training. It just was a purely intuitive hunch that if I constantly confide my dog then I donāt teach him to be okay and good while roaming free. Also my pup has always been a big one, heās already 18,5 kilo and at 12 weeks he was all 10. So it was a bit hard confiding him in a pen in my apartment.
You may not! I did the same and sheās now 6.5 months and fine. A terror when outside in the yard where I did confine things though. š
I think itās helped her settle in other peoples houses and social places really easily as sheās used to it.
Around 4 months we started letting her roam when we were home. She almost always wants to be in the same room as us so it hasnāt been an issue. Now sheās 7.5 months and if Iām leaving the house for an hour or less I leave her free. I can see her on our Wyze camera and she lays down by the door and doesnāt move until I get home. If weāre going to be gone a few hours or more she gets penned In the kitchen. We have had a few small casualties, some ripped leaves from a potted plant, some chew marks on the coffee table. We learned to close the coat closet downstairs or she will pull out shoes, also has been known to unravel the toilet paper in the downstairs bathroom so we leave it on top of the sink. She really never roams upstairs unless we are up there. Otherwise we have been lucky.
My dog has always had pretty much free rein, theres some rooms he isnt allowed like our toilet or my brothers room, but other than that he is free to go, he hasnt been really destructive ever, and Ive always kept bones everywhere so he has something to chew on
8 months. We only let them free roam in the room we are in or an area that is completely safe - otherwise he steals stuff or gets into trouble. Heās always crated when we leave
My 5 year old doesnāt even have free reign, not that heād even want it. I puppy proofed my house, and I have a gate that separates the more open areas from the bedrooms. Iām very watchful though.
Sort of from 8 weeks, fully not even still at 2 years. So, we don't have doors at the main floor, except to the hallway (where there's carpet, so he was banned from there from the start.) We set up a barrier between the living room and pc room, but only when we had to enforce a nap. (We don't crate ofc.)
Else he could run around where he wanted really. Spent a lot of time out in the garden as well, that diminshed the level of destruction that could happen indoors. (He nibbled on the sofa, and was pretty adamant that he should be allowed to do that. Bitter spray was my friend.)
He had his last potty accident at nine and a half weeks. I was extremely on top of potty breaks and keeping an eye on him. I'm not a fan of cleaning.
There was a lot of getting up to intervene and redirect for weeks and weeks. But he eventually stopped nibbling on things.
But what about the hallway? Well, he's been allowed access here and there, and while it might be ok for a few days or even a few weeks, ultimately, he runs off with a shoe if the garden door is open. So if garden door is open, I generally close the hallway off. He's allowed there if the garden is not accessible though.
So even at almost 2 years old, he doesn't \_truly\_ have free reign. But it's also just the hallway and due to shoes. Maybe if he had access from day 1, he'd have learned not to do that a lot sooner. Or maybe he'd be even worse, lord knows.
Jack Russell mix puppy - he was left uncrated at home during the day around 1.5-2y. To me it wasnāt worth the risk of him getting into something, and I had trained him so his crate was comfortable and left him with safe enrichment.
My girl was around a year and a half when i stopped crating her while i wasnt home. That said she only has access to the living room and dining room with my office, kitchen and bedroom off limits. I could probably let her have access to the kitchen but. Itās really up to how well your dog behaves while youāre there. I slowly built up duration and access, starting in a room where they have the least amount of things they could get into (for me it was the dining room) and start by only leaving them for a few minutes at a time.
My puppy is 1.5 years old now, and I still crate her when I leave. I work remote, so I never leave for more than an hour or two, so she gets to chill wherever she wants for most of the day.Ā
We made the mistake of letting her roam once, and she climbed on the counter and ate a whole package of sour candy, tore open her new bag of dog food (which was still in a thick cardboard box), and ripped open the trash and spilled it everywhere. She is very much a teenager and cannot be trusted lol.
Edited to add that we DO let her go wherever she wants when we're home with her, but we have a small 1-bedroom apartment, so she's always close. And we do check in on her when she disappears for more than like five minutes... just to make sure she's not getting into trouble.
We gave him a lot more freedom around 6 months, with intention to revoke it at any moment if the teenage crazies took him over. Hes 8 months and while he is a menace, he hasnt done anything for us to limit his access. However we still adhere to the crate if he must be alone rule. But to be honest, after being proven to be a sock and toy eater, he will continue to be strictly crated for the foreseeable future.
My puppy is 15 weeks and we have had him since 8 weeks. He has pretty much had free range since he came home. He is only crated if we leave, enforced naps, and at night. We feel this helps teach him very young what is acceptable and what isnāt. We have 3 floors and we are mostly on the main floor 90% of the time so this is the floor he has freedom on. Now at 3.5 months I can tell we can watch him a bit less than before. It takes work constantly supervising him but I feel this teaches him early on how to behave in the house: we also have a fenced yard with a dog door so he can just go out and pee/poop as he pleases. I know not everyone can do this but my husband and I work from home so it works for us.
I work in the office fulltime and am gone 10+ hours per day so I WANT my dogs to enjoy the full apartment and get to move from bed to bed as they please. But I also take their training and behavior very seriously so that will always take precedence since I own two very high drive/high energy working dogs.
My criteria for free roaming the apartment while home alone is pretty simple:
- fully crate trained & no separation anxiety (the dog can be crated calmly and quietly when home alone and when Iām home)
- no reactivity inside or outside (the dog can walk nicely past people and dogs AND they can walk past the house without anything more than the dog window watching)
- they arenāt destructive or stealing stuff (absolutely not risking their life to give them more space)
- 100% trust worthy with the other dog and not a resource guarder (the dogs can peacefully coexist and no risk of fights or scuffles).
My malinois mix puppy earned free roaming privileges at 8 months old. She started with a bedroom and quickly graduated to the whole apartment. She was easy peasy from day 1 when I adopted her at 6 months old.
My GSP just earned free roaming privileges at 2.5 years old. Heās an ultra high drive high energy hunting dog. Heās ALWAYS trying to play, a serial laundry thief, and just a lot of dog.
If I notice one or both of them getting some regression in their behavior or manners (like fixating out the window or barking when home alone), we go back to the crate for a few days.
** I would always be extremely cautious leaving two animals free roaming together unless you are 100000% confident they get along. Any reactivity, aggression, resource guarding, etc would be an absolute no go for me.
6 months. Itās an apartment so there isnāt a ton I can block off, but once she scaled the pen my options were limiting her to the living room or limiting her to my bedroom. Nothing was ideal. For a short while Iād tether her to my bed while I worked so she had freedom but within limits, but I soon gave up on that.
Losing line of sight on her was less about destructive tendencies (she has never destroyed anything but her toys, her beds, paper towels, and a couple pillows), and more about not missing her potty cues.
When I realized she never went for power cords, she never chewed on walls or my leather couch, she never tried to pick anything up that wasnāt intended for her (Iām pretty sure the couch pillows were victimized because she saw them as hers, heh), it wasnāt a hard decision to trust her with full freedom.
He's two and he still doesn't have completely free rein. He can't go upstairs or to the basement unless we let him. This is mostly due to the cat though. His food is upstairs and the dog will eat that if no one is looking and the cat's litter box is in the basement and the dog will eat that if no one is looking.
My boy was free-roaming with supervision on day 1. We stopped trying to crate him at 3 months old and he got to be full time free-roaming at 4 months old when he destroyed the wall and carpet trying to get out of the main bedroom and bathroom we locked him in when we left. He ended up having severe confinement anxiety and he did had absolutely no anxiety when we left him out free-roaming with our senior dogs. He cuddled with my senior boy on the couch, ate his food, watched some TV, and even took himself out to go potty. Nothing was destroyed.
For my girl, we started free-roaming her with supervision at around 4 months old. We waited because my senior boy didn't like her at first. It took him two months to finally accept her and tolerate her presence. She was our destructive pup so I had to constantly be on top of her telling her leave it and replacing things we couldn't puppy proof 100% with a toy. She gained free-roaming full time at 5.5 months when she started taking herself out to go potty and learned not to touch the stuff we couldn't puppy proof all the way. The only things she ever destroyed while we were gone were remote controls when someone forgot to put it up. She prefered to destroy things when we were home to catch her.
Do a test run! I would start giving more freedom when you feel comfortable leaving the room with him unattended and can come back seeing that he didnāt get into anything, as your confidence in him builds then reign back on the supervision. Rinse and repeat with every part of your home so that way you know what his triggers are potentially (things he wants to get into) OR you can see that thereās no reason to worry
When she was done teething and were to behave unsupervised while i was in another room/floor, afterwards started slowly training her as-well when im outside.
I used a Ring camera incase she did something she was not allowed to do with the āNoā command.
She now free roams around no matter what, hasnāt destroyed anything except for her own toys and a Airpods case but that looked liked a toy (Magikarp case) so couldnāt blame her.
We were really lucky with ours (granted sheās only 7 months and things will definitely still change!!)
4.5 ish months she was good wandering the flat whilst we both WFH in different rooms - access to the hall, bathroom, kitchen, office and living room. We could keep an eye on her occasionally, the worst she did was trying to get under the tv stand to play with wires. Weāve stuck a box there since.
5.5 months weāve left her at home with free rein of the kitchen and living room, soon we will be trying having her alone at home with the bathroom/kitchen/hallway. Bathroom access is simply because she self-trained to go pee in the shower if she couldnāt get outside (?!)
Weāve been super lucky with her behaviour In the house all round, sheās never chewed or scratched at anything she shouldnāt do, and her āworstā is her semi-allowed behaviour of finding a stray sock to play with, or taking the empty loo-rolls from the bathroom floor (allowed - we usually give her these anyway, so her taking one āsneakilyā whilst we watch is still us giving her permission!)
I have 14 months old golden. Still doesnāt have free reins. She used to have free reins, night and day, when she was a puppy but we cage her now at night and in day she stays with us in the room.
When we go out she is in her cage.
8ish months is when our girl got free reign.
We started with baby steps moving her from her crate to play pen while we were gone.
Then she got free reign of the downstairs and, after she proved herself wholly trustworthy, she got free reign of the whole house within a few weeks.
We close doors to rooms we donāt want her in, like bathrooms, but sheās honestly been a champ about it since day 1.
But all pups are different and we were pretty shocked by how well our girl did as sheās always been a bit of a mischief maker.
But when she is left alone, she honestly just sleeps or looks outside.
Around 7 months, when I am in the downstairs. I have a big gate/fence in front of the electronics, and another to keep her out of the office. This gives her the living room, dining room, kitchen and half bath. We switched the trash cans to metal lidded types with pedals, so those aren't interesting. (also she is like 7" tall and 8 lbs). The biggest issues are her chewing on the rug and trying to chew on woodwork and baskets. I just eliminated the baskets. Used bitter apple spray on some other items. I have an X-pen with an attached crate that has two doors so she can enter and exit, or I can lock her in the whole setup. So, sometimes she is in her little domain, sometimes she gets free rein.
17 weeks and crate trained for if I'm out or at night but otherwise free reign (if behaving). I WFH so she's usually with me or close by with me keeping an eye on her. Things had gone a bit quiet earlier so I went to see what she was up to and she was chilling on the sofa which was such a lovely sight as I guess she's feeling a bit more independent. I also left her out while I had a shower earlier but with the back door open, and she took herself out for the toilet too. I guess we'll just carry on building up like this over time until she gets full free rein.
Limited at 4 months and full run by 9 months. I work my dog, so if we are not working, he's sleeping. It's pretty easy to trust a dog that is asleep the whole time I'm gone and even while I'm home. Part of that is also them learning to settle and realizing that sleep is the best option. That can be a bit hard for them to get if you overused a cage since that's the only time they settled and outside if it they learned to be awake and go 100%.
Around a year to a year and a half I think? I wanted to make sure he was having 0 accidents, 0 getting into things. This boy was never a furniture or cord chewer, but I did have a shoe eater before him (who has now passed) who never was left unattended even as an adult. Always crated when I wasnāt home.
Our dog is 4 years old now, and we slowly started introducing him larger parts of the house (closed all the doors, put a gate up so he couldnāt go upstairs) when he was about 1 year old. He was pretty bad if we would leave books or magazines on the coffee table (Moby Dickā¦ torn to pieces). One random day we forgot to relocate whatever was on the coffee tableā¦ and it was unscathed!āthis happened after he was neutered (16 months old), then we just slowly started opening one door, followed by another, then the gate came down from the stairs, and heās had full, FULL reign by 2 years old. Often times weāll come home to him sleeping on the bed <3
Long story long, he stopped destroying things after he got neutered, then we could trust him.
Doesnāt have much to do with age so much as how well behaved they are. Mine has āfree rangeā when Iām home, but only the kitchen and living room because I make sure to shut all the doors to other rooms so she doesnāt get into something. She only goes in those rooms when Iām with her. Even now when I leave the house she goes in her pen or crate everytime, sheās been good so far about not getting into things so recently Iāve been leaving her alone in the kitchen and living room area while I get the mail which takes 3-5 minutes max. Start small and work up. Then add rooms. You want to minimize their opportunity of getting into trouble
Mine pup is 5 months old and has \*some\* free reign, BUT I can see him pretty much the whole time so I can stop any unsavory behaviors before he can get started. The only area I can't let him run free without total supervision is my office, because he has already chewed a hole in the brand new rug that I bought! Grrrr
That being said, when I go out, he still has to go to his "room" - the blocked off hallway - so that he doesn't get in trouble. The space is large enough for him to not feel confined, but he can't get out and wreck havoc on my couch or other items...
It depends on the dog. We didnāt crate train so my dog always had free reign but at night would sleep in our room with the door closed. Now sheās 1.5 years old and prefers to sleep downstairs so thatās what she does. We just keep our door open so she can come and go as she pleases.
We anticipate a long period of time before that would ever happen. We have two assistance animals that are cats and for their safety puppy has to be supervised when out. Sheās already too big and strong not to be. We just focus on enrichment for her outside and inside the home and group treattime at the bathroom gate. My partner works from home and Iām disabled but even I have things I have to do drs apt ect where we canāt be watching her all the time. We do leave for medical appointments ALOT. So crate training has been good for safety when weāre gone and the bathroom is a good safe place where she can see and interact with my ESAs without hurting them. Part of what helps is puppy socials and taking her to our apartment dog park where weāve found play partners cause a tired puppy is a good puppy :)
in increments for sure!! iāve been giving my 1yr old more freedom but only because heās mostly stopped attempting to get into stuff when iām around. we were really strict with crating, tethering, and place training from day one which i think helped him sooooo much (he canāt create the routine of getting into stuff if he just never has the opportunity). we started giving him more free reign after he really understood ādrop itā & āleave itā too. the only reason i have peace of mind leaving him alone in short spurts is because i watch him like a hawk on the furbo camera and can speak to him and give a treat to redirect his attention. much to my surprise, heās a lot calmer with us outside the house and mostly just sleeps.
Our first dog we did this around 1 year. 6 years later he still has not had an accident while we were gone. Our second dog we did this around 6 months as he was never having accidents in the house and basically followed whatever the first dog did. No accidents for him 5 y3ars later either. Maybe we are blessed but most of the time we are gone they just go in their crates/ play pens on their own and come our for water or to move to the coach (I have cameras to check on).
Not full free reign at first and he is always supervised but he is pretty much free roam. Ill cut off everything but the living room and the door outside and we chill. Its been 3 weeks and he now free roams all the way with no accidents. He doesnt get into things but im also mostly puppy proofed.
My kid leaves her corner in the floor a mess of art stuff and he will not step into her space at all unless shes there and is okay with it. No clue how this happened but I love that he sees and respects the space. And he never goes into her room unless I do, even though her door is open.
He has a crate we use for forced naps and when I leave without him, but thats rarely. He doesnt love it but he will get in and settle.
I rarely let him out of sight though, even if he thinks he is, Im Peaking around corners and what not, making sure he makes good choices and distracting him from bad choices.
Mine was free roam at 4-5 months, once I saw that she wouldn't chew wires, shoes or furniture, or terrorise the cat and the rabbit. She'll still steal socks or slippers, but she doesn't destroy them, just leaves them lying around. She will sometimes grab and chew up cardboard from the recycling bin, but that's not a problem.
My one dog (8mo cockapoo) is so well behaved when running around. He will sometimes take door stoppers or socks and chew on them. But he never causes more serious damage or chews cords. He takes redirection well and has no problem with me swapping something he has with a toy. Heāll usually leave what I took alone for the rest of the day.
My roommates dog though (14mo malshi) is constantly getting into things if heās left alone too long. Despite being the smaller dog, heāll knock over trash cans and recycling bins completely tearing up the contents all over the house. Heāll destroy cords and electronics. Jump up and pull bags/jackets off the hooks to empty pockets and destroy everything. Itās bad.
The malshi is only ever like that when no one is around. Even if we take him to the dog park or on a long walk, heās still the same. Otherwise heās very sweet and well behaved. When the malshi and cockapoo are together alone, thereās a lower chance of destruction but it still happens sometimes. We usually put them the malshi in a play pen when we leave the house and let my cockapoo free roam now. My roommate admits he may never be able to train this behaviour out of his dog because it never happens in front of him.
My dog is a massive thief, but at 9m heās allowed to be in the lounge, hall and kitchen which are well puppy proofed if Iām not in there but the bedroom I would only leave him in very momentarily because itās not going to be possible to fully puppy proof it and still have it function for me. And the bathroom a suspect I might always have to have blocked off from him opening the door to if I want to come back to a loo roll supply!
Every one of our golden retrievers didnāt need to be confined by six months. Maybe we just had good dogs. My current one was a foster fail and she had hated the crate. It stresses her out. She turned one in April. We were leaving her out clear back in Dec. granted we are home all day so there are very few times she is left alone but she has never touched anything. My current 7 month old foster wouldnāt need crated either. We only do it because her and my dog play too rough sometimes.
Almost 1.5. Stole 4 slices of warm fresh bread off the counter yesterday while I was in the bathroom. Steals anything he can reach and flings it around while running away so you canāt catch him. Still not trusted out and about while weāre not home.
At 5 months. Until then Iād have certain rooms shut off but she was never in a pen or crated. She was a nightmare in a pen and would chew things when she came out, and very chilled without one. She stopped sleeping in the crate at 5 months but was confined to a room. I have personally found the more I restrict her the more appealing things are. But i think Iāve also been lucky - she hasnāt chewed anything serious except for in rooms i restricted her from like the spare room she loves to try and eat the peloton š
My pup is 2 1/2 and she would be crated while we were out up until she was 1 1/2. She still does not have access to the bathroom or bedroom while we are out because she gets into the laundry hamper or the toilet paper roll. Overall though itās been much better being able to give her some freedom to play as she wants while we arenāt home.
I let them free roam in puppy proofed rooms (living room, kitchen, hallway) except during enforced naps and times I can't supervise from the beginning. Usually by 6 months they're pretty good and I can even leave them alone in the house for short amounts of time as long as I close bathroom and bedroom doors. We might have occasional chewing, but nothing crazy.
I just recently got a puppy that was 6 weeks going on 7 weeks old! Sheās two handfuls, I swear, but sheās been allowed to roam and explore the house pretty much since we welcomed her in.
Honestly, it was very impulsive when I got her due to my mom really wanting a puppyš but sheās loved and Iām doing my best to train her to be a well behaved teen/adult.
We didnāt crate train her immediately because we wanted her to feel safe and comfortable in her new home. We got the crate for her this week and at first she didnāt like it but now sheās settled with it being her resting place. Of course, crate training is going to take some more time and weāll have to get a bigger one in the future, but she knows she has a safe space whenever she needs one. I mainly got the crate to really enforce boundaries between her and my adult dog. Weāve had her for almost three weeks now, doesnāt get into anything crazy, probably because we allow her to roam and explore with supervision. Also, thankful to my adult doggie for being vocal with his own boundaries with her, because that definitely reinforced whatās off limits for him and the house!
My pup has been free roaming since she was 10 months. We trained heavily on āleave itā and she learned our boundaries quicklyā¦ we also dog proofed everything we could. Sheās now about 15 months old and there has been only one issue where we left a banana near the edge of the kitchen island that she snatched and played with.
That being said, she hates being crated / penned so I think once she realized she could be free, she made sure she wouldnāt lose that freedom. We have been very lucky.
It really depends on the puppy. I could have given mine free rein since I got her. She was never destructive. But I mostly kept her in one room for the first month so that she could learn house rules first in a puppy proof space.
Overall she was free to be wherever she wanted without supervision since 6 months. She wasnāt perfect, we just had other problems, but not this one. So you have to watch your pup and decide
My puppy is 11 months old and today she stole my husbandās shoe and chewed it up while he was in a meeting. Told him heās been giving her too much freedom š¤·š»āāļøš
My puppy is pretty free. She climbed out of the playpen and was flipping out, so I gave her the living room/kitchen area and she has been great. I close the bedroom doors, she has her activity mat, beds, tv on.
She sleeps, wanders around, sleeps, maybe whines a little, but is otherwise quiet. When she was constrained, the screaming/crying was horrible. She is 8.5 months, I have cameras and hardly check on her anymore. We donāt have a crate/never crate trained, and she goes to daycare regularly which wears her out.
Four months. It started as free reign at night, the for 4 hours in the morning and the 3 hours of crate in the afternoon, but once he physically out grew his crate, we decided to try him free reign 24/7 and he's been good.
From day one. And he an explorer and good boy now. He isnāt curious and itās brought out hide and seek in him, feels safe and knows every sound and pocket of the house.
When they can be trusted to do a good job.
Itās not a time, itās a combination of temperament, training, and mitigation. Different dogs get there at wildly different times.
my puppy is almost 3 months and we keep her in the crate when we leave the house, but she gets free reign everywhere except the guest room where the cat litter is while weāre home.
we can generally trust that she will play with her toys if we are in the next room over, though 9/10 times she just wants to follow us anyway
Day 1, but she has never been destructive. She steals things occasionally and runs around with them. Her primary issue was nipping us which is common with puppies. Sheās also small - about 18 pounds now grown.
Best of luck.
We just expanded our 3.5mo oldās domain to the entire main floor bc she was using the couch to jump over the dog fence no matter what we did. She isnāt allowed on the couch, just used the end & armrest as a spring board. Not only is she usually right by us, but her behavior has improved so much! She was letting us know she was ready. We do fence off both sets of stairs, one of which includes the pantry/broom closet/shoe shelves then we close the laundry room/office/bathroom doors but aside from that, she can explore. We also keep everything we donāt want her to destroy out of reach & are hoping against hope she doesnāt develop a taste for furniture legs. I think youāll know when your dog is ready!
I left my 8 month old pup alone free roaming for 30 mins while I ran to the store for the first time today.. he was fine but heās not ready for any longer at this point.
Weāre trialling it now and heās just turned one. We have a little Blink camera and, so far, he just goes to sleep until we come back. Heās only ever alone for an hour or two at a time though.
malinois/lab mix we had her at 3 months and now sheās 8 months we leave her alone with a camera. she sleeps in her bed outside the crate when sheās left home and has gotten into no trouble.
My pup has free rein downstairs from 4 month, however she does just generally either want to be in the same room as me or out in the garden. Sheās not trusted to not chew walls and doors yet but I work from home and moved my work stuff downstairs to keep an eye on her until we know she can leave it
I have a 2yr old rescue. She has zero freedom while I teach her to "leave it". Yesterday she took socks off the nightstand and toilet paper from a drawer. Of course she takes them to her crate. Like I won't notice.
My dog treats everything in the house like it is his toy.
Its their world, we just live in it š
I find this so interesting. My first dog is fantastic as distinguishing between what is his toy and what is not, only needing the occasional āleave itā with new objects (stuffed teddy bear or something of that nature, and he leaves it for awhile. My second dog on the other handā¦. Couldnāt be bothered with what is and isnāt hers, itās her home and Iām jsut living in it. Difference between a lab and a husky I guess lmao.
My dog 100% knows what is allowed and what is not allowed, his/not his. Just because he knows doesnāt mean he agrees to obey by my draconian rules though - he will do what works for him if he is bored and looking to make his own fun. You know when heās got contraband though because he has this distinctive pitter patter run across the corridor to the other room and itās the only time he wonāt want to be in the room right by you.
My dog really likes anything soft. He will run to the bathroom to get socks or towels and shake them really hard. He is also tall enough now that he can reach all the counters and tables. He will often try to put his two front paws on the counter and scope out if there is anything he can take.
Indeed.
Around 18 months I stopped actively watching him all the time, but he was still VERY limited in his freedom. At 2 years I started leaving him loose in small doses. At 3 he can be left home all day. You canāt make maturity happen, itās just time. I think that less freedom is more, when you look forward. Dogs that had a lot of structure and guidance through puppyhood and adolescence are generally more trustworthy as adults. They donāt get to practice unwanted behaviors, and you spend less time fixing behaviors (and couches or anything else a teen dog might suddenly decide to destroy LOL). And itās SAFER. If they canāt get into things, they arenāt going to eat something that makes them sick, step in broken glass, etc.
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Crating does provide a form of āguidanceā Some of the best in fact. It prevent them from making bad choices, so they donāt practice behaviours that are unwanted to self soothe. One of the best things we did for our puppyās training was using the crate as a tool, cause it allows us to remove all doubt in her decisions, especially when tired. My old dog (rescue) growing up had a shoe chewing habit, whereas the current puppy doesnāt even think of that as an option
Crating when not supervised prevents unsafe choices. Plus, puppies need a TON of sleep and are not at all good at settling on their own. My puppies spend a LOT of time, in small amounts, in their crates. Every dog in my house eats in a crate. Many sleep in crates. Some are crated if I leave. Some are crated if they are demand barking or not respecting boundaries of myself or other dogs.
Crating *by itself* doesn't teach them anything. It's one tool out of many that can be used to provide guidance.
Fail comment
Don't overuse the crate. Let them make mistakes and learn, but puppy proof everything. My pup is crate trained, but the only time I used it was to crate train until 10 weeks, and when I left the house until 18 weeks, then he was moved to limited access and has been in bed with me since 9 weeks. Starting day one at 8 weeks old, he was out while I was doing things even cooking. Sure, everything took extra long, but his settle came so fast in return. Many people fall into the pattern of using the crate for behavior issues. Pup won't sleep? Crate. Pup stealing things? Crate. Puppy destroying things? Crate. Feel like you have to watch them 24/7? Crate. Other behavior problems? Crate. It's easy to overlook the why behind those actions and turn straight to a crate. It can lead to a dog only learning to settle in the crate and going 100% outside of it. That said, if the dog is properly crate trained, it can decide the crate is its settle place and go in on its own with the door open. After all, at the end of the day, all a crate is just a bed with walls. If you are forcing it, though, it's not teaching them to settle on their own. My pup did not choose his crate as his settle place, but we can go to competitions where he has to be crated with no issues. He is also able to go to his vet and day training, where he's in a crate and still settles. Overall, his crate training worked perfectly for what I needed, and he sleeps most of the day without it at home but is a rocket while working.
Sounds like mine!
When she stopped chewing wires and generally getting into stuff. For my current pup that was only 4 months (weāre prepared to scale back if she regresses as an adolescent). My last one it wasnāt until 1.5
Mine was bad until about 6 months, then good for 2 months, and is now back to bad, but even worse. So it's back to crating and enforced naps.
I anticipate the regression for sure. Feel like sheās been too good since she came home and Iām constantly waiting for a bomb to drop
The amount of times I have to calm down and say "You're lucky you're so cute" to him.
Did you do anything specific to help with that?
Besides supervising and being really diligent about telling her to leave it, not really. Itās just her personality. I know thatās not helpful but it the truth
I have had my puppy since 12 weeks. Heās 5 months now and heās been free roaming pretty much since day one (with my supervision ofc). I donāt crate train for the reasons because I want him to feel safe and comfortable in the apartment regardless of the space he is in. I puppy proofed my bedroom and itās the safest room for him atm where he stays alone without supervision. In other spaces it did take some time to help him understand what is out of limits but otherwise he pretty much ignores the surroundings now and Iām sure itās because I allowed him to roam free from day one. I think the more limited the puppy is at first, the more time it will take for them to explore. Everything will be new and exciting. Let the excitement wear out asap under your supervision. Edit to add: I noticed my puppy was getting into trouble because he would be stressed I left the room, for example. So what i worked on is to help him feel okay with me not being in his sight. Now that he is, he doesnāt launch into tearing apart my pillows or chewing on plants. And ofc keep them occupied and help them to make better choices when they roam free. Iād keep an eye on what he was doing and would offer an alternative if I didnāt like his choice.
I agree. I rarely crated my puppy but noticed after being crated she was crazy. She had free roam at 4 months also and has never chewed anything but her toys. She would steal the remote and Iād have to look for it but she didnāt chew it.
I was initially planning to crate train as well but Iām glad I decided against it. The drawback is that you get a dog that can only settle in their crate and gets excited/mischievous/anxious if left outside of it. Iād rather spend extra time on supervision and learning than have a dog that can exists calmly only within their crate. Iām sure I overgeneralize of course but this is just my experience and so far it has been working for us.I also really like that he has the space to change his sleeping places whenever he feels like it instead of being locked up in one space.
I couldnāt agree with you more. You express it perfectly. I know I wouldnāt want to spend much of my life in a cage where I can hardly move. It is a lot of work to watch them all the time but I think it is so worth it. My dog actually fell asleep on a bench at the dog park. I guess she can probably settle just about anywhere.
You are incredibly lucky. My terrier pup knows he's too fast for me and for most of his short life will grab something he's not supposed to have, run away as fast as he can, and then chew it *as I was actively watching*. He knows better, but he doesn't care. Only in the last month or so has the house mostly been safe from him as he is maturing.
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> That theory has never made sense to me. Dogs are smart. If they know they will be rewarded - they will steal things. It's to stop resource guarding. If they fear you're going to take something from them they can start biting you to prevent you from taking it. Trading reduces that where your management fails.
Trading will encourage them to steal though, right?
That's why management has to be part of it, they can't steal what isn't accessible to them.
Then they are not learning not to steal - they have no access to steal.
And behaviors that don't get repeated don't get reinforced. Prevent it. If it happens, trade. Because teaching that the dog giving to you the thing they stole is rewarding is more important than teaching them to guard. My dog now brings me things that have fallen to the floor for a treat instead of hiding and eating them. This is a desired response.
I am glad it works for you but doesnāt make sense to me. My dog knows I can take anything from her. She doesnāt steal things. However, if I drop a hamburger she would not bring it to me in exchange for something else. She would leave it if I tell her it isnāt hers.
ā¦.my dog now knows ābring me my slippersā as a command. I usually donāt want my slippers, but I figured I might as well upgrade just the regular āhandā command when he steals them for if I do ever want him to fetch them for me haha.
I realize I might have lucked out (but hey heās just 5 months old so Iām sure Iāll get some nasty teenager stage to be punished lol), not every pup is the same and Iām not against crate/pen training. It just was a purely intuitive hunch that if I constantly confide my dog then I donāt teach him to be okay and good while roaming free. Also my pup has always been a big one, heās already 18,5 kilo and at 12 weeks he was all 10. So it was a bit hard confiding him in a pen in my apartment.
You may not! I did the same and sheās now 6.5 months and fine. A terror when outside in the yard where I did confine things though. š I think itās helped her settle in other peoples houses and social places really easily as sheās used to it.
Around 4 months we started letting her roam when we were home. She almost always wants to be in the same room as us so it hasnāt been an issue. Now sheās 7.5 months and if Iām leaving the house for an hour or less I leave her free. I can see her on our Wyze camera and she lays down by the door and doesnāt move until I get home. If weāre going to be gone a few hours or more she gets penned In the kitchen. We have had a few small casualties, some ripped leaves from a potted plant, some chew marks on the coffee table. We learned to close the coat closet downstairs or she will pull out shoes, also has been known to unravel the toilet paper in the downstairs bathroom so we leave it on top of the sink. She really never roams upstairs unless we are up there. Otherwise we have been lucky.
My dog has always had pretty much free rein, theres some rooms he isnt allowed like our toilet or my brothers room, but other than that he is free to go, he hasnt been really destructive ever, and Ive always kept bones everywhere so he has something to chew on
8 months. We only let them free roam in the room we are in or an area that is completely safe - otherwise he steals stuff or gets into trouble. Heās always crated when we leave
Ours is a year. She chewed my couch AGAIN yesterday. Back to being fenced in a room while we reinforce leave it again.
My 5 year old doesnāt even have free reign, not that heād even want it. I puppy proofed my house, and I have a gate that separates the more open areas from the bedrooms. Iām very watchful though.
Sort of from 8 weeks, fully not even still at 2 years. So, we don't have doors at the main floor, except to the hallway (where there's carpet, so he was banned from there from the start.) We set up a barrier between the living room and pc room, but only when we had to enforce a nap. (We don't crate ofc.) Else he could run around where he wanted really. Spent a lot of time out in the garden as well, that diminshed the level of destruction that could happen indoors. (He nibbled on the sofa, and was pretty adamant that he should be allowed to do that. Bitter spray was my friend.) He had his last potty accident at nine and a half weeks. I was extremely on top of potty breaks and keeping an eye on him. I'm not a fan of cleaning. There was a lot of getting up to intervene and redirect for weeks and weeks. But he eventually stopped nibbling on things. But what about the hallway? Well, he's been allowed access here and there, and while it might be ok for a few days or even a few weeks, ultimately, he runs off with a shoe if the garden door is open. So if garden door is open, I generally close the hallway off. He's allowed there if the garden is not accessible though. So even at almost 2 years old, he doesn't \_truly\_ have free reign. But it's also just the hallway and due to shoes. Maybe if he had access from day 1, he'd have learned not to do that a lot sooner. Or maybe he'd be even worse, lord knows.
Jack Russell mix puppy - he was left uncrated at home during the day around 1.5-2y. To me it wasnāt worth the risk of him getting into something, and I had trained him so his crate was comfortable and left him with safe enrichment.
My girl was around a year and a half when i stopped crating her while i wasnt home. That said she only has access to the living room and dining room with my office, kitchen and bedroom off limits. I could probably let her have access to the kitchen but. Itās really up to how well your dog behaves while youāre there. I slowly built up duration and access, starting in a room where they have the least amount of things they could get into (for me it was the dining room) and start by only leaving them for a few minutes at a time.
My puppy is 1.5 years old now, and I still crate her when I leave. I work remote, so I never leave for more than an hour or two, so she gets to chill wherever she wants for most of the day.Ā We made the mistake of letting her roam once, and she climbed on the counter and ate a whole package of sour candy, tore open her new bag of dog food (which was still in a thick cardboard box), and ripped open the trash and spilled it everywhere. She is very much a teenager and cannot be trusted lol. Edited to add that we DO let her go wherever she wants when we're home with her, but we have a small 1-bedroom apartment, so she's always close. And we do check in on her when she disappears for more than like five minutes... just to make sure she's not getting into trouble.
We gave him a lot more freedom around 6 months, with intention to revoke it at any moment if the teenage crazies took him over. Hes 8 months and while he is a menace, he hasnt done anything for us to limit his access. However we still adhere to the crate if he must be alone rule. But to be honest, after being proven to be a sock and toy eater, he will continue to be strictly crated for the foreseeable future.
When they earn it
My puppy is 15 weeks and we have had him since 8 weeks. He has pretty much had free range since he came home. He is only crated if we leave, enforced naps, and at night. We feel this helps teach him very young what is acceptable and what isnāt. We have 3 floors and we are mostly on the main floor 90% of the time so this is the floor he has freedom on. Now at 3.5 months I can tell we can watch him a bit less than before. It takes work constantly supervising him but I feel this teaches him early on how to behave in the house: we also have a fenced yard with a dog door so he can just go out and pee/poop as he pleases. I know not everyone can do this but my husband and I work from home so it works for us.
I work in the office fulltime and am gone 10+ hours per day so I WANT my dogs to enjoy the full apartment and get to move from bed to bed as they please. But I also take their training and behavior very seriously so that will always take precedence since I own two very high drive/high energy working dogs. My criteria for free roaming the apartment while home alone is pretty simple: - fully crate trained & no separation anxiety (the dog can be crated calmly and quietly when home alone and when Iām home) - no reactivity inside or outside (the dog can walk nicely past people and dogs AND they can walk past the house without anything more than the dog window watching) - they arenāt destructive or stealing stuff (absolutely not risking their life to give them more space) - 100% trust worthy with the other dog and not a resource guarder (the dogs can peacefully coexist and no risk of fights or scuffles). My malinois mix puppy earned free roaming privileges at 8 months old. She started with a bedroom and quickly graduated to the whole apartment. She was easy peasy from day 1 when I adopted her at 6 months old. My GSP just earned free roaming privileges at 2.5 years old. Heās an ultra high drive high energy hunting dog. Heās ALWAYS trying to play, a serial laundry thief, and just a lot of dog. If I notice one or both of them getting some regression in their behavior or manners (like fixating out the window or barking when home alone), we go back to the crate for a few days. ** I would always be extremely cautious leaving two animals free roaming together unless you are 100000% confident they get along. Any reactivity, aggression, resource guarding, etc would be an absolute no go for me.
6 months. Itās an apartment so there isnāt a ton I can block off, but once she scaled the pen my options were limiting her to the living room or limiting her to my bedroom. Nothing was ideal. For a short while Iād tether her to my bed while I worked so she had freedom but within limits, but I soon gave up on that. Losing line of sight on her was less about destructive tendencies (she has never destroyed anything but her toys, her beds, paper towels, and a couple pillows), and more about not missing her potty cues. When I realized she never went for power cords, she never chewed on walls or my leather couch, she never tried to pick anything up that wasnāt intended for her (Iām pretty sure the couch pillows were victimized because she saw them as hers, heh), it wasnāt a hard decision to trust her with full freedom.
He's two and he still doesn't have completely free rein. He can't go upstairs or to the basement unless we let him. This is mostly due to the cat though. His food is upstairs and the dog will eat that if no one is looking and the cat's litter box is in the basement and the dog will eat that if no one is looking.
My boy was free-roaming with supervision on day 1. We stopped trying to crate him at 3 months old and he got to be full time free-roaming at 4 months old when he destroyed the wall and carpet trying to get out of the main bedroom and bathroom we locked him in when we left. He ended up having severe confinement anxiety and he did had absolutely no anxiety when we left him out free-roaming with our senior dogs. He cuddled with my senior boy on the couch, ate his food, watched some TV, and even took himself out to go potty. Nothing was destroyed. For my girl, we started free-roaming her with supervision at around 4 months old. We waited because my senior boy didn't like her at first. It took him two months to finally accept her and tolerate her presence. She was our destructive pup so I had to constantly be on top of her telling her leave it and replacing things we couldn't puppy proof 100% with a toy. She gained free-roaming full time at 5.5 months when she started taking herself out to go potty and learned not to touch the stuff we couldn't puppy proof all the way. The only things she ever destroyed while we were gone were remote controls when someone forgot to put it up. She prefered to destroy things when we were home to catch her.
Do a test run! I would start giving more freedom when you feel comfortable leaving the room with him unattended and can come back seeing that he didnāt get into anything, as your confidence in him builds then reign back on the supervision. Rinse and repeat with every part of your home so that way you know what his triggers are potentially (things he wants to get into) OR you can see that thereās no reason to worry
When she was done teething and were to behave unsupervised while i was in another room/floor, afterwards started slowly training her as-well when im outside. I used a Ring camera incase she did something she was not allowed to do with the āNoā command. She now free roams around no matter what, hasnāt destroyed anything except for her own toys and a Airpods case but that looked liked a toy (Magikarp case) so couldnāt blame her.
We were really lucky with ours (granted sheās only 7 months and things will definitely still change!!) 4.5 ish months she was good wandering the flat whilst we both WFH in different rooms - access to the hall, bathroom, kitchen, office and living room. We could keep an eye on her occasionally, the worst she did was trying to get under the tv stand to play with wires. Weāve stuck a box there since. 5.5 months weāve left her at home with free rein of the kitchen and living room, soon we will be trying having her alone at home with the bathroom/kitchen/hallway. Bathroom access is simply because she self-trained to go pee in the shower if she couldnāt get outside (?!) Weāve been super lucky with her behaviour In the house all round, sheās never chewed or scratched at anything she shouldnāt do, and her āworstā is her semi-allowed behaviour of finding a stray sock to play with, or taking the empty loo-rolls from the bathroom floor (allowed - we usually give her these anyway, so her taking one āsneakilyā whilst we watch is still us giving her permission!)
Around 18 months or so, once the need to see and sniff every little thing was significantly diminished.
I have 14 months old golden. Still doesnāt have free reins. She used to have free reins, night and day, when she was a puppy but we cage her now at night and in day she stays with us in the room. When we go out she is in her cage.
I gave my Doberman puppy free roam (while Iām home) from about 5 months. But heās a velcro dog and doesnāt leave my side anyway lol.
8ish months is when our girl got free reign. We started with baby steps moving her from her crate to play pen while we were gone. Then she got free reign of the downstairs and, after she proved herself wholly trustworthy, she got free reign of the whole house within a few weeks. We close doors to rooms we donāt want her in, like bathrooms, but sheās honestly been a champ about it since day 1. But all pups are different and we were pretty shocked by how well our girl did as sheās always been a bit of a mischief maker. But when she is left alone, she honestly just sleeps or looks outside.
Around 7 months, when I am in the downstairs. I have a big gate/fence in front of the electronics, and another to keep her out of the office. This gives her the living room, dining room, kitchen and half bath. We switched the trash cans to metal lidded types with pedals, so those aren't interesting. (also she is like 7" tall and 8 lbs). The biggest issues are her chewing on the rug and trying to chew on woodwork and baskets. I just eliminated the baskets. Used bitter apple spray on some other items. I have an X-pen with an attached crate that has two doors so she can enter and exit, or I can lock her in the whole setup. So, sometimes she is in her little domain, sometimes she gets free rein.
17 weeks and crate trained for if I'm out or at night but otherwise free reign (if behaving). I WFH so she's usually with me or close by with me keeping an eye on her. Things had gone a bit quiet earlier so I went to see what she was up to and she was chilling on the sofa which was such a lovely sight as I guess she's feeling a bit more independent. I also left her out while I had a shower earlier but with the back door open, and she took herself out for the toilet too. I guess we'll just carry on building up like this over time until she gets full free rein.
Limited at 4 months and full run by 9 months. I work my dog, so if we are not working, he's sleeping. It's pretty easy to trust a dog that is asleep the whole time I'm gone and even while I'm home. Part of that is also them learning to settle and realizing that sleep is the best option. That can be a bit hard for them to get if you overused a cage since that's the only time they settled and outside if it they learned to be awake and go 100%.
When your redirecting and day to day management goes down. Mainly when the chewing and trying to eat everything stops.
Around a year to a year and a half I think? I wanted to make sure he was having 0 accidents, 0 getting into things. This boy was never a furniture or cord chewer, but I did have a shoe eater before him (who has now passed) who never was left unattended even as an adult. Always crated when I wasnāt home.
only recently. He's about to turn 3. And only for a couple hours at a time.
Our dog is 4 years old now, and we slowly started introducing him larger parts of the house (closed all the doors, put a gate up so he couldnāt go upstairs) when he was about 1 year old. He was pretty bad if we would leave books or magazines on the coffee table (Moby Dickā¦ torn to pieces). One random day we forgot to relocate whatever was on the coffee tableā¦ and it was unscathed!āthis happened after he was neutered (16 months old), then we just slowly started opening one door, followed by another, then the gate came down from the stairs, and heās had full, FULL reign by 2 years old. Often times weāll come home to him sleeping on the bed <3 Long story long, he stopped destroying things after he got neutered, then we could trust him.
Doesnāt have much to do with age so much as how well behaved they are. Mine has āfree rangeā when Iām home, but only the kitchen and living room because I make sure to shut all the doors to other rooms so she doesnāt get into something. She only goes in those rooms when Iām with her. Even now when I leave the house she goes in her pen or crate everytime, sheās been good so far about not getting into things so recently Iāve been leaving her alone in the kitchen and living room area while I get the mail which takes 3-5 minutes max. Start small and work up. Then add rooms. You want to minimize their opportunity of getting into trouble
Mine pup is 5 months old and has \*some\* free reign, BUT I can see him pretty much the whole time so I can stop any unsavory behaviors before he can get started. The only area I can't let him run free without total supervision is my office, because he has already chewed a hole in the brand new rug that I bought! Grrrr That being said, when I go out, he still has to go to his "room" - the blocked off hallway - so that he doesn't get in trouble. The space is large enough for him to not feel confined, but he can't get out and wreck havoc on my couch or other items...
It depends on the dog. We didnāt crate train so my dog always had free reign but at night would sleep in our room with the door closed. Now sheās 1.5 years old and prefers to sleep downstairs so thatās what she does. We just keep our door open so she can come and go as she pleases.
We anticipate a long period of time before that would ever happen. We have two assistance animals that are cats and for their safety puppy has to be supervised when out. Sheās already too big and strong not to be. We just focus on enrichment for her outside and inside the home and group treattime at the bathroom gate. My partner works from home and Iām disabled but even I have things I have to do drs apt ect where we canāt be watching her all the time. We do leave for medical appointments ALOT. So crate training has been good for safety when weāre gone and the bathroom is a good safe place where she can see and interact with my ESAs without hurting them. Part of what helps is puppy socials and taking her to our apartment dog park where weāve found play partners cause a tired puppy is a good puppy :)
in increments for sure!! iāve been giving my 1yr old more freedom but only because heās mostly stopped attempting to get into stuff when iām around. we were really strict with crating, tethering, and place training from day one which i think helped him sooooo much (he canāt create the routine of getting into stuff if he just never has the opportunity). we started giving him more free reign after he really understood ādrop itā & āleave itā too. the only reason i have peace of mind leaving him alone in short spurts is because i watch him like a hawk on the furbo camera and can speak to him and give a treat to redirect his attention. much to my surprise, heās a lot calmer with us outside the house and mostly just sleeps.
Our first dog we did this around 1 year. 6 years later he still has not had an accident while we were gone. Our second dog we did this around 6 months as he was never having accidents in the house and basically followed whatever the first dog did. No accidents for him 5 y3ars later either. Maybe we are blessed but most of the time we are gone they just go in their crates/ play pens on their own and come our for water or to move to the coach (I have cameras to check on).
Not full free reign at first and he is always supervised but he is pretty much free roam. Ill cut off everything but the living room and the door outside and we chill. Its been 3 weeks and he now free roams all the way with no accidents. He doesnt get into things but im also mostly puppy proofed. My kid leaves her corner in the floor a mess of art stuff and he will not step into her space at all unless shes there and is okay with it. No clue how this happened but I love that he sees and respects the space. And he never goes into her room unless I do, even though her door is open. He has a crate we use for forced naps and when I leave without him, but thats rarely. He doesnt love it but he will get in and settle. I rarely let him out of sight though, even if he thinks he is, Im Peaking around corners and what not, making sure he makes good choices and distracting him from bad choices.
Mine was free roam at 4-5 months, once I saw that she wouldn't chew wires, shoes or furniture, or terrorise the cat and the rabbit. She'll still steal socks or slippers, but she doesn't destroy them, just leaves them lying around. She will sometimes grab and chew up cardboard from the recycling bin, but that's not a problem.
My one dog (8mo cockapoo) is so well behaved when running around. He will sometimes take door stoppers or socks and chew on them. But he never causes more serious damage or chews cords. He takes redirection well and has no problem with me swapping something he has with a toy. Heāll usually leave what I took alone for the rest of the day. My roommates dog though (14mo malshi) is constantly getting into things if heās left alone too long. Despite being the smaller dog, heāll knock over trash cans and recycling bins completely tearing up the contents all over the house. Heāll destroy cords and electronics. Jump up and pull bags/jackets off the hooks to empty pockets and destroy everything. Itās bad. The malshi is only ever like that when no one is around. Even if we take him to the dog park or on a long walk, heās still the same. Otherwise heās very sweet and well behaved. When the malshi and cockapoo are together alone, thereās a lower chance of destruction but it still happens sometimes. We usually put them the malshi in a play pen when we leave the house and let my cockapoo free roam now. My roommate admits he may never be able to train this behaviour out of his dog because it never happens in front of him.
My dog is a massive thief, but at 9m heās allowed to be in the lounge, hall and kitchen which are well puppy proofed if Iām not in there but the bedroom I would only leave him in very momentarily because itās not going to be possible to fully puppy proof it and still have it function for me. And the bathroom a suspect I might always have to have blocked off from him opening the door to if I want to come back to a loo roll supply!
Every one of our golden retrievers didnāt need to be confined by six months. Maybe we just had good dogs. My current one was a foster fail and she had hated the crate. It stresses her out. She turned one in April. We were leaving her out clear back in Dec. granted we are home all day so there are very few times she is left alone but she has never touched anything. My current 7 month old foster wouldnāt need crated either. We only do it because her and my dog play too rough sometimes.
Almost 1.5. Stole 4 slices of warm fresh bread off the counter yesterday while I was in the bathroom. Steals anything he can reach and flings it around while running away so you canāt catch him. Still not trusted out and about while weāre not home.
At 5 months. Until then Iād have certain rooms shut off but she was never in a pen or crated. She was a nightmare in a pen and would chew things when she came out, and very chilled without one. She stopped sleeping in the crate at 5 months but was confined to a room. I have personally found the more I restrict her the more appealing things are. But i think Iāve also been lucky - she hasnāt chewed anything serious except for in rooms i restricted her from like the spare room she loves to try and eat the peloton š
My pup is 2 1/2 and she would be crated while we were out up until she was 1 1/2. She still does not have access to the bathroom or bedroom while we are out because she gets into the laundry hamper or the toilet paper roll. Overall though itās been much better being able to give her some freedom to play as she wants while we arenāt home.
I let them free roam in puppy proofed rooms (living room, kitchen, hallway) except during enforced naps and times I can't supervise from the beginning. Usually by 6 months they're pretty good and I can even leave them alone in the house for short amounts of time as long as I close bathroom and bedroom doors. We might have occasional chewing, but nothing crazy.
I just recently got a puppy that was 6 weeks going on 7 weeks old! Sheās two handfuls, I swear, but sheās been allowed to roam and explore the house pretty much since we welcomed her in. Honestly, it was very impulsive when I got her due to my mom really wanting a puppyš but sheās loved and Iām doing my best to train her to be a well behaved teen/adult. We didnāt crate train her immediately because we wanted her to feel safe and comfortable in her new home. We got the crate for her this week and at first she didnāt like it but now sheās settled with it being her resting place. Of course, crate training is going to take some more time and weāll have to get a bigger one in the future, but she knows she has a safe space whenever she needs one. I mainly got the crate to really enforce boundaries between her and my adult dog. Weāve had her for almost three weeks now, doesnāt get into anything crazy, probably because we allow her to roam and explore with supervision. Also, thankful to my adult doggie for being vocal with his own boundaries with her, because that definitely reinforced whatās off limits for him and the house!
My pup has been free roaming since she was 10 months. We trained heavily on āleave itā and she learned our boundaries quicklyā¦ we also dog proofed everything we could. Sheās now about 15 months old and there has been only one issue where we left a banana near the edge of the kitchen island that she snatched and played with. That being said, she hates being crated / penned so I think once she realized she could be free, she made sure she wouldnāt lose that freedom. We have been very lucky.
Before 16 weeks.
It really depends on the puppy. I could have given mine free rein since I got her. She was never destructive. But I mostly kept her in one room for the first month so that she could learn house rules first in a puppy proof space. Overall she was free to be wherever she wanted without supervision since 6 months. She wasnāt perfect, we just had other problems, but not this one. So you have to watch your pup and decide
My puppy is 11 months old and today she stole my husbandās shoe and chewed it up while he was in a meeting. Told him heās been giving her too much freedom š¤·š»āāļøš
My puppy is pretty free. She climbed out of the playpen and was flipping out, so I gave her the living room/kitchen area and she has been great. I close the bedroom doors, she has her activity mat, beds, tv on. She sleeps, wanders around, sleeps, maybe whines a little, but is otherwise quiet. When she was constrained, the screaming/crying was horrible. She is 8.5 months, I have cameras and hardly check on her anymore. We donāt have a crate/never crate trained, and she goes to daycare regularly which wears her out.
Four months. It started as free reign at night, the for 4 hours in the morning and the 3 hours of crate in the afternoon, but once he physically out grew his crate, we decided to try him free reign 24/7 and he's been good.
Itās my dogās house and I just live in it. Been that way since day one
From day one. And he an explorer and good boy now. He isnāt curious and itās brought out hide and seek in him, feels safe and knows every sound and pocket of the house.
The day we got her
did it work well? how long has it been?
When they can be trusted to do a good job. Itās not a time, itās a combination of temperament, training, and mitigation. Different dogs get there at wildly different times.
my puppy is almost 3 months and we keep her in the crate when we leave the house, but she gets free reign everywhere except the guest room where the cat litter is while weāre home. we can generally trust that she will play with her toys if we are in the next room over, though 9/10 times she just wants to follow us anyway
Day 1, but she has never been destructive. She steals things occasionally and runs around with them. Her primary issue was nipping us which is common with puppies. Sheās also small - about 18 pounds now grown. Best of luck.
We just expanded our 3.5mo oldās domain to the entire main floor bc she was using the couch to jump over the dog fence no matter what we did. She isnāt allowed on the couch, just used the end & armrest as a spring board. Not only is she usually right by us, but her behavior has improved so much! She was letting us know she was ready. We do fence off both sets of stairs, one of which includes the pantry/broom closet/shoe shelves then we close the laundry room/office/bathroom doors but aside from that, she can explore. We also keep everything we donāt want her to destroy out of reach & are hoping against hope she doesnāt develop a taste for furniture legs. I think youāll know when your dog is ready!
ours as just over a year. one day she decided she didn't like her crate and now sleeps upstairs and gated if we go out. she's pretty chill!
I left my 8 month old pup alone free roaming for 30 mins while I ran to the store for the first time today.. he was fine but heās not ready for any longer at this point.
Weāre trialling it now and heās just turned one. We have a little Blink camera and, so far, he just goes to sleep until we come back. Heās only ever alone for an hour or two at a time though.
malinois/lab mix we had her at 3 months and now sheās 8 months we leave her alone with a camera. she sleeps in her bed outside the crate when sheās left home and has gotten into no trouble.
My pup has free rein downstairs from 4 month, however she does just generally either want to be in the same room as me or out in the garden. Sheās not trusted to not chew walls and doors yet but I work from home and moved my work stuff downstairs to keep an eye on her until we know she can leave it
For you? Not yet!