Home Alone, Crated or Free?

[Bomgardner]

Can anyone tell me at what age I can begin to trust my Snickers home alone (non-caged)? How do I know when he's ready to try it? For how long can I leave him there at first? What room is best to keep him in? If he has an accident should he go back to staying in the crate for a few days or weeks? I always come home for lunch so he would only be alone 4 hours at a time. At this point he never messes in his crate and we only have a carpet accident on a rare occurrence. He is almost 5 months old now and thought he might be nearing the end of his crate training...or not? Please pass on your expertise!

 

[MafiaPrincess]

I wouldn't trust a 5 month old home alone.. Most aren't fully reliably potty trained at that age yet.

Cider was only finally given the freedom of my bedroom crate free at just over two years old.

There's nothing wrong with needing a crate to keep your dog, and your stuff safe.

 

[bubbatd]

Why don't you try him out in a puppy-proofed room ( gated ) with his kennel in there door open . ??

 

[Louise_H]

Holly is 6 months old and we started to trust her at 5 months. To be honest I think it depends on the puppy. We basically started leaving her for 15 minutes and then gradually built it up. It might be worth asking someone to check on the puppy whilst you are at work at first? But I think as long as it is a puppy proof room then it should be fine.

 

[Maxy24]

Do not let him out of the crate unsupervised until you are sure he is fully house broken and he will not destroy your house each time he has an inside accident it is a step back for you and your dog. Once he is house broken he can go into a puppy safe room and then once you know he won't destroy stuff or go out of his way to open the fridge and jump on the table you can slowly work up to leaving him home out of the room while you go to the store and if all is well you can start leaving him out longer and longer.

 

[pupmiki595]

ok you should put a gate up in a room and purposly leave like a book you dont like on the floor.and like bubbatd said leave the door open but make sure you let him go potty before you leave and if he doesnt chew andy thing up keep doing that till lika a week or 2 and the try putting the gate down but still having the cage open for acses andpick up the stuff you dont want to get chewed up but dont be to worryed and leave a book or 2 out and like papers you dont need and if he can handle that then dont worry but if he does do good prase him mybe slipp him a treat or 2.but if he does chew up any thing wat so ever lock him in the cage and show him the chewed up thing and not nicely SAY NO dont scream on the top of ou lungs well you can but my mom does that and i hate it so it is like up to you if you want to yell or scream its your coose

 

[Cheza]

Showing him a chewed up book after he's chewed it wont do any good. You would have to catch him in the act.

 

[kidsanddogs]

I believe in creating successful experiences. So I would rather confine him longer than he needs, than leave him unsupervised before he's ready. I don't want my pup to make mistakes. Most of my dogs have been well over a year, sometimes two before they have free run of the house. Females seem to settle a little earlier. Males are more toward two. If you do decide to give it a try, I agree with confining him to a room first, rather than the whole house. Good luck!

 

[pupmiki595]

wat ever if you show him the book and say no bad dog he will know why you are yelling at him and he will learn and how would you know have you tried it
? my mom have had dogs since a kid and that is wat works and now we have 3 dogs and it works on all of them so burn
\

 

[Herschel]

wat ever if you show him the book and say no bad dog he will know why you are yelling at him and he will learn and how would you know have you tried it
? my mom have had dogs since a kid and that is wat works and now we have 3 dogs and it works on all of them so burn
\

So burn?

Was someone home with the dogs to supervise them while they were puppies? If so, then that is the reason that they are reliable in the house. Showing them a torn book and saying "no" is an invitation more than anything else. Unless someone is there to monitor them.

 

[otch1]

Hi Bomgardner... 5 months of age is too young to give puppy a free run of house. It's an accident waiting to happen. While you may have a week of "incident free" days, he may decide that there's something very interesting about the lamp chord or base boards during week two. Even chewing around an electrical outlet is an issue if you haven't completely dog proofed your house. He is probably teething right now, all adult teeth not completely in. Best to continue safe confinement and gradually add free time out in a puppy proofed, baby gated area when you're going to be gone for just an hour or two. Build the length of time he successfully goes without accidents or incidents of chewing and when he's mature, you'll hopefully have a reliable dog that can have run of the house, or some of it. Really puppy proof that kitchen if he's to get any time loose without you present and only do this after you've tried it for several hours while you're still home. You'd be amazed at how clever they can be if they're bored. Had a 1 yr old shep, clients dog, flip open a hinged bathroom cupboard door and lay under the sink chewing the pvc pipes all morning. They came home to a flooded bathroom and hallway! Good luck.

 

[pupmiki595]

you guys need to try my method it worked with lots o fdogs thank you very much and do you have a promblem with burn? if so let me know

 

[otch1]

Hi pupmiki, when giving practical advice to a pet owner, it's best to always give the "safest" methods. I'm glad nothing happened when your mom decided to leave your puppies loose in the house, unattended. You are lucky. That outcome is not the "norm" for most owners though, of puppies and even adult dogs. Better safe than sorry. As for "burn", I believe someone was questioning your use of "so burn" when speaking to another member, as if this were a joke. We all take a pups safety very seriously, so it didn't make much a lot of sense to say that. I know you probably love your dogs very much and would feel terrible if something happened to one of them. So would the person posting about puppy loose in house. Again, better safe than sorry. Hope that made sense. Have a great day.

 

[Bomgardner]

Wow otch that flooded bathroom sounds frightening...eep! I would not want that to happen to us. I got baby gates yesterday, and I think we are only going to put him in the gated kitchen for short amounts of time right now, as suggested. He is still teething, definitely. I guess I just had high hopes because I hate keeping him so confined all day. It just makes me sad when he gives me those eyes that say "I've been in here aaalll day *cry*. Would you want to be in here all day? Poor me!" I guess he really isn't ready though. We will just have to have short practices for awhile. Thanks for all the advice!

 

[girlbuffalo1]

I don't think we'll ever leave Wrigley out completely crate free--there's just too many things that he could get into no matter how much you puppy proof a place (I think someone on here had holes in the walls?)--There's no reason for him to be out--his crate is huge (you could maybe use an xpen?), and he has toys in there--when we are home he is out when not--crate ya go!

 

[Melissa_W]

It totally depends on the dog. Kai loves to chew and I'm not sure when/if he will ever be allowed to have free run of the house. He's kept in the kitchen when we are gone.