Reply With QuoteFor us, it was trial and error.
The start was leaving uncrated overnight, then while I went to the store, etc. There were setbacks, but the only way you know is to give them a chance!
And, set them up for success by cleaning the house really well
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How do you know when your puppy is trustworthy enough to be given a little more freedom? I don't mean run of the house alone type of freedom, just maybe not as closely supervised?
For us, it was trial and error.
The start was leaving uncrated overnight, then while I went to the store, etc. There were setbacks, but the only way you know is to give them a chance!
And, set them up for success by cleaning the house really well
Laura, Archie & Quinn
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When they are 100% potty trained and if they don't grab things in front of me I start to give more trust, Zoey was pretty good by about 4 months old. My corgi will never be trusted, she is naughty, if she disappears even for 1 minute, im looking for her. It just depends on the dog
I suppose cleaning would benefit me as well!Originally Posted by Archie
And, set them up for success by cleaning the house really well
Trial and error. And yes, making sure your house is 1000% spotless!
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Sarah, human
Luna, born 6/14/13, gotcha 8/18/13 and TDI certified 5/12/2015
Comet, born 4/3/15, gotcha 6/9/15
Double Dip, 25 y/o Draft/Welsh pony
Gracie, 17 y/o DSH cat
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LOL. We have 2 cats and 2 dogs. It's never 1000% spotless. I've been leaving him out for about 30 mins alone while we get ready for work and he's done well. I just don't want to do too much too soon...
We do have some gates to block off a section of our kitchen for him. We thought maybe we'd start with more space than a kennel but less than the whole house. What do you guys think of that?
My 20 month old ate a small bar of soap the other day when I went upstairs to get dressed. That is, I think she did, she was chewing up the little box when I found her. I guess Chase might have eaten the soap and left the box for Lark. I have baby gates up, pick things up off the floor or low lying areas, have mousetraps set on the sofa or chairs I want her to stay off of, and the little stinker can still find things to get into. Little things, not the dining room table or the sofa, it can be the least likely things you have to keep out of reach. Plus, they can be very good for a long while and then backslide when you're not expecting it.
Sue
Chase 9/29/2006- 6/30/2017 Always in our hearts
Lark 12/25/2012- 2/2/22
Henry 7/14/18
Joey 5/14/2022
“Because of the dog's joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift. It is not the least reason why we should honor as well as love the dog of our own life, and the dog down the street, and all the dogs not yet born. What would the world be like without music or rivers or the green and tender grass? What would this world be like without dogs?”
― Mary Oliver, Hidden Content
Meeps83 (10-16-2014)
Baby steps!
Thor is 9 months old and has almost complete freedom. He earned it one baby step at a time. We're really fortunate to both work from home, so during early months he was either crated or in an office with one of us, in sight 100% of the time. Next, we started opening our office doors and letting him wander into the hall just out of sight (the hall can be completely closed off to the rest of the house). Once I could trust him to not be putting inappropriate things in his mouth all the time, he got his next freedom. It was in the bedroom with us at night. He did great. We mixed it up - some nights with us, other nights in the crate.
When we started opening that doorway from the hall into the rest of the house, we installed dropcams in the living room, kitchen, and yard. I can keep an eye on him from my computer while I'm working. 99% of the time he's just sleeping out there. If he's feeling playful of mischievous he'll come bother one of us in our office.
After a few weeks of good behavior with freedom of the house when we were home, we started leaving him alone for short periods of time. To the gym in the morning, quick runs to the store, down the street to visit with the neighbors. We still use the dropcam and can keep an eye on him remotely via my iPhone. It even has audio - one time I caught him tugging on the entry rug and gave a stern "NO" though the speaker - he looked completely startled! And he hasn't touched the rug since...
One great thing about his freedom is having the doggy door. It opens into our completely enclosed back yard, so we don't even need to take him out during the day - he takes himself out. And with the dropcam out there I've been able to see if he misbehaves or tries to eat something he shouldn't. Mostly he likes to lay in the grass and drink from the Lixit on the water spout (he likes that more than his bowl).
He's my first lab, and during those first few months I thought I'd never be able to trust him out of sight - he wanted everything in his mouth! Being able to slowly give him the freedom has been great. No major mishaps or items lost to chewing. We still keep a very close eye on him via the cameras and I wouldn't leave him home all day yet, but it's going really well. (I think I just cursed myself).
Thank you!
Maverick isn't really a chewer. In fact, he has chewed 2 things since we've had him. Both were our fault. We had unplugged a cord for a fish tank filter that didn't work, so that wasn't a big deal. The second was a cord for the fan we have blowing into his kennel that we had unplugged. He doesn't bother cords that are plugged in, furniture, wooden items...etc. None of our other dogs have been able to be alone in the house (Mia stays outside when we aren't home because that's where she's comfortable) so I'm just....I guess this topic was just never mentioned in the 20 puppy/potty training/lab books I've read. By the way, this is my first lab too. I'm in love. I think I might love him more than my DH, lol.
PS, one thing to mention that I love about the dropcam is the ability to go back to recorded video. It marks the places where it detected motion, so when we're gone a while I can go back and quickly check what Thor was up to while we were gone. It costs a certain $$ per month for the service but it's worth it for me, at least during this time when we're giving him more 'unsupervised' (at least he thinks so) freedom.
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