I would say atleast a year, just my opinion and experience with small dogs. My chloe just now gets to roam around the house at over a year and a half old. But only if I'm going to be gone no more than an hour. I just feel like she is safe in her crate, I don't want to be worrying about her when I am away. She is completely potty trained so that is not what I worry about. I keep Tinkerbell gated in the kitchen usually when I leave, because she hasn't learned to climb over the gate yet like Chloe can. I would say that I will not let Tinkerbell have free roam unless she is 100% potty trained (if that is indeed possible with her) and can fully trust her not to chew on anything. Tinkerbell chews a lot and I would hate if she got something and choked while I wasn't home. I don't feel like it is punishment or anything, it is safest place for them. I am thinking of letting Tinkerbell start sleeping with us on our bed at night maybe starting next month. She is doing so well on her potty training (no accidents for almost a month!), but I just want to make sure as her favorite place to pee USED to be under our bed when we weren't looking. So just want to be sure she won't revert back. If Bailey has just one accident while you are not home and he realizes he got away with it, he will know that he can pee while you are not there. But realistically I will probably always use their crates atleast some of the time. |