At around 8 months I started letting Roxie have more and more freedom when I left the house. Before that she would be left in the crate when we weren't home. I live in a two story and do use a baby gate so she could not have access to the upstairs. She never goes in the living room, dinning room or guest rooms that are downstairs anyway. She stays mainly in the family room and kitchen area. I started out leaving her out for short trips. First I would go to the store and then tried leaving her out when we went to the movies. As long as she did well, I extended the time. Now I leave her out always. Her crate is left open with her blankets and she will normally sleep there all day ( if you let her) or until someone come home to let her outside or to play with. She is only trained to go outside and not in my house. I feel fortunate that I have a college student who comes home between classes-plus my husband works the night shift and does not go to bed until around 1:00pm so she has people popping in and out all day. Plus I work from 5:30am to 1:30pm and I am home by 2:00pm. She has done just fine on her own now for up to 5 hours which is the longest we have left her alone during the day. I figure if she can hold it all night 10:30pm to 8:00am ( we have to wake her up sometimes and make her go out
) she can hold it during the day too.
