I crate Loki if he is alone for more than 15-20 minutes. He likes his crate and just sleeps anyway. I always worry he will find something dangerous and choke or whatever. The crate is safe.
Otherwise he is free to run around and sleep wherever he wants. He had complete freedom at about 10 months. We had some bladder issues so it took us a while to figure all of that out. We put up bells when he was about a year and have had no accidents since. I used to have to follow him downstairs because i did not know if he was going to the door or just going to get a toy. Once the bells were up i did not have to worry about what he was doing and i no longer came down to a puddle by the door. The key was giving him a way to let us know he needed to go out. He had maybe one oops puddle by the door (like we didnt let him out in time) a month until he was like 18 months. No accidents since then (and he's 2). He just had to grow into his tiny bladder and the meds also help.
We never used gates because of the floor plan of our house. It is very open and not big so he can't get too far away. We just always kept an eye on him when he was not crated. As soon as he was fully crate trained (maybe by 6 months?) he got a BIG crate. Also, we have a townhouse so he goes outside on a leash. That helped big time with training and with his commands. He goes in about the same 6x10 area as that is as far as the flexi goes, but never in the same place twice. He walks sometimes while peeing and waddles while pooping so he starts in one spot and moves to another. Picking up the yard is loads of fun
