Gypsy is 18wks on Monday and weighing around 5lbs now. She's been fine with her crate when there's been no one in with minimal accidents, the occasional poo when she's eaten recently and then I've had to go out, (which I expect once in a while cuz she's still young) and sleeps in the bedroom at night and goes to the toilet on her pee pad in the bedroom without fail. During the day when I am home she wees on the pee pad in the front room but doesn't poo on it, even though I know she knows she should cuz she does at night.
Now you know about her toilet habits this is the situation...
The last three times I have left her only, whether it be a few hours or half an hour she has excaped from her crate. She's worked out that if she pulls the door to the side where the hinges are she can get the top hinge off and then climbs out. When I've got back there has been NO damage and NO accidents at all on all three times, she can pull open doors that are pushed too and not closed properly even if they are pushed right to and so has been able to get all over my flat... yet still NO havoc.
Earlier I had to nip to the shop and left her loose... I closed the bathroom door, bedroom door and the kitchen door is on a safety fire hinge so she can never open it anyway. I allowed her the front room, hallway passage between front room, bedroom and main hallway and also left the main hallway door open. As I was putting my shoes on she thought she was coming with me and I calmly picked her up, put her in the passage way but where she could see the front door and told her to "sit" and "wait". I tell her "stay" when I am taking her for a walk and then when the door is open I "k, we can go now" and keep putting her back till she only walks out the door on my say so, I don't want to associate "stay" with me leaving the flat without her. After a couple of times of me starting to open the door, her coming to it and me putting her back she realised what I wanted her to do... I opened the door, walked out, looked to see her still sat there and just closed it and went to the shop.
I was gone half an hour and when I came back she greeted me at the door all bouncy and excited. I ignored her till I'd taken my shoes off and checked for any accidents and damage and then when there was none I made a huge fuss of her!
So, what I was wondering is... based on her behavour towards her crate and her good behavour when allowed free roam... do you think she should be allowed to have the run of the flat while I'm out? I know she's still young but she's pretty well behaved, never approaches power cables, knows what's hers and what's mine and is nearly toilet trained to the pee pads.
I'm worried she'll hurt herself trying to get out the crate if I make it so she can't if I keep her contained while I'm out...
What do you think?
Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to make sure you knew everything...