when to let him roam free....
 

Otis is almost 5 months old and goes potty on his puppy pad... he hasn't had an accident in 6 weeks (knock on wood)! I live in a town house and have a baby gate to block Otis from going upstairs. My question is : When should I start allowing him to have "free roam" of the house?? I don't have to watch him constantly anymore downstairs BUT I don't want to put a pad upstairs... I want him to go downstairs if he needs to go potty. Any suggestions on how to go about doing this ?? Should I wait until he is older ??

If I were in your shoes, I would slowly give him more access to the upstairs area, i.e., just the steps, then part of the hallway, then a room, etc. Just to see how well he does with the new areas. Pretty soon, he will earn free reign in the house.

My opinion on it is, I would wait until he is after 12 months old. I know it is a long time to wait but some of these little fellows tend to regress on their potty training quite quickly.

Teddy was potty trained at 12 weeks old but I never gave him anymore freedom until he was well over 1 years old. Then I slowly gave him more freedom to run. If I had another puppy I would do the same thing.

I read somewhere that it should be six months without an accident. I know that is a long time too, but I don't want mine to regress

It seems I have been over-anxious :) ! I think I will wait until he is a year old.... I brought him upstairs and put him down today for a minute and he almost seemed overwhelmed !! He sleeps with me upstairs, but I carry him and the bed is so high he can't jump off....

I teach school so maybe I will wait until next summer to do "upstairs training" - it will be his summer treat ! Thanks ya'll for your feedback !!

Yeah, Joey is almost 5 months old and I have been wondering the same thing about letting him roam around my apartment. He does so well some days, but then last night he came running in with this HUGE piece of styrofoam in his mouth - it took me forever to get it out of his mouth....I think to myself, what if I wasn't there and he swallowed something like that and couldn't breathe? I wish I could let him roam free, because I don't want him to have to stay in his pen for most of the day, but I just don't think he's ready :(

i think that if you are gonna let them roam free around the house do it when ur around ... not when they are by themselves.

when u have to go out for work or errands, things of the sort you should gate them to a specific area with access to their pads, toys and food...

JMO :)

I still wonder..this and Baileys is 1 year and 2 months, he is fine in the house to roam, but when I leave he is crated,, and Im wondering,,, when I can leave him to roam out of the crate, while Im gone,,, I just dont know.. if I wasn't there,, would he hold it or would he just go??
Anyone have this situation?? He had NEVER gone in his crate. and hasn't had an accident in the house in probably 4-5 months... :confused:
But, hes quite happy in his crate,, when I get my keys, (if I dont have the leash) he goes right in, and lays down, doesnt even cry,,, should I just leave well enough alone??

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lexi is 4 months old, when im home she has run of the house, but i do watch every move she makes... when i dont see her and she is quiet, she is
definetly into something... when im at work she gate in my hallway, all tiles.
good luck

Shouldn't dogs be allowed to roam around at some point? I feel so bad for Joey when he is confined to his pen for so long. I fully expect to be able to someday let him have the run of the apartment when I'm not home - are you guys saying that yorkies should be gated up while we are away? Is it that they are so little that they can get in more trouble, or should it be this way with all dogs?

Well I'm going to throw a wrench in here. I have never confined a puppy and certainly can't imagine confining one to an exercise pen for months, never mind an entire year. I do put them in one room where there is nothing they can get into or hurt themselves if I have to go somewhere and I can't take them but I'd never put them in a pen.

My dogs are usually house trained within a matter of weeks unless it is an adult rescue dog who has never had any training. I am consistent with feeding times, take them out every half hour, pick up their water dish several hours before bed time. They sleep on my bed from day one and I've never crushed one yet.

Nor have I ever had a dog digest something harmful, break any bones or destroy any furniture. There's been the odd pair of shoes that have been altered over the years.

One gal I had really loved shoes, anybody's shoes. So I went out and bought her a pair of baby shoes, told her they were her shoes. For the next 11 years she got a new pair of shoes on her birthday and christmas. She never once touched anybody else's from that day forward.

I think a little common sense goes a long way in raising pets.

Do you take them out every half hour forever? Or just during the training? 'Cause if it's forever, then they have *you* trained ;)

I do hope to one day have my pups trained well enough to have free roam of the house. My sister has a 1.5 year old yorkie and she has free reign of the house and does really well with it. That is my goal, but at the present time, my pups are 6 mos and 2.5 mos old.

I take them out every half hour until they are trained. It doesn't take long for them to catch on and start asking to when they need to. It takes several months for their bladders to develop and train. And yes my yorkies have my husband and I very well trained.

Tini is just over 11 months....her birthday is the 24th.

Anyway, for the past 3 months, I have been slowing giving her access to one more room at a time. If she doesn't pee/poo on teh pad then she gets that room taken away.
So far she is very good. I still have my bedroom left, but she keeps peeing on the carpet. I think she just likes the texture of it and can't help herself.

I would try this method. It has worked well and Tini goes where she is supposed to. I guess you have to play it by ear and see how Otis does.

Good luck!

Such good advice.....Otis is my first dog EVER and I will never have anything but a Yorkie b/c he is amazing. It sounds like a slow into into the rest of the house is going to work. Fortunately my upstairs is a long hallway with doors -- I think I will close all doors but one and introduce him to new rooms as he becomes "accident free" in each room. It may take awhile, but I SO look forward to letting him have the run of the house :) !