When did you know your baby was grown up & got free rein of the house

[deonk1]

So I just looked over at Harley while I'm working on the couch, and he's curled up on my big chair in the living room. He's changed so much, and I started thinking, ya know maybe some day he'll have free rein of the household.

So when did you know and how old was your baby?

Here's some of his history, I'm interested in your opinions.
I semi-crate trained him as a pup, he more was hallway trained. he had an 11'x3' hallway and his giant crate, complete with his indoor toilet system. Eventually he got his own room (the master bedroom to be exact lol of our first apartment).

When we moved he got his new room, and was kind of trapped in his room for 2-3 months, because we had a huge problem with our move. The rest of the apartment could not be properly puppy proofed because I had electricians, pest control and god knows who else in my apartment, not to mention the fact that it took me 4 months in the new place to finally get the place unpacked. (we went out for walks daily though).

Well he's now 18 months, has grown and changed a lot, and now most of the apartment is puppy proofed (never will be allowed in the kitchen, it's not safe for him, and he can still get under our stupid bed despite my puppy proofing attempts). I've been making a conscious effort to let him out of his room more and more (he stays in his room when we're not home or when we're eating, and that's where he sleeps).

So what do you guys think, when is it time to let him be free? or am I better off having him on a "free when mom's around" rule? We have one small carpet in our apartment, the rest is hardwood. it's an old carpet, so I'm petrified if he's left alone that he'll pee on it, he used to mark blankets so now he only has his one bed in his room.
Sorry for the long old ramble, I'm just discovering that he's actually capable of not getting into mischief ALL the time (now for those of you who remember the TV stand incident two weeks ago.. lol)

[deonk1]

Ok now he's gotten brazen... he just plopped down on the floor and stared at me, then he barked, ran away, came back sat down, barked and stared, and repeated until I followed him. He made it very clear that his dish was not providing him an adequate amount of kibbles (it was empty) and how dare momma not notice that immediately. This is the first time he has EVER barked AT me. lol.

[RoxyLuv]

Roxy was over a year old before I stopped closing the hallway gate. One day it occurred to me that she's been so well behaved, I decided to give it a try. She's done beautifully. She will 'hunt' every corner of every room, but she doesn't get into things or chew on anything but her own toys. It took several more months before I finally took down the gate entirely. All is good. The age/time could be different for most every dog. I'd say whenever you feel Harley can be trusted.

Yes, you can expect more of the barking for specific horrible deeds that you've committed. lol! I get it now if she wants to play, she thinks it's treat time, dh dares to sit in her napping chair, etc. Lately she thinks by 11:00 pm, it's time for me to turn off the computer. She's getting just a little to bossy!!!

[Britster]

Honestly, Jackson was 5 months old when he got basic free reign of the house. He just always proved himself reliable.

I started out with a crate at 9 weeks old. We did the crate thing 'til he was maybe about 15 weeks old or so. Then I would leave him in an ex-pen when I would leave and that lasted for a little while. Then I started leaving him in my bedroom gated in. Then eventually I just left him out and all was fine... so ever since that day, he's had free roam.

He's never gotten into anything when we aren't home (now when we ARE home, that's a different story). But while nobody is home, he's never gotten into anything. My dad was the one that started it. I was over his house and he thought putting him in the crate was "mean" so he left him out. I was terrified... we were gone for like 2 1/2 hours and I thought I'd come back home to a mess. Nope, the dogs just slept the entire time we were gone.

[ArmaniMan]

Mine got full rein when they were potty trained- 6 months or so for Armani, a little younger maybe for Chloe. There were only a few mishaps- Armani chewed my laptop cord and a cord to my hair rollers right after he got free rein- but other than that they were fine.

[kjcmsw]

Originally Posted by deonk1

Ok now he's gotten brazen... he just plopped down on the floor and stared at me, then he barked, ran away, came back sat down, barked and stared, and repeated until I followed him. He made it very clear that his dish was not providing him an adequate amount of kibbles (it was empty) and how dare momma not notice that immediately. This is the first time he has EVER barked AT me. lol.

funny --- We have two bowls down...Gracie will eat from "hers" (though she always shares with whoever sticks their nose in the dish with her) --- she finishes it off...the exact same bowl (different color) right beside hers with the same food in it...and if she wants more she barks at me until I put food in "her" bowl. So I take some kibble out of the other bowl and put it in hers...to which she then eats. Yeah, she's a brat!
Free roam: My adult Yorkies have free roam of one level of our house where we spend our time (living room, kitchen, and one of the two bedrooms on that level).
The pups (one 4 months old and other 6 months old) have the run of the living room and kitchen.
The adults sleep in crates in our bedroom at night, the pups sleep in an x-pen together in the living room (though the pups were using crates in the bedroom before (long, unimportant story as to why the sleep in the x-pen now)

As long as you check on your pup frequently and make sure he's not up to something that could harm him he should be okay. The carpet will shampoo so relax there.

[Lovetodream88]

Callie pretty much always had free rome of the house except at night when she was in a crate until fully potty trained but some one is always with Callie she is never left alone. When she was a puppy and learned she could go upstairs we would gate the stairs and after very certain she was potty trained the gate was taken down.

[lexi43]

My babies got full rein of the house when they became potty trained. At around 5 months old. However they can only roam free when somebody is around because they have a habit of bothering the cats.

[kristalblue74]

Chewie is 11 mo., and has had free reign of the main part of the house when I'm home for about four months (except for a brief potty-training regression where we went back to strict crate-training for a couple weeks). I still crate him if I'm going to be gone for more than 1/2 hour or so. He gets out of his playpen and easily jumps over his gate, so for now, those really aren't good options. He does still sleep in the crate at night.

[KendraE]

Bevo had free reign as soon as he was potty trained...before that, he stayed in his "xpen" which my hubby built in the corner of the living room...it had a cute little gate that we could open when we were home...we eventually left it open at all times....then we took it down all together. Now, we have to put it back up for little Mac! Soo excited to re-train a puppy....lol...not!!

[Farleys]

Well, my 3 boys are ages 3 and 4, and they STILL have to be crated while we r gone. WE have tried numerous times, because they are soo good when we r home they dont get into anything except their own toys. But when we leave, they destroy things like furniture We have 1 yorkie, who is okay if left out alone. But i feel that is very unfair to crate 2 and leave 1 out. The other two are terriers also, a puggle/jack russell mix, and a rat terrier/jack russel mix. I hate that they still have to go in a crate for a few hours while we r both gone. But its also for their own safety, i would have for them to eat something bad and get sick.

[yorkietalkjilly]

I guess Tibbe had free rein with his crate being put away about a year after I got him at age 9 mos. but he was only confined to the crate during potty training for very short periods when I could not watch him or when I was away. After a year of this, he was given free rein of the house with no mistakes ever.

Your dog sounds so cute!!!

[Suze225]

Bella got free reign at probably 6-8 months. I can't remember exactly when. Jett is now 5 months old, and wont have free reign for a little while yet. (He has potty accidents every once in awhile.)

[deonk1]

Humm, well the brazenness has continued. This weekend he spent most of the day out with me, and well it's Monday both Matt and I have class, and so I left him in his room this morning, cause that's where he stays when we're gone. Well while I was getting ready, he decided that he was going to bark at me every time I walked by. lol

[celstu1]

My boys are 5.5 years old and still do not have free reign of the house. I still can't completely trust them to not have messes in the house and I feel for their own safety I confine them to the large kitchen area with baby gates. Its best this way for all of us!