Free roam
 

Sophia's 10 months old now and I really want her to free roam while I'm gone... but I know she's not ready yet. How old were your dogs when you let them free roam? and how did you know they were old enough?

My dearly departed Shih Tzu was 2 before I could leave him loose in the house but I was working full time outside the home then and it just takes more time to get the training in.

Gracie was 5 months old before I could leave her loose in the home but I was home with her most of her first few months so she just continued to do what she always did when I would leave. She was very easy to house break though and uses pee pads. I don't think I could have left her alone in the home at that age without pee pads. My other dog was trained to go outside and once he was fully mature he could hold it a long time.

each dog will be soooooooooo different, and it's not an age thing, it all comes downs to if and how often they have accidents. I think if they go a full month without accidents, (ie holding till you get home, or ONLY used the pee pad if that's how they go) you can start to try. Also make sure your home is dog safe, start by giving them only and hour or two of freedom when you run a short errand or two, if all goes well, work up to longer time frames. Lola had the run of the house when she was about 7 months but out of 5 dogs she is only the second one that I have felt could be trusted, all the others were left in crates or in the laundry room. Some I hate to say it will never be ready.

I have 5 of them and I still do not allow them to have free roam when I am gone. Thor and Little Bit are to young and Mo;;y is blind, they all go in x-pen if I have to leave them which I do not do very often.

We just recently let Teddy roam while we are at work (we don't leave him all day we have a dog walker come at noon). Teddy is a year. We decided to let him roam when he no longer had accidents. He doesn't get a total roam...he is confined to living room/dining area.

It all depends on whether or not you can trust her to hold it (or go to her piddle pads), that she won't bite or get into what she isn't suppose to. You can expand your pups space gradually and see how she does.

That's what I did with Kaji. He had an expen in my room. He would stay in it until I got home from work. Then he had my room, then the room plus the hall way, then finally he had the living room. Baby gates are still in place because he has proved untrustworthy in certain areas of he house (the kitchen) Other than the kitchen, he's free to go where he pleases.

Thanks for your replies :) Sophia hasn't had accidents in 2 or 3 months. I'm not really worried about accidents, I'm more worried about her getting into stuff she shouldn't. She loves to (try) to eat carpet and the corners of the walls! I hope she'll be ready to free roam one day :confused:

My Moka is almost 5 and Mylee is 2. They are not kenneled during the day, but I do close doors or block of rooms so they only have access to a small part of the house. Too many things for them to get into for them to have free roam. Especially if there are kids (adult kids in my case :rolleyes:) in the house leaving things lay.

Boredom can be a problem with dogs that are at home alone. Try leaving a couple of bully sticks around to chew. I found with my other dog that he liked to be able to look out the window. I cleared of an end stand that was by the couch near a window and he loved to sit there and watch for us to get home.

With the bullies, I'd be afraid they get them small enough that they may choke on it. But that's my own paranoia.

OP, chewing walls and carpet could be pure boredom. Try squeezing in a playtime and a walk before and after work. A tired yorkie is a good yorkie. :)

I'm trying to get away from bullies anyway (their expensive and smelly). I'll be sitting on the floor trying to play with Sophia and she'll run off and start chewing. I'll finally open in her mouth.. and see chunks of carpet :eek:. I genuinely think she just likes it because she can't have it...

I buy the 12" bullies for Gracie and I throw them away when they get to be around 3". Dogs need to chew and in order to keep them from being destructive they need an outlet for that urge. The 12" bully sticks are about the same length as Gracie but she doesn't mind. It takes her about 2 weeks to chew one down.

Why do you want her to have free roam? I really feel that small dogs can easily get overwhelmed by having to "guard" large spaces. Oz is 10 months and he stays in his playpen while we're at work. He has bed, food, water, toys, and his favourite treat, the KONG, when he's in there. It has become his own den/toy box where he feels safe and happy. If I were to give him more access I would make it a contained area in the house. In our home we have a really large entry area that is all tiled, which also goes freely (no door) into the laundry room. I would only have to gate off the stairs... it's about 300 sq ft. That would be the area I would let Oz roam in. However, I think he'd have to go at least 6 months without ANY accidents in the house first. So far he hasn't made it past 2 months at a time.

I would not allow free run of any space unattended for her until she has learned not to chew on carpet, walls, etc. Not only bc it is destructive but mainly for her safety ;).

I also do not think it is a good idea to leave your dog with any type of edible chew bone, if you read the package most even say do not feed unattended. I also throw them away when the start getting to small.

Sometimes letting them have free roam is a pain because it takes me longer to get out, I run around closing doors and taking possibly offending objects off the floor. When Lola was a little younger she had the habit or running up to the second floor, but then was afraid to come back down the stairs, so I had to use a bolster and baby gate to keep her from running up. I have a two story foyer with a large window and landing so when she sits up there she gets a good view of our street, but she hangs her head through the balusters so far it made me nervous. I wound up putting white lattice stripping along the balcony, this way she can not stick her head out. Attached is a pic of my last dog doing the same thing, but for some reason I always knew he would not jump, Lola on the other hand made me nervous.

Oh well can't post it, to large, the size restriction for photos on this site is small, because I can not post almost any of my pictures here that I can post on other forum based web sites, if I had a complaint about YT this would be my only one:(:(

Don't worry... I wouldn't leave her alone until she stops trying to munch on the carpet or walls :D. I just hate putting her in her crate when we leave. She loves her crate, but I just hate that she's confined to that small thing. I'd feel better if she was able to free roam and play with her toys/sleep on the bed as she pleases. I have tons of baby gates that hook together, so I could leave her there to start. But, that wouldn't really help me because of the carpet munching.

Sounds like it might be time to upgrade to an x pen/play pen. That way she would have everything she wants/need in there with her and still be safe without being so confined :)
btw, is she chewing carpet only at the walls... in other places too?

Lola is 6 months and she has free roam of the house, we gave her free roam about a month ago when she stopped going to the bathroom when we weren't home. She is alone about 5 hrs M-F while I am at work and she has not had an accident once. I believe all she does while we are gone is stare out the window or sleep. She has never chewed anything or torn anything up either. My husband is a driver and drives by the house several times a day and says she is always laying up in the window. (We live on the second floor of a two family house and the back of the couch is even with the window, you can't even see her in the window unless you are looking for her) We have also trained her not to bark (the only time she does is when we are home and she hears someone at the door, I think she feels the need to "protect" us :))

We have had Milo for 3 weeks now and he just graduated from his crate to the bathroom. He still has his crate in there, a pee pad and some toys. It has only been 2 days but he is doing good so far, goes on the pee pad while we are gone. Once he starts holding it while we are gone we will also give him more space to roam.

For DH and I, we let our pups earn the space they have. If Lola all of a sudden started having a ton of accidents or got into a lot of trouble while we were gone we would restrict her space again. But she has been very well behaved and we have not had any problems yet. It was the same with Kiwi, He had free roam at about 6 months as well(but his situation was a little different, he managed to "break out" of every space we tried to restrict him to so we eventually gave up..lol) and once he had free roam he never had any accidents either. :thumbup:

But again, I think every pup, every home and every situation is different so you need to find what works best with your family, good luck! :D

ZoE's had free roam of the house since she was 5 months old. She'd been fully potty-trained for 2 1/2 months by that time.

I've set my home security camera to record while I've been gone to see if she gets up to anything interesting, but she just spends her time looking out the window occasionally barking at squirrels or passing cars, or she sleeps on the couch.

Kaji doesn't chew on anything he shouldn't have. He's never done it. He occasionally would get a merricks wishbone, but he loses interest if he has one available everyday. The only time he's destructive is when he hasn't had enough exercise. I know he needs more play because that's when he gets into the trash can. :rolleyes:

Katie Scarlett is almost 7 months and we are testing out free roam for the first time this week. She loves it! She has only had 2 accidents so far this week. Other than those, she goes straight to the potty pad. We were confining her in the den with us but she was getting to where she would not go in the potty pad in that room. She would pee on the carpet. So I took down the baby gate and she now goes to the potty pad in our bedroom. 1 of the 2 accidents she did have was right in front of the potty pad so I am not sure if she couldn't make it or what, but I think giving her free roam is what is helping her to learn where to go even better. I actually worked today in my scrapbooking studio while she was free to do as she pleased and she was great. I am a stay at home wife though so I keep a pretty sharp eye on her.

Mine still don't have full access to the house. 4 yorkies, 1 golden, & 2 cats + entire house + no supervision = Big mess potential. All are housebroken. Cats have full access. Dogs get the kitchen, laundry room, and family room when I'm not home. I love my baby gates :). I hate messes. The furniture in the family room is hand me downs from my grandfather.

Jackson was 5 months or so. He just always proved to be reliable when we weren't home. While we were not there, he'd just sleep the whole time (saw him on camera once lol). My dad was the one who left him out and I was all like "NO!" but got home to find nothing out of place. Rest is history.