Leaving Your Dog Alone in the House?

[wendykei]

Question for all you parents with fully 100% housebroken dogs... How did you know when you could leave your dog alone in the house? Did you start by letting the dog have the run of one room and see how he reacted and then expand to other areas? Did you start with short durations and then build up?

I don't think Sidney's ready yet. I think he has control over his bodily functions for the most part, but I'm doubtful he would exercise that control if I wasn't home. (He has very few accidents in the house these days, but they do still happen. Last one was just a couple of weeks ago.) He's also recently been chewing the hell out of anything and everything he's not supposed to. :rolleyes: Anyways, just curious about how you all got to a point when you trusted your dog alone in the house. (Apologies if there's another thread on this subject. I did a search and didn't find one.)

[gmacleod]

I think gradually is best - never making a big deal of it, so it just kind of happens for the dog without them really noticing. There's no stress involved that way.

I like to start leaving pups uncrated from around the 4 month mark. We're talking for minutes here, not hours ;) If you tried leaving a 4 month old loose for hours, you'd be guaranteed to come back to puddles. but by that age, most have mastered a reasonable degree of bladder control and can be safely left for short periods, as long as they were pottied immediately prior. There's no reason why you can't start leaving puppies uncrated for whatever number of minutes is safe from a toilet training perspective, while you run an errand or just go sit outside your front door. And when you come back in, you don't pay any particular attention to the puppy (who, with luck, may have simply gone to sleep anyway), you just go about your business quietly until it's time he went out for another potty stop.

The point of that sort of exercise is just to make being home alone a "normal" event. Nothing for anybody to get worked up about. Obviously, because of the toilet training issue, the pup still needs to be crated (or gated) when you have to go out for real and for longer periods. But it's all about putting in the groundwork for when the toilet training is reliable and you'd like to be able to leave the dog loose in the house while you're gone ;)

When you get to the stage that you're confident that the dog isn't going to pee if left out for an hour or so - then leave him out for an hour or so. Its just the same as before, except you're gone longer (and probably not sitting outside your own door anymore either ;)). And because it is just the same as before, the pup should have no issues with adjusting.

From there, you might graduate the pup to being left out the crate in the afternoons (come home at lunchtime and leave him out when you go back to work). Then finally, to being loose all day.

Satrting young makes it all "normal" and no big deal for the dog. That's usually the best way of ensuring a smooth transition to finally being loose full time, and generally is the best way to avoid any issues like anxiety or destructiveness.

[wendykei]

Wow, I wish I'd posed this question sooner. I've left Sidney alone in the house for very brief periods (i.e. 2 minutes while running to the trash up to 15 minutes while running an errand across the street), but very infrequently--certainly not on a regular basis. I will start making this a regular exercise.

Thanks for the advice, Gwyneth!

[noelle]

interesting....

i feel confident on the pee front, but what about a seven month old pup who is still a little "chewy"?

i'd get too freaked out that the biscuit would chew through an electrical cord or something. sometimes i feel like my apartment is a minefield! so many things to get into! not to mention if there was an altercation with the cat...

then again, i can't keep the biscuit crated forever, or can i?

[wendykei]

Noelle, Sidney and I are in the same boat. I'm about 90% confident on the peeing/pooping, but about 0% confident on the chewing! He's started chewing again on furniture, etc. Not to mention I worry about him chewing on a cord or some other dangerous item if he gets bored while I'm not at home.

[wendykei]

Sidney's 7.5 months. I have been keeping him in the bathroom (where his crate is) without closing the door. He has not had any accidents in the bathroom for hours. He is very good--no chewing in the bathroom.

However, he has several objects of affection in the rest of the condo that he loves to chew on when given the opportunity. It's a completely open layout without any other doors besides the one to the bathroom, so it's not really possible to limit his access to the rest of the condo. It's basically the bathroom or the whole thing!

I have left him alone in the condo for a few minutes (up to 10 minutes or so) without any problems, but I've done it when he's been sleeping, etc. I will keep working on it.

[sakirby]

here is my experience. first of all, i want to know why we think we have to let them have free reign? :D i felt bad leaving oscar in is gated off crate area when i left. i gradually started leaving him out in the house. two min. here and there, then when i went to the grocery store and so on. i must say that he never was a chewer though. i don't think i would have left him out in the house if he were a chewer. anyway, my point is, i don't think they care whether they are left to have free reign or not. i leave oscar out now (he is a year old) and i swear, the minute we leave, he just goes to sleep anyway. EVERY single time i have come home (even if it is 5-10 min. later) he is sleeping. even the times we are gone for hours he is ALWAYS sleeping when we get home. so, i figure, if he is just going to sleep anyway, why does he need to be sleeping out and about around the house when he can sleep in his crate :) i started to realize he wasn't doing anything that would tire him out while he was gone. so, i guess my suggestion would be not to feel bad about crating him. i really don't think they would do anything other than sleep anyway :lol: but, if you do still want to leave him loose, i agree with twist n shout and gmacleod. gradually. everyday, try it for a few minutes at least and see what he does. that will give you the best gauge of what he would do if you were to leave him.

[franp]

Dari was crated for a year because I was afraid to leave her alone with the cats.. My (late)Butch was NOT thrilled to have a pup in the house..

But, when she was about 7 months or so, I would let her loose while I ran down to the laundry room or the mailbox..things that took a couple of minutes.Surprisingly,she was scared and whimpered a bit..

When I finally chose to leave her loose, the dogwalker would not crate her after her walk..Dari was NOT a happy camper.. Frenchie death dirge would ensue as the door closed..Now, her crate was open and she could go in if she wanted...
After about 3 weeks of this, I started to leave her out as I left for work..Again, she cried at not being put in her crate.. go figure..But, no accidents, no chewing..

She was not allowed access to the bedroom.. Only the livingroom for the first year of freedom My only concern was my cat Butch..For the longest time, I would come home and breathe a sigh of relief when I saw that all was well.(it took Butch 3 years to accept the fact that Dari was here to stay.)..

As Sharon says.;they sleep all day.Just changing postitions or places...crating is not a terrible thing.

[wendykei]

I've been giving Sidney free reign of the bathroom, where there's nothing to chew on that is too alarming. (I have puppy gates blocking all cleaning products in the event he was able to figure out how to open the lower cabinet doors.) He's fine in there. And you all are right: every time I come home, he's just sleeping in his crate even though he has access to a greater area. So as long as this continues to work, I'll stick with it. If his chewing habits seem to subside, I will try to get him adjusted to the full apartment, but for now... He's happy and I'm happy! :)

[coppab]

I've had Tully for one week and two days and we are already letting him have free reign:D
I started out crating him every night and every time I left the house - which wasn't much - and I do agree with others that they really don't mind being crated. However when we went to bed at night Tully was alway conked out under the kitchen table and we didn't want to disturb him so we left him out:eek: Well a few days later and he's out all the time, the crates in storage and we have no accidents - he was already toilet trained when we got him - so every thing is great.
I love being woken up to snorts and grunts first thing in the morning, it's the sweetest thing and seeing him sitting at the door waiting for us to come home when we've gone out.
Frenchies are the best!appicon

[RaiderBaby]

Raider has free rein of the house, well, most of it. Kitchen, living room, bathroom and the computer room. And that is how it was from day one. Course I made my Mother come to into town and check on him for the first week during the day, while I was at work. He has a crate that is open all the time. But the only time he goes in there is to play or throw around the bedding. He has accidents. But knows to wait now. He is not a morning person (er I mean dog) at all. When the alarm goes off, he tries his dangedest to hold me down. But we get up and he goes outside. He goes when I get home and then again before bed. A few times he hasn't been able to hold it until I get home. But that's gonna happen... Have found some incredible products out there for cleaning. There has never been any large problems with the cats. They know how to get away. He is learning though. I do gate the top of the steps since he doesn't need to be down stairs. The kitties spend alot of "quiet" time down there and the potty boxes are there. And he for sure does not need to get a taste of that!!!

Chewing ~ My Dad told me to use a tad of tabasco sauce on a surface he likes to chew.:eek: WELL, I couldn't do it! I found some wonderful stuff at Petsmart though. It's bitter apple taste (made for dogs). He took a liking to my CD tower. Still can't figure out why. So I sprayed it on there. He went to chew, and I felt so bad, cuz I laughed at him! His little face was so cute. Licking his chops like, what the heck??? Well, he stopped. I have even used it out in the yard a couple of times. He doesn't make the face anymore, but he knows that means not to chew. It says it can stain surfaces, but I haven't had any problems so far. Don't use it much anymore.

And (I forget already who said it, but) 3 years for the kittie to accept???????? Oh gosh. Have a feeling that is what I am in for with Kyro. Zander never had a problem. But Ky is such a little crank! He is getting better (a little). At least he comes upstairs now while Raider is around. Bt as soon as he sees Raider, he hisses and throws a fit like a spoiled little girl! Oh, so much to look forward to!:D