When did you start to leave your pup uncrated when gone?
I've been giving Toki some free range of the house when I am gone (closing off extra rooms and bathrooms, picking up inappropriate items, ect...) and he has done well in the last few weeks without a problem. I've been leaving him alone for a few hours at a time. If I'm gone a long while, he gets crated. Sometimes we let him sleep in our bedroom at night and he has always done well overnight.
Until a few days ago he destroyed my boyfriends $400 oakly glasses. (he needed to get new glasses anyway, so it's all good). ...I guess glasses are super fun, he keeps taking them off my head...>_>
So I'm rethinking this. He might be too young, in retrospect. He is 10 months. (Japanese Akita, for those who don't know)
When did you know your pup was ready to have free range of the house? How old? Or rather, how did you transition your pup into having freedom at home when gone? Or do you even give them free range at all?
Keep in mind Toki is an only-dog, so he is by himself when I leave him. No doggie friends.
Julia
Until a few days ago he destroyed my boyfriends $400 oakly glasses. (he needed to get new glasses anyway, so it's all good). ...I guess glasses are super fun, he keeps taking them off my head...>_>
So I'm rethinking this. He might be too young, in retrospect. He is 10 months. (Japanese Akita, for those who don't know)
When did you know your pup was ready to have free range of the house? How old? Or rather, how did you transition your pup into having freedom at home when gone? Or do you even give them free range at all?
Keep in mind Toki is an only-dog, so he is by himself when I leave him. No doggie friends.
Julia
Comments
All it took was one incident when my dogs ate a bottle of aspirin, for me to be terrified of what innocuous thing they might get into while unsupervised.
I wouldn't let a small child run around my house and yard alone, and the same goes for my dogs. (The dogs are probably smarter and more destructive, too!)
I still crate Juno when I go out for the day (like to work, or if we drive off somewhere). Its mostly because I can know that she is safe, and she doesnt mind at all, so I'll keep crating her as far as I can see- its a useful managment piece, esp with multiple dogs. She is almost 18 months. If she hated the crate, I could trust her with Reilly both loose all day, but her willingness to crate keeps me doing the right thing.
I have two other much bigger dogs in the house and two gimpy, elderly cats, so I feel best knowing that potential for mayhem is low.
I also close Sage in the studio when I am gone for a while- he is 6 yo. This way I know he is cool, and that he has limited window-stimulation and sound stimulation possibilities. He's a reactive dog and his management is stiffer than for the girls. That's not exactly crating, but it is limiting him while unsupervised.
Reilly has had free range since she was 6 or 8 months- she's 9 yo now.
My main reasons are
1) I have a cat that roams free and while I completely trust my dogs with her, you never know
2) I don't want them looking out the front window and getting worked up while I'm gone
3) Every once in a while they get it in their heads that they're going to poop/pee in the kids' dirty laundry (usually after one of them has had an accident and there's residual odour in the dirty laundry)
and 4) You never know what else might happen, what they could get into, or whatever else.
After potty training, I stopped crating him, and pinned him to the one room because he still needed to learn good house manners, what to chew on, and not chew on. I also keep him in my bedroom when I sleep that way if he really needs out he can wake my wife. Lol. I don't really see the need for him to run the whole house when we are gone. After all it is only a clamp up baby gate he has been trained not to knock it down. But has only felt the need to get in the living room enough to knock down the gate, one time. They learn good house manners if they aren't given the chance to screw up when u leave them unattended.
And maybe this has something to do with it too.....Lately, Toki has been acting up. I guess it his "adolescence" phase? He has been playing with a lot of things he shouldn't play with, like pillows and shoes, (things we thought we were improving on). He hates getting on the couch, but ever since his puppy friend and him played on our couches a week or so ago, he gets on the couch a lot more often. Or he will mouth our hands and arms, which, we also thought we were improving on.
It seems like, and maybe I'm just looking to blame, but for a weekend a short time ago, I was out of town so I left Toki in my boyfriend's care. Upon returning, a few shoes, my swim cap, my headphones, and a few other things were destroyed due to my boyfriend's lack of watchfulness and discipline. He was also allowed to have free range of the entire house while my boyfriend slept, which, I have never done. I feel like ever since that weekend, Toki has been uncooperative. It would be very frustrating if this was not a coincidence.
I prefer not to crate my adults when I leave. 2 years seems like a good time frame for "graduation" from crating, but it depends on the dog.
I agree with whoever said they just sleep anyway. At least, mine do. Hell, when they're NOT crated, they eventually go back into their crates anyway and just chill there of their own decision. ~
The Shibas all got free reign in the house at a little over a year old. Oskar was probably closer to 1.5 years old. He was never much of a chewer (like the Shibas were) but he did tend to pee in the house more, esp. out of excitement, so it was better to keep him contained.
My husband had the idea, recently, that Leo, who is only 4 months old, was ready to be out of the crate at night. He was not. This resulted in lots of peeing on the carpet, destruction of some of my clothes, and a lot of destruction of plants in the deck garden (we leave the door to the deck open at night for the Akita). Leo is back in his create at night, and in the big crate downstairs during the day if we can't supervise him.
Juneau and Sasha love their crates. You set up a crate and they spot it, they'll go into it pronto, no direction needed. They were crated until they were about 1 1/2 years old, then we took the crate doors off and let them decide where to go when we were gone. After we moved to Oregon, one of the crates went missing and the rabbit uses half of the other one for a sunhouse.
Nowadays, nobody is crated when we are gone. The dogs have free access to the whole house (if no doors are closed) as well as the back yard and garage. Most of the time they just sleep while we are gone.
Kazue, Ren and Hiro are all crated when I leave. Ren and Kazue have free run of the house at night though. Hiro use to have free roam, but he kept getting into trouble. He actually prefers his crate and willing goes in it when I go to leave or we go to bed. He has a crate in the bedroom and a crate downstairs. Tora was just in season so Kuma spent some time in a crate as well. Mine will also go into a crate to sleep on their own.
now I got second one, I just let him with my 1st one and he learned from her. didn't make 1 mistake inside of my house since day 1.
now I don't crate them all all. I only put them in kennel when My gardener is there. Age doesn't really matter, it really depends on dog.
Sigh.
Someone got in trouble. It was not Leo. *lol*
Bea (8) is not crated, though we have to be careful, she has separation anxiety from me so I must leave without her knowing or else she will bust through the screen. However, in the last few months, there has been gun shots/firecrackers and it freaks her out so she is crated at night now.
Kilbe (9 mos) is crated, she is a menace (she has chewed up too many things) and plus Bea picks on her and nips/bites her when she gets out of line (i.e. barking or whining).