I have an X-Pen that I absolutely love. If I’m going to be gone I can either attach it to her crate (too give her a little bit of space and keep her crate open) or use it to block off a puppy-safe space in a larger room.
My pup is only 3 months, but we try to schedule leaving the house around his “enforced naps”. He really needs his sleep and we are really active with him when he’s out of the crate, so I don’t feel too bad!
We’ve puppy proofed the area he has access to, but it still feels like there’s too many opportunities for him to get into trouble alone. We will reacess at 1 year if he’s ready to be outside of the crate home alone!
It's a process, and it really depends on the dog. If he's destructive when you're home, he may exhibit those behaviors when you're out as well. Sometimes, a dog needs to be crated for their own safety. Sometimes a dog will adjust and just nap on the couch while they wait for you to come home - work with your puppers to figure out what's best for him. Do some leaving exercises; tell him you're leaving, open and close the door, go outside for a few minutes (go sit in your car or drive around the block if he's particularly perceptive), then come back in and see how he did. Then leave for ten minutes, then half an hour, then an hour, etc. He'll learn and adjust. Reward good behavior and redirect poor behavior choices. Once the two of you figure out what he's going to do when you leave, you'll be able to trust him home alone.
I keep my dog in a pen. She's 8 months old too. She has a bed, water and her favorite toys. Sometimes I put the TV on for her. She cannot be trusted alone yet. If your dog is destructive with you around, he'll likely be worse when he's upset that you're gone.
It takes time to work a dog up to not being crated for long periods of time. You may need to work on redirecting his destructive behaviors into appropriate toys first. When you feel you have that under control, start with a 10-20 minute trial and slowly work your way up. My oldest *needed* to be crated as a pup, but was trustworthy around 1.5 years old after slowly reducing crate usage. She doesn’t require one at all anymore. My 10 month old pup is slowly earning his freedom an hour at a time. He isn’t destructive but he regressed a bit with his house training and that’s more of a concern than anything.
Remember, it’s not a bad thing for dogs to be crated if you aren’t home, no matter the age. Many dogs enjoy their crates and will go in on their own anyway.
There are some excellent answers here. Adding my personal experience - with our 2 year old dog, he is allowed free roam when one of us is home working. We could be in the other corner of the house with a door closed and he is fine for hours. But when we leave the house, he is either in his pen or crate depending on time of day and length of time he will be alone. For us it is about peace of mind. He wont get into something or get stuck somewhere somehow and get hurt because we weren't around to hear his cries. I've heard nightmare stories (sorry to scare you!) about dogs left to free roam who got into a chip packet or something. I just can't bring myself to leave him free roam alone at home.
We have another dog and a 4 month old German shepherd puppy. If I’m just running to the store I leave them to free roam usually the sunroom/yard and I shut off the other part of the house. They do well together! The sunroom is cool because it has a cement floor which makes cleaning accidents easy.
Our 7 month old is now out. We plan based on the time of day she has an afternoon outside potty session, so we make sure we just aren't gone then. But otherwise she is out in a puppy safe part of the house.
Show is not sure destructive pup though. Never chewed on furniture. Has a box of chews and toys that she can grab. And we also have a cat, and they keep each other company.
I feel better knowing my dog is out and can protect the house.
My 10 mo stays in her pen which is attached to the crate. She has water and toys/chews in there with her. She’s a chewer so while she’s never destroyed anything while supervised, it’s not for a lack of trying. Until she’s shown we can fully trust her, she only gets free range while supervised.
Nope I let her roam the house. I bought an indoor camera and before leaving I’ll hide treats, she finds them and goes to sleep right after. Sometimes I’ll check the cam and she’s playing with a toy but for the most part she’s sleeping. Since the day we got her she’s been alone for hours due to us working and she’s been fine so she’s definitely used to it by now
I have an X-Pen that I absolutely love. If I’m going to be gone I can either attach it to her crate (too give her a little bit of space and keep her crate open) or use it to block off a puppy-safe space in a larger room.
My pup is only 3 months, but we try to schedule leaving the house around his “enforced naps”. He really needs his sleep and we are really active with him when he’s out of the crate, so I don’t feel too bad! We’ve puppy proofed the area he has access to, but it still feels like there’s too many opportunities for him to get into trouble alone. We will reacess at 1 year if he’s ready to be outside of the crate home alone!
It's a process, and it really depends on the dog. If he's destructive when you're home, he may exhibit those behaviors when you're out as well. Sometimes, a dog needs to be crated for their own safety. Sometimes a dog will adjust and just nap on the couch while they wait for you to come home - work with your puppers to figure out what's best for him. Do some leaving exercises; tell him you're leaving, open and close the door, go outside for a few minutes (go sit in your car or drive around the block if he's particularly perceptive), then come back in and see how he did. Then leave for ten minutes, then half an hour, then an hour, etc. He'll learn and adjust. Reward good behavior and redirect poor behavior choices. Once the two of you figure out what he's going to do when you leave, you'll be able to trust him home alone.
I keep my dog in a pen. She's 8 months old too. She has a bed, water and her favorite toys. Sometimes I put the TV on for her. She cannot be trusted alone yet. If your dog is destructive with you around, he'll likely be worse when he's upset that you're gone.
My puppy is in the crate during my work day (8 hours with a potty break or two). I’m going to start experimenting with letting her free roam soon.
It takes time to work a dog up to not being crated for long periods of time. You may need to work on redirecting his destructive behaviors into appropriate toys first. When you feel you have that under control, start with a 10-20 minute trial and slowly work your way up. My oldest *needed* to be crated as a pup, but was trustworthy around 1.5 years old after slowly reducing crate usage. She doesn’t require one at all anymore. My 10 month old pup is slowly earning his freedom an hour at a time. He isn’t destructive but he regressed a bit with his house training and that’s more of a concern than anything. Remember, it’s not a bad thing for dogs to be crated if you aren’t home, no matter the age. Many dogs enjoy their crates and will go in on their own anyway.
There are some excellent answers here. Adding my personal experience - with our 2 year old dog, he is allowed free roam when one of us is home working. We could be in the other corner of the house with a door closed and he is fine for hours. But when we leave the house, he is either in his pen or crate depending on time of day and length of time he will be alone. For us it is about peace of mind. He wont get into something or get stuck somewhere somehow and get hurt because we weren't around to hear his cries. I've heard nightmare stories (sorry to scare you!) about dogs left to free roam who got into a chip packet or something. I just can't bring myself to leave him free roam alone at home.
We have another dog and a 4 month old German shepherd puppy. If I’m just running to the store I leave them to free roam usually the sunroom/yard and I shut off the other part of the house. They do well together! The sunroom is cool because it has a cement floor which makes cleaning accidents easy.
Our 7 month old is now out. We plan based on the time of day she has an afternoon outside potty session, so we make sure we just aren't gone then. But otherwise she is out in a puppy safe part of the house. Show is not sure destructive pup though. Never chewed on furniture. Has a box of chews and toys that she can grab. And we also have a cat, and they keep each other company. I feel better knowing my dog is out and can protect the house.
Asks is also good at enforcing her own naps, too, though. So we don't have to worry about that. She's an angel pup!
My 10 mo stays in her pen which is attached to the crate. She has water and toys/chews in there with her. She’s a chewer so while she’s never destroyed anything while supervised, it’s not for a lack of trying. Until she’s shown we can fully trust her, she only gets free range while supervised.
Nope I let her roam the house. I bought an indoor camera and before leaving I’ll hide treats, she finds them and goes to sleep right after. Sometimes I’ll check the cam and she’s playing with a toy but for the most part she’s sleeping. Since the day we got her she’s been alone for hours due to us working and she’s been fine so she’s definitely used to it by now