Access to entire home - how old was your doodle?

[Kristen Eric Lacey and Paisley]

Lacey is 15 weeks old and I was just wondering how old your doodle was when you started allowing them access to your entire home? Right now we live in an apartment and Lacey currently has access to the kitchen and living room (it's open concept). We have her gated off and only allow her to go into other rooms when we are in that room with her or when she is sleeping in her crate in our bedroom.

[Kylee]

We let Willow have access to our entire home when she was 4 months old. She was always allowed to go in every room as long as we were with her. Starting at 4 months we stopped crating her and we let her roam free with our without us at home. I know it made me a bit nervous to do it at first, but we haven't had any issues.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Mine were pretty young as well, 4-5 months, or when reliably potty trained. I never crated, just limited access to whole area until potty trained. And one of us were always home most of those first 6 months so it wasn't long that they were unsupervised. Yes we've had accidents and chewed items. I was willing to deal with that, rather than dealing with a crate in my living space. But that;s just me.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I always gave my dogs free run of the house as soon as they were reliably housebroken. But I also always "dog proofed" my home and trained my dogs. If there is a possibility of a dog's getting hold of a sock, getting into garbage, taking things off counters, chewing wires, or doing anything else that can be harmful or fatal, then it isn't safe to let a dog have free-run at any age. 

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Then it sounds like all dogs should be crated as Any dog at any age can decide to eat a sock or get into garbage, take something tempting off the counter, or chew wires, run out an open door, jump out a screen window into the street, etc. Yes training and dog proofing and supervision are key to any dog having free run of the house. But at what point do you let them be free, thinking they are now 100% safe? Is that even possible? And doesn't the training come with the trials of free run? I agree with you Karen, in taking every precaution, just not in the respect that one could ever totally eliminate the possibilities.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I just don't think it''s that difficult. There is never any food on my counters unless I am standing right there. I just don't find this difficult. I do often have certain kinds of fruit ripening in a mesh basket on my counter, but I have never had a dog who counter surfed, or wanted to eat apricots anyway, lol. If I did, the basket would be top of the fridge.

If I have meat out to defrost, it goes inside the microwave or oven. When I bring home groceries, they get put away. Why would there be food out where a dog could get it if you aren't eating it or preparing it, in which case you are right there. 

I also just don't understand the sock thing. I am far from an immaculate housekeeper, and getting further from it every day, lol, but I just have never had socks or underwear in places that were accessible to my dogs. And I did raise children and also a grandchild, with dogs of all ages in the house. It just isn't that hard to put socks and clothing away where a dog can't get it. When toddlers are in the "take off your socks every time Mom isn't looking" stage, you just let them go barefoot in the house. Or wear shoes with laces that they can't untie. Problem solved. 

Every bathroom has a door that closes, as does every closet. As does every laundry room. Even if you live in a very large home (and I did, once) it just doesn't take that long to do a once over before you leave the house.

JD is not a chewer and doesn't eat things that are not food. But I've had fosters over the years who were and who did. It just still was never a problem. 

Wires might be a bit more problematic, but that's where training and knowing your dog comes in. It's fairly easy to block access to exposed wires, or the areas where they might be. It's harder to train a dog to leave certain things alone, but IMO, it's a necessary part of owning a dog. For me, anyway. 

[Lynda Kamrath]

It does take a little relearning for some of the people in the house, but it can be done.  I also allow my dogs free range in the house as soon as they are reliably house trained as I do not like the look of crates.  We sometimes have an open-door crate in the laundry room (outdoors) for visitors and all of the dogs go in there occasionally, but I don't want them in the house.  I train my puppies in a baby playpen and that is their bed and home when we are not with them in the house.  It works for us.  My dogs are "treat trained" and they know that when anyone gets a treat (going potty outside, bringing in the newspaper, etc.) they all get a treat.  They line up whenever there is something to reward and they know exactly what that is.  My husband has had to learn the hard way to always put things up and behind closed doors.  I keep all the counters clean and all clothes put away (closets, drawers, clothes baskets, or window sills).  My new little dog started chewing the pillows so now they are even put away.  I guess my information would be to always observe your puppy and react appropriately.  She, of course, will want to experiment and chew on anything, so if she has something inappropriate, take it and throw a toy to her.  Toys are fine to chew up, shoes are not.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

It's totally not difficult. And in a perfect world, everyone would do all those things every time. But people forget, or overlook, or get in a hurry , or get distracted, children dropped things, things get lost under furniture, and things get missed. Always and Never aren't realistic in life, and I refuse to not enjoy or have my dogs not enjoy their home on the off chance there is possibly something they could get into. It's just not realistic or doable for me, or for many others I'd guess, and I feel I am a pretty responsible dog owner.
Its certainly up to the comfort level of each owner whether or not they leave their dogs to run free in the house, but to say they need to be crated or gated unless there is NO possibility of harm is just not attainable or desirable in my world.

Im just never going to be that perfect, I am going to prepare food and have to leave to go to the bathroom, or go tend to a toddler, or answer the doorbell, and I am going to do laundry and have my hands so full, I can't close a door or see the sock that fell out of the basket behind me and Oh, BTW....Bella can open any door in the house, so that theory is out the window for us. But when she goes towards a counter she is trained not to, when she picks up a sock she is trained not to. when she opens an inside door, well, we just leave it open....lol. In light of all that Bella does eat and get into, it's a testament to how carefully supervised and trained she is by the fact that she is still alive!!! We've got "Leave it" down solid!
As always Karen, a stimulating debate. Love it.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with you. "to say they need to be crated or gated unless there is NO possibility of harm is just not attainable or desirable in my world", either. LOL

Nobody is perfect, including me. I probably should have worded my comment a little differently.

But I do hear about completely preventable tragedies so often, and it bothers me every time. Especially because in most of the cases we hear about, the dog has a known history of having taken or eaten inappropriate objects. And often, the blame is placed on the dog rather than the owner. 

Dogs can't keep themselves safe. It's up to us to do that for them by whatever means we can. 

This is really no different from caring for children. Nobody here would think it was okay if a two year old was badly burned or worse because, "Well I had to go answer the doorbell or go to the bathroom, so I left that boiling pot unattended on the stove and the toddler unattended nearby." Nobody would say "The baby is in the emergency room because she got hold of a bottle of pills, honestly, I can't turn my back on her for a minute." 

If we can make sure these things don't happen to our kids, why is it unrealistic to do it for our dogs? 

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Oh I do agree with you, none of those things are OK! Unfortunately, do they happen? Probably every 5 minutes across the country if ER's were asked. Taking every precaution is a must with children and dogs and any harm to either makes my heart ache. I guess, working in a hospital for so long, accidents are just an expected part of life to me. One could even say it's job security in many aspects.....(especially in my area...uh-oh, forgot my birth control pill honey). lol
I think both our points are valid. Protect and protect and then protect some more is a must. Keep them safe at all costs.
And then know that accidents can and probably will happen and be prepared to attend to the needs. And that we can't beat ourselves or the other owners/parents up over it either.
I am far from lax when it comes to safety, but I just can't make myself crazy with every possibility. There's enough to think about with real time issues like which foods, treats, itchy skin, eating poop, training, etc.

When I think of the things we allowed our kids to do and experience, I wonder how they survived. And again, Bella is the reason I have Pet Ins. I feel it's not an "IF" it's a "When" she eats that one thing she shouldn't and I didn't see, that gets stuck. I hope all won't judge me if that happens, but some will.....

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

"Protect and protect and then protect some more is a must. Keep them safe at all costs.
And then know that accidents can and probably will happen and be prepared to attend to the needs. And that we can't beat ourselves or the other owners/parents up over it either."

I think that sums it up perfectly. 

I often wonder how all of us lived to this ripe old age. We didn't even have car seats or seat belts! Or bike helmets! LOL

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

PS: I totally sympathize with you on Bella's door opening abilities. It is tough having a dog who is very, very good at problem solving. (That's the poodle in them). I give thanks every day that JD is not that smart. LOL

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

HA! JD is smarter than the average Doodle, that's for sure. He knew just what owner would be best for him from the moment he met you!!!! And who do we call when we need a doodle attorney to represent us?????? lol