House freedom during the day - When and how did you begin?

[Christine & Shelby]

Hi Everyone!  I am hoping to transition Shelby to house freedom during the day.  She is 7 months old, reliable on her house training and has demonstrated NO destructive chewing (toys and funiture) at this point.  She has had full house freedom at night for about 2 months now and has done really well with it (no incidents).  During the holiday weekend, I did a few test runs and she did just fine... however she wasn't feeling great and her energy was low - except yesterday when I went grocery shopping she was feeling pretty good.

 

I have been fortunate that I have been able to come home from work and let her out to play, etc. since I brought her home in December, although - it's getting tougher to do (takes 2 hours) and I am feeling bad that she is crated so much of the day.   I would love to transition her to house freedom (with certain rooms not accessible) this summer - ideally by mid July.

 

I would like to know from you a few things....  (granted I realize not all doodles are the same!)

    

    1.  At what age did you start giving your doodle house freedom (I am particulary interested in responses from those who had their doodle crated during the work day.  I am a single doodle mom and Shelby is my first dog!!

 

     2.  Any advice on transitioning.... how to go about it?

 

     3.  Have any of you experienced different (out of character) doodle behavior when you began giving house freedom.  Doodle never showed bad chewing behaviors prior to feedom, but started when given unsupervised freedom during the day... chewing on furniture, regressed in potty training, etc. 

 

Thanks in advance for your responses and thoughts... I am not opposed to crating Shelby, but since I am a single doodle mom and solely responsible for her care - I think she may be crated more than the average doodle.  While I try to minimize it... it is hard during work hours.  I love my doodle and want the best for her... and think she would enjoy being able to roam, sleep on her bed, look out the front window, etc.  I do believe she sleeps quite a bit during the day (at least she does on weekends).  We do spend lots of quality time together... I'm just struggling with the work day!

[Christine & Shelby]

Thanks for the input... I am the dog walker, although it is too hot in Texas for mid day walks, so we play in the yard and when Shelby gets hot.. She paws the door to go inside. Today is test #1. I am heading back to work at 2:45 and should be home at 5.30. I'll let you know how it goes!!!

[Adina P]

Rosco's crate was put away when he was about 2 y.o.
Prior to that he was allowed short bursts of being alone, uncrated.  But he was never really alone because we had 2 other dogs at that time.  So a few minutes turned into a half hour which turned into 2 hours until he could spend the day uncrated while we were gone.  However 'the day' was rarely very long because I work a very short drive away and my husband works from home (mostly)...so the dogs rarely were left more than 4 hours at a time.  I would start with limiting her space to one or two safe rooms (if the layout of your house allows this).  Our 'room' was the living room and all bedroom/bathroom doors closed and a baby gate separated the kitchen are from LR.

[Kathy Spyker]

When Lilly was around one we started letting her crate open," so she had a choice" and would go away for short periods at a time. She never got into anything really bad. She would collect our hand towels from the 2 bathrooms and lay with them. One time last summer I picked 5 cucumbers and had them on the counter and for some reason she got them and chewed them up. Other then that when we came home most of the time she would be laying in her crate. She has free range of our whole house and I never worry about her getting into anything anymore.

[BG and Gavin]

We transitioned out of the crate at 7 months because we were preparing to go to the cottage, where there was no room for a crate. Gavin gets the hallway and the bathroom (with baby gate) during the day and gets this plus both bedrooms at night. He has never had any incidents. Today it was so hot that I gated him in the basement instead because it is so much cooler on the tile floor down there. That went well, so we may do this for a bit. Full run of the house still seems a little scary to me. Like what was said previously, I don't think Gavin gets into anything when we are gone, just grabs stuff when we are around for attention. However, its a big leap of faith.

[Christine & Shelby]

Well.... I survived, Shelby survived and the house survived :o) Test #1 was a success. I left to go back to work at 2:45pm and returned at 5:45pm. 3 hours solo - she did great... she clearly had been sleeping when I came home as she greeted me at the laundry room door with a big stretch. When crating Shelby I always leave a kong with peanut butter and some kibble or treats. I put one in her crate with the door open just enough to get her paw in and open it up and left another in my office - this room has a window looking to the front yard. It was in an area she wouldn't nomally sit or lay down. I thought this would be fun for her to find the treats around the house... and of course toys! When I got home both kongs had been cleaned out! Shelby did so good - I am proud of her!!!

[Leigh & Allie]

Yeah!! That is awesome. Shelby did great!! You did great! I am sure you were afraid when you came in at first. I am sure she is well on her way!

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

We started giving Dex & Kirby freedom when they were ~1.5 yrs old. At first, we would just leave for 30-60 minutes and gradually would increase the time. By the time they were ~ 2 yrs old, they had total freedom (we both also work full time). I think Kirby could have handled the freedom earlier, but Dex is/was a little devil so it took a bit longer for him.