I hate the Kennel as much as Hank does :(

[Kerry L]

Hank, is our 6 month old 1st gen labradoodle. We spent all weekend (and pretty much every weekend) with him and it was a fantastic weekend! He is usually kenneled during the week when we are at work. From 7am-Noon and 1pm-4ish. He is not a fan of his kennel at all, he hasn't been from day one. We never used it as a form of punishment or anything but I think the place we got him from kept him kenneled a lot before we got him (We got him at 12 weeks and he was the last pup to be taken home).

Anyway, he was nearly perfectly behaved all weekend! Even when we were up at our cabin. Yesterday, my  husband went out for lunch and left Hank loose in the house for about 2 hours and upon returning, everything was as he had left it. Hank didn't get into anything! Now this morning I had to kennel him so I could come to work and I felt terrible. Even at 6 months, I have to cox him into the kennel. And the worst part is that he usually acts like a nutcase after being in his kennel (jumping, selective hearing, etc.) but when he doesn't get kenneled, he's awesome

So I guess my question is: when should we risk leaving him alone, in the house when we leave for work? What age? The layout of our house does not allow us to block off an area, it's a weird vaulted ceiling layout and he'd HATE being locked into our bedroom so we'd shut the bedroom doors and he'd have the kitchen, living room, dining room and downstairs to roam. I've heard horror stories of 1 year old labradoodles destroying couches! We don't want that but I HATE KENNELING HIM!

[Moe]

Start by leaving him for an hour or so when you go out on weekends if all is well give him more freedom. Mine was out of the kennel by 4 mo. She hated it and so did I. She was never destructive when left alone. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Go for it, but close every door you can - all bedrooms, bathroom etc.  Can you block off a hallway with all doors closed? Bigger than a kennel.

Perhaps you try it in degrees - like part of the day or hours on a weekend.

[Pat and Traveler]

Like others said, start with short times alone and build up.  Trav easily transitioned to being alone in the house and never got into trouble.

[Stephanie and Ragley]

I'd say just start slow and block him off from extra areas as much as you can- and even then make sure everything is picked up everywhere! I'm transitioning Ragley out of her kennel right now to freedom in the downstairs portion of the house and used our over 3' tall barstools to block the steps to go upstairs. Well, guess who jumped over the barstools? Luckily, she is not destructive so I don't worry about that, but I was definitely surprised to see what blockades she was capable of overcoming!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with trying it after making sure the house is "puppy proofed" as much as is humanly possible. All bathroom, bedroom, and closet doors closed, no food on counters (or anywhere else), and no accessible garbage cans or waste baskets. Maybe give him an extra good chew toy or stuffed Kong to keep him busy. 

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

We did all that is suggested. Started out for an hr and built up. Leaving lots of chews and goodies around to keep her occupied. We have left Enzo up to 5 hrs with complete freedom of the house and she has never done anything she wasn't suppose to. Start out slow and build up time. Good luck!

[Kerry L]

Thank you so much for all your suggestions! I'm so happy to hear that he is at a good age to start giving him some freedom in the house! We will start leaving him on the weekends little by little. Thanks again everyone!! :)

[Lynda Kamrath]

I would take it gradually.  I assume that he does not sleep in the kennel.  Where does he sleep?  I also just do not like the look of kennels and our dogs have never been in them (except in the car as puppies).  We have a kennel that we have left open in the laundry room and they have gone into that to sleep and our visiting rescue dogs used it for sleeping.  I would try getting a couple of doggie beds and lay them around for him to experiment using but also leave the kennel open for him to go into if he so chooses.  Then start leaving him for longer and longer periods of time with the beds or kennel choices.  You may find that he will choose to go into the kennel with the door open so he doesn't seem trapped.   Also, is he totally house trained?  That might be another issue if he is left on his own for hours at a time.  Get in the habit of keeping everything put away except plenty of toys for him to chew and carry around.  Close all doors and everything put away in the kitchen.  Funny:  My friend had a potbellied pig who lived in an igloo on her deck but wandered in the house when they were home.  He was great at opening doors and one day came into the kitchen from the deck (opened the slider which was not locked) and opened the refrigerator and the cabinet and ate a bunch of apples and potatoes.  He thought it was great having all the kitchen to himself. 

[Kerry L]

No, Hank does not sleep in his kennel. He actually sleeps on our bedroom floor on his doggy bed (one of 4 in the house. He's spoiled). He has slept in our room since about 2 weeks after we got him, from the start, he was perfect. Never bothered anything.

Yes, he is completely house trained. The only time he goes in the house is if he gets mad at us; Example: last week we got home from work, let him out for only 20 minutes, then put him back in to run an errand. the errand took MUCH longer than expected so he was kenneled for 3 more hours after being kenneled all day. When we got home, we took him outside to go  and he went but he came back in and when (very little) on our floor. He was, for sure, just mad at us.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I know it seems that way, but dogs don't really get "mad" at us. Most likely, it was due to stress and anxiety from being put back in the kennel and left alone for another 3 hours after he had waited all day to finally get out and spend time with you, and the change in the usual routine. 

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

You have good advice here from others.

We are transitioning now with our 2 year old.  He does not mind the crate most of the time, but I hate the big dopey and ugly monster.  We left the crate door unlatched when we went for dinner this weekend, and he was fine.  He met us at the door, obviously very full of himself that he was loose!  He has some sores on his neck so we are going to keep him out of day care this week, so maybe we will let him roam during the day...it is a long day though.  

[Deborah Brown]

As long as he isn't a crazy chewer, I'd go for it and, as others suggest, do shorter trial runs first.  If, however, he chews destructively or when he is anxious, then I'd be a bit more cautious.