Leaving them alone in the house

[Toni McCann]

We started about 3 weeks ago letting Teddy stay in the house alone. He has been really good until a few days ago. When we came home our large lucky plant was down to the nub. We yelled at him and he went in the family room and hid. He did not eat the leaves, just had them allover the room. Does anyone else leave their doodles alone in the house? We never did use a crate for him. When we went out he went in the laundry room. My dh wanted him out.

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

No way Jose!!  We tried with Rosey once and same thing, she did fine for a few days but then I came home one day and she had decided to chew up the frame on our window doorwall.  I yelled at her too which really only helped me feel better.  I doubt she had any idea why I was so mad and corrections need to be immediate, not well after an incident.  Now they have their own room in the basement which has nothing they can hurt.  or if they happen to damage something it's not such a big deal.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

My guys were crated until they were able to prove that they could be out with no damage.  They are free in our kitchen and foyer when we're out of the house.  They have their beds and they are able to look out the windows. There's actually nothing that they could get in trouble with in this area.  Your dog will not understand WHY you yelled at him....he probably went and hid because he was just frightened by your reaction.  If you don't "catch them in the act", they can't relate to why you're upset.

[Martha & Cooper]

I have experimented a couple of times with Cooper and he is just not ready yet at 14 months.   He is gated off in our kitchen when we are gone.   He has torn up his dog bed, two couch pillows, a plant, numerous magazines and chewed my end table!    I keep the magazines and pillows up, no plants within reach, but I can't remove the tables.   He has a new bed now and seems to be using it to lay on, instead of chewing, but it was just a month ago that he ripped up the other one when I left him for less than an hour to test him.   He did fine the first day I did  this, it was the second day, he decided it was ok to explore.  He seemed to be doing so well..........

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

How old is Teddy?  We started leaving Dex & Kirby loose for long periods of time once they were ~2 yrs old.  Before that we didn't feel we could trust them. 

[Robyn, Greg and Snickers]

We leave Snickers in and out of the crate. If he seems tired we crate him as that is when he gets in the most mischief. Also the first few times we left him with his kong (filled with treats) and I am not even sure he knew we left! It is definitely trial and error so I wouldn't give up. 

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Oh Goodness, I have been leaving Daisy out and alone since she was 10 months old. The first time was for 2 hours and I built on that. Once in a while we leave her expecting to be back in 3 to 4 and once got stock in a gosh awful traffic back up for 2 hours making her stay alone 6 long hours. I was frantic to get home, when we arrived she was laying in the living room waiting for us, she grabbed a toy and headed for the door to go pee pee - out she went and then in she came to greet us. She has always been laid back so I think we are just lucky. Seriously she has never chewed, broke, or ruined anything.

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

We have started leaving Bella alone, with Murphy for short periods. Dh will go out to the garage and just pop back in and out to check on her. Sometimes she is fine and sometimes she is just starting to get into something.

 We are doing the same with her as we did with Murphy in that she never knows when she is going to get caught and hopefully she'll learn as quickly as he did that you better not touch or mom and dad will come in any minute and catch me! 

We still use the ex-pen for more than 1 hour. She is much more mouthy than Murphy so it is going to be awhile. Guess you have to give them the opportunity every once in awhile to prove themselves?

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

We turned one of our bedrooms into a room for the girls when they were about 3 or 4 months old.  That is where they have always gone when we aren't home.  It is where they sleep at night.  It has their beds and their toys and food and water in it as well.  I have also kept our computer desks in that room because it allows them to spend lots of time with me and still have all of their things.  We took the door off and just put a baby gate.  I have left the out many times when I've left the house, but for the most part they realize when I'm getting ready to leave the house, and if I ask them if anyone wants to potty, they will come back in from potty and just go to their room because they have figured out the routine.  I think they feel more secure in there.  When I first started letting them stay out it was just like while I cut the grass or ran to the store or something like that.  I've left them for several hours and they are just usually laying at the back door waiting on us when we come home.  You can tell they have been asleep.  They have never gotten into anything.

[Toni McCann]

I agree. Teddy has the laundry room where he can't hurt anything. If we are gone for more than 2 hours I think he is going back in there. Better safe than sorry.

[Toni McCann]

He is 8 months old. Really good. But, that plant taught me he is still too young.

[Toni McCann]

She is a rare one. So good. You are lucky.

[Toni McCann]

Would love a doggie door. But Teddy won't go in the backyard without us. We open the door and if we are not right in back of him he turns around and looks at us as if to say come on I'm waiting. LOL