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.

[Kelly]

 Skeet is great in the house. He never has bothered anything, except once I sat my plate down to answer the phone when I came

back the sandwich was missing, but he left the chips. He dosent bother stuff in the house, but if something is left on the back deck he assumes it is his and it might be destroyed. He is 4 years old so age may be a factor.

[Melissa & Porter]

Around 8 months is when I stopped crating Porter, for usually 5 hrs, no destruction.  He'll steal food or taunt us with thievery if we are home, but not when we are gone.  In fact, my DH left cookies on the dining room table before going on an errand.  When I arrived home, Porter immediately surfed the table and started racing around the house with the ziploc in his mouth.  Weirdo.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

It's the thrill of the chase NOT the cookies - this made me LOL

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Our Gracie Doodle is always free to roam the entire house at all times.  She is never locked out of any of the rooms.  I really can't remember when we gave her the 100% trust but she is now 3 1/2 yrs. and has been free for probably over 2 years.  She is completely trustworthy.  She never chews on a single thing in our house and doesn't ever get up on the furniture.  Our bed is her bed and hang out.  Only occasionally she will jump up on the den sofa with just her front paws to look out the window into the driveway and back yard. That is only when someone comes up...no one comes to our front door!  I have never NOT allowed her on furniture.  It has been her choice to not get on the sofas.  I think it is because she is just too big and doesn't feel that comfortable.  Besides, all three of our sofas are love seat size!  Gracie is not food motivated so she could care less about what food is out on the counter or table.  She is just the "perfect" leave alone at home dog!  She also has a doggie door in the kitchen sliding glass door that allows her to go outside to go potty.

[BG and Gavin]

We began leaving Gavin uncrated at about 6 months old, but the transition was very gradual.  We confined him to the hallway with baby gates and then just increased the space gradually over time.  By ten months he had proven himself worthy of free run of the house.  Luckily he does not touch a thing.

[Pat and Traveler]

Traveler is about 14 months old, and I've been leaving him alone with the run of the house since he was about 10 months.  He never chews anything or gets into anything.  The longest he's been left is about 5 hours.  He mostly just lies on the bed, where he has a view of the driveway, and waits for me to come home.  He's always in the same place when I get back. 

[ERIC A. NATER]

Neither of my Doodles have been crated. Cooper was kept gated in the kitchen until he was house broken. I am retired, so because I was there, I was able to watch him and correct his behavior. At the time, I had an older Golden Retriever and they both had free run of the house since cooper was house broken.  He is now twenty months old, and the only damage he has ever done was to tear up a new car manual I left on the couch.  He does not counter surf, get in the garbage, pick up socks, or any of the common problems I have read about on DK. In September I fostered and adopted Claire my latest addition.  She was about 10 months old, and house broken, and after observing and correcting her for a couple of weeks, she has had run of the house.  No problems with her in the house, but she chews up everything in the car.  Back seat seat belts are gone in the SUV!!  I keep leashes and extra collars in the car, and they are all in small pieces, and now must be put in console, or under the seat.  I keep antlers, and Nylabones, kongs, etc in the house and the car, and in the house these seem to satisfy her, but it is a different story in the car. I think the key to their behavior was my being retired, although, I had Golden Retrievers for thirty years before that, and never had any damage other than normal wear from nails on wooden floors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

s

[Bodie Bear]

We started leaving Bodie out last month, at 8 months old. He was always crated prior to this, but we decided to give it a try and have had zero issues. He is not a chewer, and he does not have accidents at all. We leave a TV playing softly, close the office and bathroom doors and gate off the upstairs. I know I am really, really lucky - he is a super easy, laid back puppy. I'm pretty sure he sleeps the whole time when we leave.

[ej]

We leave our two alone in the apartment, they have access to the whole apartment except our bedrooms and bathrooms.

 

A few months back, K chewed two big holes in our leather sofa (each about 6 inches in diameter).  Since then, we have put double sofa covers over the couch, and he has left it alone.

 

K used to be gated in our laundry room behind our kitchen when he was little (we use a child-gate), but he has gotten taller, and he can now scale/leap over it easily.  Instead of getting a new taller child-gate, we now leave them both alone in the apartment.  My place is pretty much child-proof, most items are kept on the higher shelves and/or in the drawers.  He is still not to be trusted.    

[Judi, David & Maddie Irishdoodle]

Maddie is always crated when we leave to shop etc.  She is almost 1 now and when we start putting on coats and boots she just automatically goes into her crate which is in the laundry room. I have gone out to shovel snow or chat to the neighbour and left her in the house but I really don't trust her out of the crate for hours at a time. 

She is a toy destroyer so I would hate to come home and find my table without legs or the cupboard doors ripped off lol.

 

[Frances Pendrous (Horan)]

I think this  is a tough one but I guess at the end of the day it all comes down to the "doodle" and how he/she behaves. Frankie Girl was never crated and left in the house since she was 20 weeks. Upon growing she did minimal chewing on strange, unimportant objects but now at 17 months, she is just perfect. Too big and hot to get on furniture or bed so no worries about that and totally not food motivated, so no stealing. Three weeks ago, we brought in a rescue, very sweet and very calm. We left him in the house alone with Frankie Girl. Obviously, not knowing the dog, this was quite the risk, but it paid off perfectly and he too, does not chew or steal (mind you, as a rescue he IS food motivated). They are perfect and just lay around waiting for one of us to come home. They do have a dog door and have access to the garden which does help with boredom. Sorry about your plant...the only time mine have been destroyed is by the pesky cats who keep nibbling on it at night....:)

[Sally]

duncan went from crate to being baby gated to living room dining room and now has total free reign of the house since about 10 months old. He's stellar when i am gone. He has never destroyed anything (well except my birthday cards that were on the table that fell and he made confetti out of them). I have a 3 story townhouse but can tell you that 99% of the time i know exactly where he is. The first floor. He has a BIG dog bed down there and he stays on it and stares at the front door until i get back. the only time he moves is to go eat his kibble out of his dish and then back to the bed. He just doesn't feel relaxed enough to do anything until we are re-united. He's a bit attached. So i am very lucky. Of course it makes me sad that he doesn't relax when he's alone.