When is it good to give my puppy more freedom?

[Madeline and Peanut]

Hello all! We brought our puppy home at 8 weeks and at first he had all of the kitchen/hearth room to roam in. But later that week, a trainer came to our house and suggested that we limit his space a little more. So we got him a nice sized pen that is about 1/4 of the size of our kitchen/hearth room area. We are now wondering when would be a good time to let him roam the kitchen/hearth room area again, as he is 10 weeks old and hasn't had an accident for a week! Any suggestions or comments? Thanks!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

This is just my opinion and I wouldn't dream of contradicting what your trainer told you to do.  Here is what we did when Ned was a puppy and with our foster.  We have a den/kitchen area that has tile floors and we limited access to either a crate or pen when we couldn't watch with freedom of the den/kitchen when we were watching.

[Cindy M, Zachary & the Frenchies]

If he has not had an accident and you can supervise him, I would give him a little more space and confine him to the smaller area when you can't supervise him unless that larger area is completely puppy proof.

[Barbie]

I agree with Cindy. Oh, and a pee-proof room also (no carpet), as accidents still might occur.

[Leigh & Allie]

Concur.

 

[Bonnie and Kona]

We expanded Owen's space too soon and he started having accidents. If you can do it very gradually I suggest you try that. We ended up having to make the area smaller after the accidents started.

[Leigh & Allie]

We took down all of the baby gates when Allie was around 6-7 months, but she had not had an accident for about 3-4 months. I was also sure she would not eat/chew anything. I was VERY nervous the first time, but I limited the first time for a very short time. DH encouraged it, I am not sure I would have done it so soon if it had just been me. Allie has emptied the bathroom garbage cans, shredded a few magazines and papers, but that has been a long time ago. she turns 2 next week and we are over all of that....so rest assured you will get there.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

We limited Riley for the first two weeks and then he was on a long line.  We removed the rugs from the living room and supervised him in there after 11 weeks.  Now he is nearly 17 weeks we hae not had an accident in three weeks and he goes everywhere while we are there. Right now I am in the kitchen and he is in the living room asleep on the couch! The biggest thing I think is for the puppy to think of the home as his extended den.  The only thing I'm watching  for now are things like furniture and toilet rolls and other delectable chewy things.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

In addition to giving additional space because he isn't having accidents, it is probably even more important that you ensure that any space you are giving the puppy has been puppy proofed.  You would be amazed at what a 10 week or even an 8 month old puppy will find worthy of chewing and many things can really be harmful.  So, before you open up his world, be sure you have removed anything that might be harmful or anything that you treasure until you figure out if you have a chewer or not.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

We used many different methods/tools with Tara. We used baby gates, x-pen, crate and tethering her to us depending on any given situation. The goal was to give her as much freedom as possible but still be able to monitor her housetraining and train her in the behavior we wanted from her inside the house (no chewing wires or furniture, no dumpster diving-that sort of thing).  The need for confinement just depends upon your household and how closely he can be watched when not in the pen. Remember it's not just the potty training that is a concern but also keeping him safe from household dangers and keeping the house safe from him!

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Maybe a bit more, but very little at a time or you will see accidents again. Good luck!

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Peanut is soooooooo cute!  I live in a small 2 bedroom ranch so when I first got Sasha I pulled up all the rugs, closed the bedroom doors and let her have the whole house (kitchen, dining room, bathroom & living room) and she did just fine.  Yes she had her share of accidents but I also crate trained her and gave her her own "place".  She loves her crate.  When I got Oliver 8 months after Sasha, he was 10 wks old and I did the same thing... crate trained him and he also had the use of the house.  Both dogs were allowed to be free except for when I was not home or when I would go to bed.  Sasha is 2 now and Oliver is 1.  Both are completely trained, I can now keep my bedroom doors open and they have no desire or interest going in them.  Rugs are put back down after Oliver was completely potty trained.  I personally do not like to block the dogs in because they want to be by you (I have 3 shadows... mine, Sasha & Oliver -LOL) they follow me every where.  You have to do what works best for you, your schedule and your dog.