dare i.......?

woody has just turned 2 and has started to behave in a more mature way.i can pop out for an hour and return to an intact house without having to crate him or restrict him to the dining room. dare i give him the roam of the house for longer e.g. bedtimes/worktimes without risking expensive damage??? or as he is used to it after so long is it worth the risk?

aslong you take him out before you go out i think he be fine

I leave mine out but limit where they can be. I shut all doors to the living room and dining room, bedrooms, bathrooms and upstairs. They can roam in the kitchen hall and family room. Limits what they can destroy if they decide to go nuts. Haven't had a problem though as I exercise them prior to leaving them alone. They are good for up to four hours with enough exercise.

see my problem is i go to work very early in a morning (and a bit scared of going out with him that early-along with the problem of getting up at 4am instead of 5am) and same at night when it is still dark. he gets good exercise every day but its probably not at times when he will be left alone shortly after!!!

Moo has the run of the place, granted its only a flat but she has done since day one Up to you hun if you think he can be trusted Xx

Hm, don't know then. What about playing in the house for a bit first to wear him out mentally?

at 5am to be honest he cant be bothered either, tends to sleep on my lap, once he has been outside to do his business, whilst i have my wake up coffee, i suppose i need the support that its ok for me to restrict him as long as he is ok and doesnt appear affected by it. the rest of the rooms have electrics etc in them and it would only take one mishap/risk for him to come to harm

Restricting is still more freedom than the crate IMO. I have no problem with that and do it all the time. My dogs always seem less stir crazy even if they are sleeping all day when left out. Could just be my imagination but ever since the great flying escapades of Frosty, he has been terrified of the crate anyhow.

cheers, i will try the dining room whilst i am work tomorrow and if there is any damage i will hold you responsible!

uh uh uh... Can't wait for the stories.

yeh get your chequebook ready!!!

I am not a fan of crates anyway, and i am a worrier. If there was a fire at night, how would the dog get out? If someone broke into the house how would the dog protect its property/escape being taken or hurt?

Just my veiws, i know they are very useful for training but i just dont think they should be left unattended in them for any time.

on the other hand Hayley when the dog has been a chewer from day one and has even avoided electrocution after chewing through electric wires sometimes its for their own safety.

Good news to report, the house remains intact this morning - your cash is safe Ben!

We leave Suki daily for about 4-5 hours but she is exercised beforehand. Without the exercise I don't think I would trust her

woody is growing up, well done woody

Why do you want to give him the extra area's ? if he's happy at the mo, why risk it

Everyones diff I guess, but our dogs have never been allowed in bedrooms or bathrooms, but have free rome of the house untill night time, then he is shut in the kitchen over night (thats sounds horrible, but he is very comfortable and warm, and its a big area )

He never got on with a crate either, so he soon got used to his bed being in the kitchen, so we just shut the door at night

Charlie is restricted to my living room. He sleeps in there at night and is left in there if we go out. I could give him the run of the house, but he has plenty of space in the living room, the sofa or chairs to sleep on so I don't feel the need to. He's happy with it and so are we

nicolalouises wrote:on the other hand Hayley when the dog has been a chewer from day one and has even avoided electrocution after chewing through electric wires sometimes its for their own safety.

This is why I crated Dempsey. He was a terror for chewing, but what was worse is that anything he chewed he swallowed!

Although he was crated at night & when we went out it was only until he was about 15 months old. Then I started to leave the crate door open at night. After a couple of months I started to leave the door open if I was just going shopping & knew I would only be about 45 minutes. Now the door is never shut, but it's his bed & he takes himself to it when he's tired. Usually when I come home after being out for a while he's curled up in there fast asleep!

He has the run of the house except for the bathroom (he doesn't like the shower so he wouldn't go in there anyway!) and the bedrooms.

Ive always had to crate Cairo before going out because as soon as your back was turned she had the wallpaper off the wall,chewed into door frames etc.Only reciently she has chilled out loads.I tested her by leaving the door to her crate open when i went out shopping.Came back and she was fast asleep upside down.Ive left her a few times now since and everything has been fine.It took over 3 years for her to stop being destructive though,but i can trust her to be left for a few hours now

I never imagined I would be able to leave Romeo free in the house. He used to chew everything and then when he stopped that would go into my mothers wardrobe and pull out all her bras. Not chew them or anything, but fling them about-he did use to chew her shoes. I had to replace soooo many pairs.
Then when he hit about 15 months he just stopped and now chills out all day. Its SUCH a relief I can't tell you. I'm sure if Woody is good now you can leave him. People say leave the radio/tv on for them but I never found it made any difference, neither did leaving bones/toys.
EDIT: Just read some of the comments about the dogs not being allowed in the bathroom-Romeo follows me into the bathroom everyday. I originally started bringing him in with me when I was having terrible trouble house training him and needed to watch him like a hawk. Its part of his routine now. He goes to sleep on the bathroom mat.

Kaos will be 2 in june and the last time i left him out of his crate to have a fag outside he pulled the wall paper off the wall under the stairs and chewed through my oil filled radiator wire (which was on) and electicuted him self and triped the fuses for the whole house....... Ty on the other can be left in the house without causing any destruction as has been fine from about one and a half

shakespearesdog wrote:He used to chew everything and then when he stopped that would go into my mothers wardrobe and pull out all her bras. Not chew them or anything, but fling them about

this bit made me I can emagine bras flying everywhere lol

blaze wrote: chewed through my oil filled radiator wire (which was on) and electicuted him self and triped the fuses for the whole house.......

wow he is lucky to be alive.Scarey monent there

we leave our 2 in the kitchen while we're out. they get too giddy and run riot other wise they might not chew any more but they throw every thing all over or argue over what ever they find bed times they are in the room with me and the door shut. going to rethink this one though cos Lottie has got into the habit of waking me up at silly hours just for a cuddle

thanks all for all your stories, made me giggle and also realise that im not the only one that has been torn by this dilemna . luckily im not in meetings at work today so 5 hours after leaving the house ive nipped home just to check and all is well - may well be on the road to a new woody here!!!

Phew! Good job Woody! Keep up the good work!

So glad you came home to an intact home. Ty has stopped chewing but Idont leave him indoors when I am out. The weather here is good even in winter and he has his dog house if it rains. He has full roam of the house when I am home and at night and always lays on the bathroom mat while I am in the shower.

i used to leave my first Tessa out all day unfortunately its not safe anymore as spate of dog thefts in area, especially staffys. plus i wouldnt put it past Woody having Houdini type skills and escaping and coming to track me down at work!!

Our first Staffy Ellie was chewy as a puppy but then very good and had full run of the house. Misty our rescue, is luckily not a destructive girl, only with her toys. She has access to all the house, barks a passers by in the morning, sitting in her chair in the front room. Sleeps with my daughter at the start of the night but then usually migrates in with us. My OH tells me she doesn't snore as loudly as I do !

Billy gets the run of the house, but he is left in the living room at night with the door closed for bedtime. Having said that he hardly ever gets left alone at the most an hour to do a bit of shopping