How old was your dog when given free rein

[teaandkittens123]

Hi, we have a 1.5yr old Cavalier who is lovely, but it’s quite restrictive still having to be in the same room with him all the time or he’ll be chewing/getting into something he shouldn’t. The kitchen is as proofed as it can be and basically someone is mostly stuck with him in it most of the time. He is in the living room with us in the evening (with a chew) which does still have stuff in it because I still want eg books on the bookshelf and there’s cables from lights etc that we can’t move. Plus the kids will often leave things they’ve taken in there like hair bobbles. Will this change that he’ll just lose interest in chewing the baskets in the storage unit/books on the shelf/eating hair bobbles etc and can just wander around the house? Or does everyone else stay in the same room all the time? He’s in the crate happily when we’re out.

I feel your pain, my youngest dog is also 1.5 yrs and takes everything he shouldn’t. Doesn’t help that he’s really tall and can easily reach surfaces without trying.

My other dogs are older, one of them used to rip up all my kitchen roll if left alone and will also occasionally rip up cardboard if it can find some but it’s rare that happens now.

And the lab, god he was a nightmare for the first few years but an absolute dream now so they do grow out of it!

Having said that, I do tend to not leave anything out I think they’ll chew. General household stuff is safe but if DC used to leave beakers with spouts around when they were toddlers, the lab would chew them. Also, the year of the spongy red noses comes to mind when I think he ate most of them if he had the opportunity.

Our beagle was about five months old when we started leaving him alone with the run of downstairs while we were busy or out. He's never been crated so it was very much normal for him to be left "loose".

He only ever destroyed one decorative cushion - otherwise he's never chewed anything inappropriate or destroyed any furniture. He will steal food if it's left out but we just use child locks for the kitchen and pop a baby gate up if we have to have food out for some reason.

I also have a 1.5 year old CKCS

Mine has been ok for a very long time, she's never really chewed/destroyed anything that isn't hers anyway but obviously when she was younger if I dropped something she wasn't supposed to have and she found it on the floor she would chew/eat it. I don't have children so it's been easier for me to avoid having random things left about for her to get.

She is a scrounger and will pick a microscopic piece of fluff up off the living room floor and eat it but I can let her have free rein downstairs while I stay upstairs for a bit without worrying about her getting up to no good. When I come down she's usually just sat on the rug waiting for me or curled up in my seat. When I'm downstairs walking about she follows me around so I don't need to watch her.

She's pretty trustworthy, she even had an advent calendar with sausages in that was kept on the bottom shelf of a cabinet in the kitchen. She knew what was in it and that it was hers but she never took the opportunity to try to get into it when left unattended despite being greedy beast.

She is still crated if I go out, I'm 98% sure she wouldn't get into any trouble but I'm too much of a worrier to risk it.

We could leave our terrier shut into our combined living-dining room, chilling on the sofa, from the age of about 8 months. She was never much of a chewer, but we always left her with a Kong with peanut butter in - just in case.
She's older and has the run of the house now (and also sleeps in our bed every night!! 🙈)

They stopped trying to eat shoes and furniture but our dogs are all over 3 and we still can’t leave things like hair bobbles around. I don’t think we’ll ever be able to. It’s made us be tidier at least, so every cloud and all that. 🙃

5 month old lab. We have been letting her roam free in the downstairs for about a month. She's pretty good at knowing what is hers to chew and what isn't. Nothing has been chewed that shouldn't be, yet. We keep an ear out for inappropriate sounds, just in case. She is in a pen if we need to go out, with a crate inside it.

If he doesn’t get used to going round the whole house with you, it will take him far longer to learn the house rules and what is his to chew and what isn’t.

Just let him go wherever you go but keep an eye on him and remove anything he shouldn’t be investigating (or move him away from it) with a firm “no” to reinforce the message.

My pups have always learned quickly and I can’t imagine a 1.5yo dog not having access to the whole house.

Ddog was always shut in one room at night /when we were out due to the alarm system. When we were home he had free rein as soon as he was potty trained. He chewed a few things he shouldn't but by 9 months that had stopped never to return. He's an old boy now and I've moved, he has free rein when he's here including the garden even when we are out due to the set up it's secure.

My dog is 2

He's big and a rescue (got him at 6 months) and he hated the crate so we never used one. We have always let him have free rein of the kitchen but put everything out of reach. He did still chew the chair legs a bit

He used to steal and chew cushions, shoes, socks, the TV remotes etc etc We learnt to put everything away out of his reach. I would say he has grown out of it now. I leave him downstairs on his own at night and at times in the day (he's free to follow me but he loves to sleep on the sofa) and have never found anything chewed
If we go out of the house I still shut him in the kitchen mainly to stop him barking at the front door.

To an extent I would say he also had to learn what is OK to play with and chew and what is not. We always swop him for a toy or a treat if he has something he shouldn't and we redirect him onto his own toys. He will now go and fetch one of his out of the basket if he wants to play instead of stealing the tea towels or cushions.

I would say it's probably from him turning 2 that he's much less interested in chewing stuff up and generally calmer. He was also neutered at 18 months

Depends a bit on the dog... but also...

They come with me, I don’t stay in one room.

We have all doors closed downstairs except kitchen, hall and sitting room. If sitting room is messy he’s not allowed in in case he gets something but he was never into wires etc so sorry!

Thank you, this is helpful! It seems that maybe he’ll lose interest, but also maybe we need to be teaching him more. He does know ‘leave it’ so maybe just more of that and swapping when we’re with him.

Our dog is also 1.5 years old. I could almost written your post, word for word, although we have a lab.

when not in his crate, someone is with Riverpup 99% of the time. He’s just so inquisitive, and is always on the hunt for things. I camn’t actually see anytime soon when he will have free roam of the house.

Our older pup was restricted to the kitchen and hall initially and only allowed in the lounge with supervision. She showed no interest in what was on the shelves so quickly given free reign of downstairs. Younger pup had free reign as soon as she was toilet trained, so less than 3 months.

We have a six year old pug who is an absolute dream when we’re around BUT cannot be left to roam when we’re out as she WILL find something that she shouldn’t have…most recently she got into a wardrobe, pulled down a box, chewed through a cardboard box, through the cardboard packaging and ate chocolates I’d bought for Christmas. Expensive mistake!

I think its either the dogs way or nor - a chewer or not interested. You could train him out of it but with significant dedication and crating any time you are not 100% watching so he has no "wins"

Our lab is 15 months and (touch wood) has never really been into chewing stuff he shouldn't he did dig into the old sofa, however, which we won't mention!

He has a crate as a refuge, but isn't crated at all when we go out. He generally parks himself somewhere for a snooze when we go out.

Thank you for your replies, it sounds mixed but that there’s hope!, I’ve put a basket of his toys in the living room, hopefully he might be more easily directed to that than all of our stuff, as I write he has his head in it. Also we need to be more specific about leave it and then swapping things too rather than just saying no. I’ve also tried to make his walks a bit more interesting today too so he’s more inclined to relax at home rather than look for stuff (fingers crossed). I @Riverlee I remember you and Riverpup from the Puppy thread! Sorry you’re in the same boat, but good to know we’re not alone!

Our BC is nearly three, I can’t remember exactly, but definitely by 6 months. We also have a dog flap so she’s allowed in the garden whenever she wants as well. When we are out she is shut in the dining room, with a gate to the kitchen and classic fm playing. This is mainly to stop her standing on the back of our sofa next to the window in the front room and barking at every single poor unsuspecting dog who dares to walk past our house when we are not there…! She doesn’t ever chew anything she shouldn’t, other than san pellegrino boxes (middle class dog!) she’ll happily leave other boxes by the door for recycling but runs off with those ones 🤣🤣

@teaandkittens123 i still enjoy reading that thread. Recent picture of RiverPup for you.

i’ve been thinking about this thread and watching what RiverPup does. We do allow him to wander around, but have to have someone within earshot (or eye-shot) at all times. If you leave a mat on the table unattended, for example, he’ll have it.