How old?

[TrickyShepherd]

How old was everyone's dog when they were trusted in the house without 24/7 hawk supervision? Over night? Home alone?

My golden was crate trained, but she was free roam from around 4 months til the day she passed. Never had an issue with that. She was absolutely perfect in the house! Zira, however, I don't even trust without having an eagle eye on her during the day when we're home and in the main part of the house!

She's almost a year now... and I KNOW free roam wont be any time soon! That's guaranteed!

Out of curiosity, I want to hear when everyone else was able to set their pups on free roam.

[KaiserGSDLove]

Kaiser is a year and a half and I still don't trust him with a blanket in his cage let alone being free around the house while we're gone. I wish it wasn't that way but better safe than sorry.

[LaRen616]

My male started sleeping outside his crate at night when he was 8 or 9 months old.

My male was allowed free roam of the house while I was gone when he turned 2 years old.

I dont know if I will ever get the courage to let my female stay out of her crate at night or while I am gone.

[Veronica]

Probably around 6 or 7 months we started out with Panzer in the bedroom with the bedroom door propped so the cats could come in but Panzer couldn't get out. After a couple of months after that, we just started keeping the bedroom door open so he has free roam at night.

At 20 months, he still goes in the crate when we're gone. He doesn't mind going in there, so better safe than sorry. I did leave him out once and he chewed a couple of the strips of my bedroom blinds.

[mysweetkaos]

Looking back I am quite amazed....Kaos was never crate trained. He had free roam (with much puppy proofing) from 10 weeks old. I am a stay at home mom so there weren't a lot of extended absenses. He did great. We didn't introduce a crate until he was almost 2.
Sherman....I just posted yesterday he is 9 months old....I left him gated so I could take a shower and he proceeded to eat the entire handle of his jolly ball......so maybe never? We are going to start working on bedtime while semi contained to a room rather than a crate.

[GatorDog]

I stopped crating Aiden at night when he was about 10 months old. I got him at 5 months and had to potty train him then, so that was after a few solid months without accidents and he was closed off in the room with me. He still sleeps in the same room as me with the door closed. I gave him free roam of the house when we left somewhere between 1.5 and 2 years. I started closing him off in one room, and then gradually started leaving some doors open. I have not left him alone for the whole night yet, but if I decide to go "out" somewhere then he can be alone from like 10 or 11 until 4 in the morning. I think of it as, "he'd normally be sleeping anyways." He doesn't have any separation anxiety issues so I don't usually worry about him destroying anything anymore.

[Scarlettsmom]

We have never crated at night, but we have put her in a shepherd resistant enclosure while we were at work. In the past year, we have let her have free roam while I am at work. This has not always worked. I must close doors and make sure leather stuff is put away EVERY TIME I LEAVE.

Scarlett will be five in February...

We live by the motto "Nothing is Shepherd Proof. The best you can hope for is Shepherd resistant."

[Emoore]

Rocky and Kopper were both around 5 months old when they got free roam of the house when we were gone.

[Barb E]

Dante was 4.5 months old when I got him and not house trained.

I didn't crate at night, rather tethered him to me so if he moved I'd wake up. I don't remember for sure how long this lasted (it was a long time ago) but it doesn't seem that it was that long before he had free run of the bedroom at night.
This worked very well for us!

He was crated while I was gone to work (or out shopping etc) for the first year, then earned short times out of the crate.

He actually didn't have free run of the house until he was 3.

Let me say with all that, the only thing he ever chewed that was inappropriate was his bedding in the crate.

[WendyDsMom]

Trigger was 11 months old when we started to trust him to be left in the house unsupervised. He ever only knocked over the trash can in the kitchen - that was his addiction, kitchen trash.

I would put the trash in the pantry and close the door before we left anywhere - guess were you would find the warm spot on the floor when we returned... right in front of the pantry.

Bailey has always been free range in the house.

Wendy, perhaps when she is 15 and has arthritis........