Anyone else not let their dog have free run of the house ?

[C908]

I was just wondering if we are the only ones that don't let our dog loose in the house. We feel like we have failed in this area. Preacher will be two in February and we still can't trust him to be loose. We have many breakables through out the house along with four indoor cats. I feel certain if he was loose he would chase the cats and break something. We have an upstairs TV room that is his designated area. His kennel is also in this room and we have a baby gate in the doorway. When I take him through the house he is always on an 18 inch leash. This system seems to work for now. I'm curious to hear what others are doing. Thanks !

 

[Viemarangelrock]

Tara has free reign of the house but to be fair she’s a fair bit older than Preacher and shown to be trusted in the house when left alone.

To be fair, I’ve never had the experience of cats & dogs so hopefully you’ll get some input from other members. I would imagine that the cats would be seriously stressed out, you don’t want that.

If and when you want to try him....

2 of my previous boys were aged between 2-3 yrs old when I gave them free reign. You kind of don't go from no freedom to all out freedom all day. You start with seeing how he does with some freedom for a limited time. As an example, you leave him out and disappear for 5 minutes. Try to stretch the amount of time you leave him. After you have a good feeling that his behaviour is OK then you leave for a longer period, 2 or 3 hours. Before you leave him at all make sure he can't get anything that can hurt him. Eventually you should be able to leave him for longer periods.

All dogs are different and the only way you are going to find out is to give him more freedom and see how he gets on. If you notice that freedom equals trouble then roll him back to the old area. Be patient with him as at first the freedom means he will explore.

 

[raym0016]

I have a bit of the opposite thing happening. I have a two story house, the dog gets the run of the first floor but not the bedrooms upstairs. We have a 17 year old cat that has no interest in colocating with Ramsey. He's only 6 months old so he's got a lot of maturing to do before we let him have the run of the house. The cat stays upstairs, except to go to the basement where her litter box is. The baby gates prevent Ramsey from getting the cat's food. I am less concerned with him chasing the cat than eating the cats food in 1 gulp.

 

[Rodyboy]

I do not have cats and four with a dog may prove disasterous,so.....on that note our boy is two and eight months and he is crated at night and when we are away. The last two dobes we have had needed to be crated when gone and asleep but have free reign otherwise. We had four before that, they slept in their beds and were free when gone, they were our ADT system. They didn't do anything awful except lay on the couch they knew they weren't supposed to and we always felt it to see if it was warm. At times they would sleep in my chair or my husbands. We didn't even have crates! With the last two we've had separation anxiety issues and they get spiteful if gone, so thus the crating which they both drive you nuts before you leave the houselike they are being killed or something but fine at night. What you do is what you decide is best for your household. He sure isn't being hurt in anyway. They have a gigantic capacity to make us feel guiltydont falll for it Ha!Ha. Listen to me talking, he pulls at my heartstrings something terrible, I have to stop myselfhubs reminds me. Hope this helps, remember your doing a great job!

 

[Antman408]

HA! Not a chance, if I left rex alone in the house for more than 10-15 minutes I’d comeback to something messed up and probably a trip to the vet to induce vomiting and an X-ray. When we’re not home he’s crated. I have a playpen for him which is a 6x6’ cage in the living room that has some toys and a bed in. I’ll leave him in there sometimes for an hour or so. But that’s as far as it goes.

i don’t feel guilty for this either, he only spends typically 6-8 hours a day in his crate. Usually less and has a better life than 99% of other dogs out there.

 

[C908]

Another fear I have is he might hurt one of the cats. Even if he was just playing and pounced on one it could be disastrous. I have this bad picture in my mind of him running through the house knocking things over and breaking things as he is trying to catch a cat.

 

[C908]

HA! Not a chance, if I left rex alone in the house for more than 10-15 minutes I’d comeback to something messed up and probably a trip to the vet to induce vomiting and an X-ray. When we’re not home he’s crated. I have a playpen for him which is a 6x6’ cage in the living room that has some toys and a bed in. I’ll leave him in there sometimes for an hour or so. But that’s as far as it goes.

i don’t feel guilty for this either, he only spends typically 6-8 hours a day in his crate. Usually less and has a better life than 99% of other dogs out there.

How old is Rex ? I also share that fear of something getting swallowed that shouldn't. To many stories on this forum of that happening. Seems I remember a couple of dogs that died from it due to complications.

 

[Mystic]

Kodak has had free run since 8 months. He is 2 now. Guess it just depends on the dog. Kodak just sleeps when I go out. He also just isn’t much of a chewer on things. He isn’t like his mother that is for sure lol. Seven is her name and I get told all the time of her naughty ways haha! And she is still crated when owners leave the house. She eats everything and I believe she is 6 or 7 now.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

My two were allowed to be free around 18mo. I did however separate them giving Bogie the Living room and kitchen and Bacall had hall, bathroom and bedroom. Our other bedroom has a half door so the cat can get in there if needed.
I have come home many times after being gone for 5-6 hrs and found Bogie snoozing on the couch with the cat snoozing just above him on the top of the couch.
When both dogs are together is when they chase the cat. One on one with the cat and they act like the cat is their best buddy.
Leads me to believe they act stupid with the cat when we are around because they think it’s their job.

Bacall is not trustworthy around the garbage can in the kitchen as she is a counter surfer and paper towel consumer so she has to stay in the other part of the house. Bogie doesn’t bother the garbage but if there is food around he will try to sneak it when you are not looking.

I think each dog is different so as long as the cats have an escape route to a safe area where your Dobe can’t reach them then you can start leaving him in small increments of time to see how he does.

 

[Brioddy]

All my dogs run free. Inside and outside, though only outside if I’m there with them. I stopped crating Brinks and Rio when they were each about a year old when I wasn’t at home, and they’ve never been crated over night. I also do not do cats but I imagine if I did they know what is off limits. My parrot can walk by and they don’t even bat an eye, they run around my ducks and act like they aren’t even there. But goodness help the stray egret or heron that lands in the yard!

 

[Ravenbird]

Is Preacher free around the house when you are there, or are you just talking about when you are gone? The way you referred to the 18" leash, it sounds like he's never off leash in the house at 2 years? Maybe I'm misunderstanding. If you are there, watching tv, eating dinner or whatever and he's free and behaving, I'd think it would not be a big deal to start leaving him alone for short periods. Cats have to have a place to go to get away, always. If Preacher knows his recall, sit, down & stay, utilize that so he understands what is never allowed in the house: running, horseplay, chasing etc. If he doesn't do those commands off leash, I'd start with that.

 

[Kaiser2016]

We leave Kaiser free and alone (no human supervision) for maximum 4 hours during the day and he is 3 years old. If he would be alone all day (>6 hrs), then we would crate him. We tried letting him be free at night and although he can handle it, he wakes up earlier and starts ‘singing’ and WE definitely can’t handle that, haha.

I think with your dog being higher drive - South Americans are said to be sharper than NA but I don’t know how they compare to the insanity of a Euro - you will just have a harder time living with him. The local Doberman population is predominantly Americans and Kaiser is always the only Dobe that never stops moving.

Everything is made ‘less difficult but not easy’ when he’s mentally and physically drained, but I would think you could remove the indoor leash from him by now especially if you don’t play inside the house. We do play inside the house, so that means he is used to being a bit more wild at home, but it’s always on our terms and he’s never been leashed in house. We control the toys and don’t allow any play in the basement and he accepts that. He’s also not allowed upstairs as the cat is there. I don’t worry that he will kill the cat, but I do worry about the cat dealing with the stress of his intensity. We have them sorted out to the point that he largely ignores her unless she bolts, and she is no longer on CBD oil, so that’s another move in the right direction.

 

[Rits]

Do what works best for you! I kennel my dogs when I'm gone for peace of mind. They seem to prefer it. They can go outside to a potty area whenever they please or to just lay out in the sun (I swear they are part reptile). I work from home so they aren't kenneled very often or long at all. I do have cats and I've found the more I leave the dogs out they eventually get brave and get into trouble. Litterboxes are cleaned frequently but they'd eat even fresh litter just because. The cats have a very tall cat tree to escape to and beds to hide under. Though, I completely trust my dogs with the cats. They have been trained from day one that the cats are off limits. Stray cats however are on the menu, lol. The dogs have free run when we are home which is 85% of the time, sleep on their beds next to ours at night, and get to run flat out outside every day.

Its what works for us and theres nothing wrong with it. There are dogs that are left outside 24/7, given no shelter, and dogs that live inside but never exercised so they destroy their home, are poorly trained, and/or unhealthy. Being kenneled for a part of the day, if thats what works for you thats what work and you shouldn't feel like a failure. He's still young and its to be expected. You can start working on giving him some structured places to relax in each room that you guys hang out in, and praise him for laying there or in general for being calm. Take him outside often to release energy. Like others, I don't typically let them rough house inside. Theres plenty of opportunity to do that outside. During the winter the girls will wrestle but they always look at me to see if its ok and then I give them the ok by encouraging them

You have 4 cats, surely some must come out around Preacher? Is it possible to desensitize him to the kitties more? Have him on a leash and given a place command, maybe a kong or bone to occupy him while you play with a cat nearby? Reward Preacher for baby steps of progress he makes in ignoring the kitty. I know he has high drive and the cats running is a trigger so it will take lots of repetition.

 

[Lizbeli]

Jasper (10mths old) is only crated when no one is home or for bed time. But honestly I am a worry wart with him and I feel like he would get into something while I am away. We do our best to keep the house tidy but hubby isn't the most careful. And Jasper really likes socks. I have seen him walking around with them but I am afraid one day he will swallow one.

For my own sanity he is crated when I am not around. I feel bad locking him up but its only for a few hours until my better half gets home. And I know he sleeps anyways. Even on my days off he takes a nap around 3pm when I leave for work. Its actually comical.

 

[Antman408]

How old is Rex ? I also share that fear of something getting swallowed that shouldn't. To many stories on this forum of that happening. Seems I remember a couple of dogs that died from it due to complications.

He is 22 months in age. I doubt he will ever be trustworthy to leave out. Maybe when he’s 3? Idunno. Dudes a poop head. Lol

 

[JanS]

Good grief and Albert was in the trash as I'm reading this...

I started giving Della freedom of the whole house right after we lost Boris, when she was 2. I'm sure she would have been trustworthy way before then but they liked to be together. I had to go back to work for a few hours one afternoon and she was sound asleep in bed so I just let her be and she was still contently sleeping in bed when one of us got home a few hours later.

As for being crated with the door closed, neither of them have done that for years, but they both regularly go in there to relax and get some privacy quite often.

 

[Dogs4Life]

Zeus was right around 2 before we started leaving him out. I started with 1st leaving him out at night...all he ever did was jump up on the couch next to our rescue and sleep..so figured what's the harm. From that I'm guessing it was about 3-4 weeks until we started leaving him "free roam" daily.

However he did have Pirate, our rescue who is about 6 yrs older than him to watch and learn from.

Best of luck!

 

[GennyB]

I feel bad locking him up

Don't feel bad. You are protecting him. No doubt you would feel worse if he had to have surgery for an obstruction.


In our case Rumor does have the whole house at night. Her crate door is open so she does go to just chill. She usually goes where I go, but on the off chance I somewhere I don't need her, she does have free rein of the house.
I've never really had a chewer so I'm not really worried about her destroying anything.

 

[MyBuddy]

Stray cats however are on the menu, lol.

That was hysterical!

 

[C908]

Funny as I read comments I leave Preacher in the TV room with the baby gate shut to go get a soda.When I left he was being good laying on the sofa, I'm in the kitchen and hear is collar jingle.I run back up stairs and he has the pillow off the chair shaking it, he ripped a hole in it. This is why its hard to trust him unsupervised. I really want to trust him but I know how he is. Hopefully when he gets a little older things will change.