At what age did you give your pup 'full reign' of the house

[Hurtwood Dogs]

Just to add, my two have two rooms (Kitchen and a large dining/family area) but I'm not precious about either of those areas as it will all be going/changing in the next few months and to be honest I'm pretty sure they just stay in their bed when I'm out anyway. I would trust Normy with the run of the house but Dave.... NEVER Cockers just seem to have a habit of not being able to help themselves, randomly... I'd definitely agree that a lot of dogs (although not all) do prefer being left in confined spaces when they're on their own - they often feel safer and happier to sleep and relax. Both my cockers have been a bit unpredictable when left to their own devices when young I'd say around about 2 years they got a lot better, but even then......

[Helen]

after the infamous victorian ceiling falling in on Jarv and his crate at 12 weeks he developed (understandably) a crate aversion 

He had free range of the living room and kitchen after that...but then he was a weird pup and wasn't a chewer or destroyer and was housetrained very early.  I know - I'll never get another pup as angelic 

He curls up on his dads armchair if we go out and now I leave the hall door open in case he wants to go upstairs and ruffles the duvet 

[MaggieR]

Unless its because I'm going into work so out for about four hours Maggie has the free reign of the house now.... but she's also never been a chewer.  If I'm going to work she has the run of the kitchen and extension with her sofa to snuggle on 

[Pudding]

Bob was 6 months old when i first got him... and he had the run of the house right from the off
he has a crate in the car but thats it....
i have been very luck with him as he has never even done a wee indoors, and has never chewed anything
since the day i got him... but he is not left that offten.. as he comes to work with me every day
but most Saturdays he is left while i go shopping

[Geordietyke]

Am sooo envious of you Helen, Lisa and Pudding - please pass some  vibes down the line for Odie pleae

[Mittens]

Another lucky one here - we always confined them to the living room when we went out, until house renovations recently forced us to keep them out of there (for their safety really) and as the rest of the house is open plan downstairs, they pretty much got the run of the house by default!  BUT I'd so clearly underestimated them (bad mummy) as it's been three weeks now and no destruction at all whatsoever anywhere (well, the odd pizza take away menu gets shredded as it lands on the doormat, but I can live with that!  )

[Helen]

Am sooo envious of you Helen, Lisa and Pudding - please pass some  vibes down the line for Odie pleae

I know!  He was so good I reckon the next pup will have 666 tattooed on the back of his neck just to bring me into the real world 

Sending angel vibes to Odie - he's not bad, just high spirited 

[Geordietyke]

Thanks Helen, no bless him, he's really quite good with the biting (only me occasionally and one piece of carpet at the bottom of the stairs) just don't want to risk it yet   As others have said, if he is happy in it, I'll keep him there! 

[Nicola]

Tilly was 2 when I got her and has had free run from day 1, she's never peed in the house or chewed anything. Rodaidh was crated until about 18 months, he was a devil for chewing electrical cables when he was younger so I didn't trust him not to electrocute himself and/or burn the house down Since then they've both had the run of the house when I go out and we've not had any problems, I think they've always tended to just snooze on the sofa. Caoimhe is now 22 months and was still crated if I had to go out until very recently when she went back down to her trainer but when she comes home again I won't crate her any more.

[Mudmagnets]

Smudge & Katie are 4 & 2 and have the run of my bedroom (with bed having anti-pooch covering on top half) and the hall and the kitchen.

 I shut the door to the living room cos there are just too many inviting leads for 2 curious mischief makers. But I think as long as I am out no longer than 3 and a bit hours, they settle down an snooze the time away.

Katie used to attack the post - till I got a post box for outside and taped the door letterbox up.

[supergirl]

If I'm out the only one I crate is Lexi otherwise she will terrorise the cats (plus she can get out of the catflap), other than that the dogs have free run of the kitchen, dining room and conservatory only, to protect the post - they compete to see who can shred it the quickest    They're not allowed upstairs until bedtime as one of my cats gets quite stressed when the dogs are about.  None of them are particulary destructive, though when Roly was a pupster he did have a fondness for gnawing on the skirting board and door frame to the hallway.

[Jeanette]

He had free range of the living room and kitchen after that...but then he was a weird pup and wasn't a chewer or destroyer and was housetrained very early.  I know - I'll never get another pup as angelic 

I can relate to that 

[Sheepscheeks]

Freddie has the kitchen with a stair gate across when we are all out. That is what he has always had and I can't see it changing in the near future as he still chews things given half the chance depending what mood he is in. He doesn't chew the kitchen units, architraves or floor covering like some I have heard of. He gets a frozen yogurt/tuna kong and his treat ball with some tuna bread in to keep him amused. When my husband works from home he works upstairs and Freddie has the run of the downstairs with all remote controls safely out of his reach  . OH pops down every now and then. He seems fine with that arrangement.

[Ian Wright]

Grace has been allowed to go any where in the house since we had her. If we go out she will only have to run of the kitchen.
     
     she will not go up the stairs  she just stands there with her front paws on the first step and she does not climb on the sofa by her self I have to put her on it 

[Countrygirl]

We brought Ellie home when she was 8 weeks old to the day.  She has never had a crate and had the full run of the house from day 2.  She had been paper trained by her breeder and would only wee & poo on newspaper, so I always made sure there was some behind the back door.  Wherever she was in the house when she wanted to go she would run to the paper behind the back door and if we saw her quickly enough we could lift her outside.  The only time she really went on the paper was during the night.  She was so easy to train.