I'm trying to convince my wife that our year old lab is ready for freedom in the house while we are at work. I'm getting nowhere. We aren't new at this either, but our first lab had early (too early) freedom while we were gone, and after about 3 months with no problems, decided it was ok to chew on things that weren't his. Back into the crate he went, til about 18 months old. Now, with our yr old lab, I've given him about a dozen test periods of about 1-2 hours of freedom by himself, and he's been perfect. I'm careful to pick up shoes/toys, etc beforehand. Whenever I tell my wife how good he was, I get a very evil look... she's worried about her quilting stuff, which I keep closed off from Jake, and the handmade furniture from her dad. But he's shown no interest at all in chewing on furniture, and I'm getting darn tired of coming home at noon every day, 15 mile round trip, to get him out of the crate and house for 30 minutes. I know he can make it thru the day no problem, without doing his business outside, and I don't want to be making these trips again for a 2nd winter. :gt: :spank: I agree with Alan, pass on the terrier. Keep in mind, there is no such thing as a dog that doesn't need attention. Every day. They are like another member of your family, to some extent. Except they do not grow up and move out. Do the homework to find a breed that fits your needs and ability to take care of its needs, then get a puppy, to train how you want it to be trained.
David - I learned alto when we adopted Mocha. After 2 weeks of Mocha "messing" the house, I knew I had to do something.....I was told by Trainers, Vets, and online forums to cage her. I thought it would be terribly cruel to cage a full grown Lab (90 lbs of pure muscle !!) at 1.5 years old having never been caged before....but since EVERYONE suggested it, I bought the cage, placed it in the kitchen, put her bed and several toys inside..... ....And She LOVED it !! Dogs are "Den" animals - they like having a place to call their own and by making the cage her home, she felt instantly comfortable. Dogs also dont "Mess" inside their den, so she instantly re-learned to go outside.....not inside. When you are home and let the dog out of their den (cage) , you MUST leave it open for them - sometimes they WANT to go back in !! We also trained her, after receiving a treat like a chewy or a biscuit, to "Go to your Bed" and eat it. To this day.....when I give her a treat, All on her own, she takes it and runs to her bed I mentioned We put the crate in the kitchen - this was for 3 reasons 1) Linolium floor (easy cleanup just in case) 2) close to the backyard door, and 3) Easily blocked off as a seperate room. #3 is important - as your dog and you become comfortable with the caging, you expand the size of their den. In our case, It was very easy to give her the whole kitchen leaving her cage in it, and isolate it from the rest of the house. In this way, her den grew, and the only time the cage was closed with her in was when we were away from home. The next step was to leave here in the kitchen outside the cage, blocked off from the rest of the house. Her den now became the whole kitchen and she didn't mess it !! Quite often I'd come home to se her sleeping inside her open cage This was then enlarged to the whole downstairs (as none of the rooms have doors), but her cage still remained in the kitchen, and she, on her own, would still sleep happily on her bed inside the cage. There was only one "mishap" and for that the process took a few steps backward to here being caged while we were out of the house. Finally....the cage was dismantled and hasn't been needed since. Importantly, her belongings (including her bed), inside the cage, were initially put in the exact same spot, just without the cage. a few months later they were moved to a more convenient location. We now have a second bed for her at the foot of our bed, and after alittle bonding time in bed with us, on her own, she takes her leave to retire on her own bed for the night. Lastly.....She's never chewed or distroyed any of our belongings like shoes or furnature - this I believe is because she has PLENTY of toys and Chewable items of her own to occupy her times. That said, its not uncommon for us to come home to a sweater or sneaker of ours on her bed - unchewed. She just wanted something of ours to be close to her while we are away.....and usually when I go to pick it up she has a major guilt trip even though we've never scoulded her for this. Id say take small steps in giving you dog more freedom in limited amounts and test their response. Some trainers beileve the whole house should never be "given" to them but I disagree - They more you try to keep them out of "that room" the more they are going to want to investigate it. Hope this helps some.....
Oh, we've been thru the whole process before, Alan. I have no concerns whatsoever that 1yr old Jake will not get in trouble in the house by himself, at this point. We've gone thru all the steps to get him to this point. You're right about crating. People who think it is inhumane are simply ignorant about a dog's need to have a den. Jake's crate is open always, in the dining room, when we are home. He frequently takes a toy in there to chew on it by himself. My problem is simply to convince my wife that he is ready. Our first lab, after proper training and maturation, roamed the house for 7 years during the work day, for 10-12 hrs. We could open the side door and send him into the back yard by himself, when he was done, we always knew he would come back up to the door when he came around the side again, never out into the front yard by the street. We could play with him in the front yard, loose, and knew he would never venture past the sidewalk. We could take him to the huge school yard a block away, off leash, and knew he would be at our side with a single word when necessary. Yes, we were spoiled rotten with him. I'll never have a smarter dog than he was. And I don't mean "tricks" smart. I don't believe in teaching my dogs pointless meaningless tricks. It bugs me when someone asks "can he shake hands"? :spank: Anyway... wife doesn't trust Jake, but I do. Guess who wins, for now.
