At what age did you begin to allow your dog to stay at home outside of the crate for short periods of time? How did you do this?I would like to leave the 4 month old puppy for 5 or 10 minutes while I get my son from the bus stop. He's never been left alone at home outside of his crate ever. Not sure when the right time would be. He goes to the door to let us know when he needs to go out to the bathroom. I would be sure he went to the bathroom before I left the house and would be sure the house was safe for him to stay alone.