[emlopre]

I realize every dog is different of course but thinking about ditching the crate for my puppy while I am not home. she's an 8 month old Great Dane... giant breeds take a lot longer to "mature" in my experience and I don't expect her to be any diff lol.

she is definitely a rambunctious teenager still but she is starting to settle energy wise at least a little. I am not sure why but I decided to start experiment w. leaving her out for very short periods (10-15 mins) a few weeks ago... and it's gone surprisingly well.

today was the longest period, let her loose while I was out getting groceries and was gone a lot longer than I meant to be so she was here about 2 hours alone...

She was perfect!! I unintentionally left out wadded up papertowels on my desk (her fav thing to tear up) and forgot to take the bread off the counter....which honestly if I was home she absolutely would have gotten into both of those lol. I was thinking about that bread pan being empty on the floor the whole time when I remembered I left it out....

We are supposed to start returning to the office mid Septemberish on a hybrid model so 3x a week she will have to be home all day alone for the most part so I guess that's why I am starting to experiment with it. I will still continue to test it out for longer periods. Would you feel comfortable letting a giant puppy roam your house all day w. her being well behaved so far? I will say she definitely seemed a little anxious the first few times as she was still at the door or sitting in front of it not letting me in when I got back haha.. but she got off the couch this time to greet me so she was able to relax w.out getting into anything.

she will have a midday walker on those days but still will be alone from 8-1pm and then in the afternoon til about 5:30... she just seems so young to be left alone but I also would like her to be able to have access to her toys and nap spots but thats a lot of free time to get into stuff. I have heard if they are going to be destructive they generally do it quickly after you leave but I do not know how true that is so any guidance would be appreciated!

 

[storyist]

I'd be comfortable with it until the day I came home to a mess. It's hard to remember when years have passed since the last puppy, but I think mine started with being loose in one room and then that gradually expanded to two, etc.

 

[Lillith]

Personally, I would not trust a dog that young with quite that much freedom yet. A few quick errands, sure, but the freedom of the entire house for a full work day, probably not. But, each dog is different, and you won't know until you try, I suppose.

If you're not quite comfortable leaving her to roam your whole house, you could block off some areas so she can only get to certain rooms. Preferably the ones she can cause the least damage, haha!

 

[crazydoglady333]

I realize every dog is different of course but thinking about ditching the crate for my puppy while I am not home. she's an 8 month old Great Dane... giant breeds take a lot longer to "mature" in my experience and I don't expect her to be any diff lol.

she is definitely a rambunctious teenager still but she is starting to settle energy wise at least a little. I am not sure why but I decided to start experiment w. leaving her out for very short periods (10-15 mins) a few weeks ago... and it's gone surprisingly well.

today was the longest period, let her loose while I was out getting groceries and was gone a lot longer than I meant to be so she was here about 2 hours alone...

She was perfect!! I unintentionally left out wadded up papertowels on my desk (her fav thing to tear up) and forgot to take the bread off the counter....which honestly if I was home she absolutely would have gotten into both of those lol. I was thinking about that bread pan being empty on the floor the whole time when I remembered I left it out....

We are supposed to start returning to the office mid Septemberish on a hybrid model so 3x a week she will have to be home all day alone for the most part so I guess that's why I am starting to experiment with it. I will still continue to test it out for longer periods. Would you feel comfortable letting a giant puppy roam your house all day w. her being well behaved so far? I will say she definitely seemed a little anxious the first few times as she was still at the door or sitting in front of it not letting me in when I got back haha.. but she got off the couch this time to greet me so she was able to relax w.out getting into anything.

she will have a midday walker on those days but still will be alone from 8-1pm and then in the afternoon til about 5:30... she just seems so young to be left alone but I also would like her to be able to have access to her toys and nap spots but thats a lot of free time to get into stuff. I have heard if they are going to be destructive they generally do it quickly after you leave but I do not know how true that is so any guidance would be appreciated!

I would try it out and see how it goes, maybe start with half days? If you're able to let her out and give her a little bit of attention midday then maybe you can start her 8-1 in the crate then let her out for the rest of the day? Or vice versa.
That way she will have fewer chances to make mistakes but you'll still be building trust and she will start to get the hang of the expected behavior while she's alone in the house. Plus you won't fall behind on crate training either. I think this way, eventually, she will be able to spend all day in or out of the crate. Which will come in handy when she will need to be crated later down the line. Just a suggestion! hope it goes well.

 

[Canyx]

All up to what you're willing to tolerate and risk! I crate my dogs until they are over a year of age and behaviorally where I want them to be. My current 10.5 mo dog would probably be absolutely fine loose, but she is content with her crate and her tether options so I still use them.
A friend of mine left her then-teenage pup loose. A week or two, no issues. Then she said she came home to some shredded boxes, but didn't care because it was recycling anyway. A few more days, no issues. Then some more important household item was destroyed. Back in the crate. This is a totally normal thing and it's not like that dog was forever untrustworthy or anything. But yeah, the dog did practice something undesirable and some dogs would then need quite a bit more time to unlearn those habits. The thing I don't trust about adolescent dogs is their behaviors are still not consistent and they are known to 'get bored and try new things'. Mature dogs are more likely to just settle and rest.
Personally, I'd rather not take the risks and be almost 100% sure my dog would be fine before giving them that level of freedom. And/or I'd have some sort of camera setup to see what they did when alone. I don't feel comfortable with the 'let's see' approach but many are, and that's fine!

 

[Lillith]

All up to what you're willing to tolerate and risk! I crate my dogs until they are over a year of age and behaviorally where I want them to be. My current 10.5 mo dog would probably be absolutely fine loose, but she is content with her crate and her tether options so I still use them.
A friend of mine left her then-teenage pup loose. A week or two, no issues. Then she said she came home to some shredded boxes, but didn't care because it was recycling anyway. A few more days, no issues. Then some more important household item was destroyed. Back in the crate. This is a totally normal thing and it's not like that dog was forever untrustworthy or anything. But yeah, the dog did practice something undesirable and some dogs would then need quite a bit more time to unlearn those habits. The thing I don't trust about adolescent dogs is their behaviors are still not consistent and they are known to 'get bored and try new things'. Mature dogs are more likely to just settle and rest.
Personally, I'd rather not take the risks and be almost 100% sure my dog would be fine before giving them that level of freedom. And/or I'd have some sort of camera setup to see what they did when alone. I don't feel comfortable with the 'let's see' approach but many are, and that's fine!

This was my experiencing when trying free roaming when Ralphie was around 1 year old, too. He was perfectly fine...until he wasn't. Note, the entire time I had had him at that point, he had destroyed 1 thing, a sock I accidentally left on top of his crate, haha! He was fine free roaming for a few days, but then pulled a book off the book shelf and shredded it. Crated again, tried again a few weeks later, was fine for a few days, then pulled a giant cookbook off the shelf and shredded it. So, back to the crate he went and we haven't really tried again because he seems more comfortable being crated while we're away, anyway.

He's 6 now and would really probably be perfectly fine. He is fine for a few hours loose in the house when we have to do something on the property that it's safer for him not to accompany us, but I think he sits at the big picture window and stares out looking for us because he knows we're still near.

 

[Quinsation]

If you're okay with it, then try it. Depends on what you're comfortable with.
We had a puppy that we trustworthy at 5 months. Another at 7 months.
We currently have a 2 yr old, a 14 month old and a 6 yr old. We are just now starting to leave the younger ones out of the crate. We've built up to 4 hours, but I play with them before we leave so they are ready to nap, and toss a couple handfuls of kibble in the backyard (fully fenced, w/doggie door).

 

[chfnas19]

I agree with the previous posts. It probably will be fine...until it isn't. Can you have your dog walker come twice a day when you go back to work? Maybe one drop in visit and one walking visit? Maybe the walker can do the drop in visit later in the day and put her in his crate when they leave. I am lucky, I leave my dog out when I am gone and she has been really good for the last 2 years. Many times when I come home she is sleeping in her crate. Every dog is different.

 

[emlopre]

shes still doing soo good so we are going to give it a go I think. I left my last dane crated for about 2 yrs before letting her free roam and I probably could have stopped sooner. Even as a senior she would occasionally rip something up though. This one is a lot more high energy lol but hoping a good walk in the morning and in the afternoon will keep her content enough not to look for trouble. I will say she has not even been the slightest bit destructive or much of a chewer at all through teething so hoping we are safe from that at this point. I do like the idea of maybe the dog walker putting her in the crate in the afternoon for the rest of the day so we might start out that way. Thanks guys!

 

[Kyllobernese]

I have a Poodle pup that is 4 months old now. I have always crated all my dogs as pups but Pixie was so good being left loose in the kitchen at night that the only time she had been crated was when she was in the Van. She never bothered anything and only occasionally had left a puddle if I didn't get her outside in time. Anyway came home one day to the kitchen decorated in toilet paper and newspaper torn up so decided it was time to crate her. She went in the first night with not a single peep out of her. I took her outside last things at night and again early in the morning when she gave a couple of squeaks. That has progressed to every night now. She gets a stuffed Kong when she goes to bed and runs right into the crate. Have never had a dog as easy to crate train but she is a really smart pup.