When did you start trusting your bully out of the crate/pen/etc and roam free in the house all the time?

[hnhammond]

I can't wait to stop policing Matilda all the time! She's almost 4 mos.

 

[Momma2Bullies]

I am still hoping for that day!!! My guys are 1 year 4 months now... they are fully housetrained, its just that they get each other going and can be pretty rambunctious. We still crate them during the day and it breaks my heart, but if we leave them free, throw pillows, rugs and chair legs get chewed. And yes they have lots of toys and nylabones, but they get a game of "tug" going with the corner of the rug, etc. I crate them for their own safety (cant have them eating pillow stuffing!) and for the sake of my poor rugs and pillows!
I think because they are both still young, it may be a while for us before they are calm enough that they can be free all the time? I hope so....
but for a single dog I have no idea when you can leaver her out... I think it will depend on her behaviour when she's alone.

 

[KMARINO]

I am thinking right after Vegas turned 1, I would leave for short periods of time like the grocery store. By 1.5 I could leave for work and leave the crate door open. I would come home every day and he would be laying in his crate with the door open.

 

[Baconator]

We are somewhat on the same page as everyone else. Bacon is almost 10 months he is fully house trained my only concern with leaving him out would be the couch cushions.

 

[tanito00]

So reading all these posts brings a question to mind. Ellie is my frist EBD not my first dog my last dog was a Lab and at about a year old i left him alone and was a good boy never had an issue. So here is my question is this normal of the EBD breed to be rambuctious and destroy house even when they are all grown up?

 

[hnhammond]

Matilda just started sleeping with me last week (YAY!) and she is an angel - sleeps the entire night! She also is pretty much potty trained (a few accidents, here and there) and while I'm home, I NEVER lock in her crate anymore. I let her roam free. But sometimes, she gets in this hyper-dog moods where EVERYTHING is far game, and I have to be like, "NO don't eat that - NOT THAT - MATILDA, DROP IT!! Matilda, STOP IT! Matilda, GET OUT OF YOUR WATER DISH!", etc. So I don't trust her out without me there - or even while I'm in the shower! I want to make sure I can hear everything going on and check on her periodically!

We always had dogs growing up, none of which were really crate trained, and we left them to roam the house when we left (yes, there was lots of puppy damage). I just wish there was an exact time frame for when Matilda will be trustworthy... maybe after teething? So at 6 months?

 

[dalmatina38]

Amber is coming up on 11 months and has been roaming and out of her kennel for about a month now. I don't have carpets in the front part of the house and keep a child gate up so she can not get into the bedrooms with carpet. She has done fairly well roaming, she sleeps on the loveseat or the recliner depending on her mood. Most of the time I find her sound asleep on the loveseat when I get home. She already chewed the table legs, chairs or anything else during her teething stage and now ripes the stuffing out of her animals. She doesn't like the furniture covers and proceeds to drag them off the sofa. She is such a good baby.

 

[gobronco]

I think it depends on the dog. Rudy (14 months) and Mila (6 months) are always crated at night. During the day they are either supervised or locked in the back yard with access to a fenced in section of the garage. We used to let Mimi (RIP) and Tyler (RIP) sleep on the couch on friday and saturday nights. Mimi (after about 5 months) was never crated until we got Tyler and never had any problems. Tyler was always crated at night until a little over a year. Rudy would probably be ok not crated at night but Mila would not be happy without Rudy in the crate next to hers. Mila would probably chew everything in sight including Rudy.

 

[bulldogs4me]

I trust Diesel completely to be left out free throughout the day if I'm not home, he prefers to be in his crate LOL with Molly she is 3 and I still put her in a crate there have been very few times I've left them both out together, mainly because bulldogs play rough and play could turn to fight in a drop of the hat so I just crate them to be safe ... and my sons lab is a forever crate dog!!! she tore the house apart when I was out of town with the bulldogs and she was left to roam free in the house!!

 

[maggies mom]

We have been letting Maggie roam since about 6 months. I've always hated crating her so a few months before that we would baby gate her in the kitchen when we left, maybe you can try that at first and see how it goes? We always make sure to shut all the bedroom and bathroom doors and don't leave anything on the floor she can chew. We haven't had any problems accept the very rare accident which even then she does right by the back door that we let her out of.