# At what age did your golden have free run of the house?



## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

Max was never confined to any area but I was almost always with him, and when he was home alone, he was crated.


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## ktkins7 (Jul 20, 2013)

Ella started with the kitchen unsupervised then the family room around four months. At about 8 months (actually on Easter) she gained access to the downstairs hallway and most of the upstairs. At this point we had trusted her for no potty accidents. Also puppy proofed the bedrooms. 

At 15 months she is not allowed the dining room, living room, and one of the three bedrooms without someone there. Don't want to risk the new couch and carpet in the living room snd the way the house is we can't give her access to the dining room and not the living room. The bedroom is kind of being used as storage but that's probably going to change soon.

It really depends on the dog. My theory was if the room had something we really didn't want destroyed then Ella can't go in there.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

My guys were allowed all over the house right from the day they came home. But with the exception of a few rooms (my bedroom and rec room primarily) - they were not left unsupervised until much older (7-12 months). And that was more along the lines of preventing accidents 100%. They don't really get into trouble around the house.


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

Mr. Darcy was allowed in all rooms but with supervision. He had a leash on a lot of the time so we could redirect him if he started chewing the wrong things.

I think they have to be out as much as possible so they can learn the rules. We have a few teeth marks on things...gosh I've almost forgotten about that...but nothing major because we were always nearby and watching him.

We took the xpen down when he was 7 months old. We have it handy, though...think Christmas tree!


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

All my previous goldens had free reign of the house early on - Ben took a bit longer for me to fully trust him. So, he was out of the crate at night by 6 months old and free reign of the house when I was not home by 7-8 months old.


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## thorbreafortuna (Jun 9, 2013)

I'm interpreting "free reign" as being allowed unsupervised in all rooms house without containment. Thor was always allowed under supervision in the entire house, but we progressed from crated at any time he didn't have eyes on him, to crated only when alone in the house, to behind gates in the kitchen when alone in the house and now since shortly after one year old he is able to stay in the house by himself with no gates.


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## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

I put 6-8 months as I interpreted the question as being unsupervised free reign.


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## HollyDog (Sep 23, 2014)

Holly is allowed to wander around the flat whenever we're home. We don't watch her much, but we listen for silence (a sure sign she's up to something!) 

I don't allow her in the spare room, the door stays closed, and she isn't supposed to go into our room either. But the living room and kitchen are open so she just wanders around. 

She goes in the crate at night, and during the day between when I go to work and when the husband wakes up. She still likes to chew up too many things for me to trust her out full time alone.


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## Kodiac-Bear (Jan 20, 2014)

At about 5 months we let Diesel loose (open cage) for the night, the next morning nothing was bothered and he was sleeping on his new bed.

Couple days later we left him loose during the day for three hours, nothing was touched and he was sleeping in his open cage.

I tested him a little later by leaving some really smelly and tasty cheezy bread on the kitchen table, never touched-it. He has been loose ever since.


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## retrieverbear (Jan 19, 2014)

Our boy is 6 months now. We're tempted to let him sleep outside his crate at night.
Sometimes we fall asleep on the couch and I wake up in a panic when I realize he's not crated because I fear he may have gotten into something or chewed something.
Fact is, he's usually just sleeping on the floor right next to me, and during the day he doesn't really get into anything unless a sock or napkin is left out.
How did you know it was ok to let your golden sleep outside of the crate?


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## janababy (Jan 2, 2012)

We brought Buddy home at three months. The only thing we blocked off were the basement stairs. He had free reign of the rest of the house.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

Same thing with my Ben, at six months old, he would fall asleep in the living room and I did not have the heart to wake him up. So, I went to bed but left his crate door open. I would wake up and he would be sleeping in the crate or he would stand up at my bed and I tell him to go 'sleepy' and he would go inside the crate. Once I noticed that he slept on the dog bed instead of in the open crate - I removed the crate completely. 
He has never chewed on anything over night - he just sleeps. 

You might give it a try and see. If you are worried that he wonders around at night, put a gate in front of the bedroom, so he will stay in the bedroom - and remove anything he could want to chew on.


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