Isabelle was about a year old when she was allowed free at night. I think about a year & a half when she was free in the house. Just to clarify my free in the house, she does not have access to any room with a door. ALL doors are closed before we leave ~ this leaves her the kitchen, greatroom & hallway. She is 7 years old.

 

I think it really varies. I have had them as old as 18 plus months and as young as 10 months.
A lot depends on what they get into while you are at home with them. If their still getting into stuff, (this consists of you saying no, stop that etc.) they are not ready.
When everything is left alone I start leaving them alone for short periods of time--starting with a half hour hour and increasing.
Tamora, who is now 18 months old has been trustworthy since about 10 months old. I knew she was never going to be a real problem, as she has always been pretty sensible. She also gets a lot of exercise and plenty of schooling.(body & brain are both exercised)

 

I think it really varies. I have had them as old as 18 plus months and as young as 10 months.
A lot depends on what they get into while you are at home with them. If their still getting into stuff, (this consists of you saying no, stop that etc.) they are not ready.
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I was just about to say the very same things!

If the dog is still having to be corrected for their behavior when you're home, then they're not anywhere near ready to be left alone.

 

Petey is free now for several hours most days, and he is 10 months old. Longest we have left him is about 6 hours. He has not been in his crate since June, other then a few time outs. He old slept in his crate one night, sleeps on his own bed at the foot of my bed.

oxc

 

And some dogs are never able to be left alone for longer periods. My last doberman bitch Lucy would de-stuff the couch if I ever left her alone and she never grew out of it.

 

If I have to run out quickly to the store (3 min drive) or the post office (3 min in other direction), I will leave Java (29 mos) in the kitchen/family room/mud room area with the gate up to the rest of the house, and the bathroom & laundry room doors closed. Doesn't happen often, as if the weather isn't too warm, she is with me in the car when I run errands. For longer trips, she is put in her crate, although I suspect eveything would be fine if I left her uncrated.

 

Bella has not been in the crate since she was 6 months old, she gets free run of the house when we are home, when we are gone we put her in the kitchen! That is as far as I am willing to go with her, I know if I let her out of the kitchen, she would destroy the house!

 

Bumpy has never been crated, although he stayed in his own room when I was at work until about 10-11 months old. He is 20 months old now and has had free reign of the house with his partner in crime since he was 10-11 months old. Nothing destroyed but a pillow since then....knock on wood. I think they use each other as distractions. I got lucky.

 

Duke is 11 mos. old and a rescue that we have now for 4 weeks. He is free during the night and he just sleeps. We sometimes give free reign when we go out for about an hour, sometimes up to 3 hours, and he's been fine in the house, except for one occasion when we took Princess, another rescue we have, out to the store and left him home alone. We were gone about an hour and when we got home, Duke had removed an artwork from the wall, chewed paper towels, ripped the envelope on a book I just received (How to Train Your Doberman Pinscher) but he did not touch the book, LOL!!! He also broke a wooden bowl with fake fruit in it, and ripped each and every grape off its stem. From this we've learned that he is fine if he has company, but home completely alone is not something he is ready for. Since Princess has a terminal illness and is 12 years old, when she passes we plan on getting a young female Dobie as company for Duke.

 

Red is just now getting to the point at 6.5 months old that we don't have to constantly tell him "no" and "leave it" when he is allowed in the other areas of the house (usually when he's inside, he's confined to our family/computer room with us).

At night and while we are away or at work, he goes in his crate. I don't see any reason to start leaving him out because he doesn't mind his crate at all - he thinks of it as his bedroom. Maybe he can start staying out a looong time down the road, but no plans to start doing that anytime soon.

 

Rumor hasn't been crated at night since around 12 months. She still chooses to sleep in there, but the door is open and she is allowed to go elsewhere. I started allowing her to stay out while I was gone during the day at about 18 months. She's a gigantic trouble-maker, but is very good at respecting the rules she's given. I've always come back to everything exactly how I left it.

 

Fiddler was more than a year old before I felt comfortable leaving him out for most of the day. However, I have learned that I need to crate him if his regular routine is broken. For example, he starts to get into things either right before or right after I do trips for business. He either sense that I'm about to leave home or is acting out when I get back, and so I find that I need to keep a close eye on him for a couple days. After that, he's fine. I don't travel that much and either my husband watches him or he spends a few days in the kennel while I'm gone. I'm a professor at the university, and during the summer I work mostly from home. When the school year begins, I start to work more from my office. During the transition, I always need to keep a very careful eye on him. I don't necessarily crate him, but I feel a bit nervous if I have to be gone for 8 hours and he's used to me being home during the majority of the day. I take an extra look around the house to make sure nothing has been left on the floor, on the stairs, on the edge of the counter top, etc. I also close all doors to bathrooms, bedrooms, etc. The BIGGEST problem I've had, however, is getting my husband to be just as careful. I remind him and remind him and remind him to shut doors, pick up papers, put toys away, etc. Sure enough, it seems he always forgets something. One time he left a gym bag out, and Fiddler ate a roll (not much left) of dental floss. He ate the plastic container too! Thank God he left the metal piece that cuts the thread! Sometimes I get very upset with my husband and tell him such forgetfulness can result in a dead dog! I'll resort to putting notes on the door, etc. because sometimes he leaves the house after I do. It gets very frustrating at times. I don’t know if I could forgive myself or my husband if Fiddler ever got seriously injured from human forgetfulness. I’m not perfect either, but sometimes I just don’t know what to do to get my husband to be more careful. :-(

 

I have a husband like that too!! After 15 years with Dobermans you'd think he would "get it" but he doesn't - the dogs are better trained than he is :-0

Truthfully, Louise at 2 1/2 still goes in her crate when I'm gone - she likes her crate which helps. I'm sure she would be fine lose, but sometimes the dogs squabble with each other so it is best not to leave them alone to possibly get into trouble. Velma is lose in the house now and I can leave meat defrosting on the counter and she won't touch it. I kept her crated if I was out till she was about 3 ish. I just figured that if she was crated, then I know that they are safe. I can leave them alone in the house and work in the yard - they are fine.

I am just an overly cautious person with my dogs. I remember trying to leave my first Doberman alone for an hour when she was about 9 months old. Hubby and I were only gone for an hour and came home to what looked like snow. She had shredded an entire JC Penny catalog AND pulled up the linolium by the front door - uggghhhh - BIG mistake that was - LOL!!

 

gunners pretty good, hes been free day and night since he was about 4 months. as long he has his toys and bones hes never got into anything.

 

It really depends on the dog and their attitude about being left alone. I started with 15 minutes intervals with Drago after he was 12 months old and worked up the time very slowly. If I was to be gone more than 2 hours then he was in his crate.

This spring after he hit 18 months, he learned how to use his doggie door to enjoy his back yard. So, I started giving him more time. Keep in mind however, that your dog must be a polite neighbor (no major barking) and happy in the back yard as well (no digging or other destructive behavior). Drago is a very good dog and is well liked throughout our neighborhood for his temperament and polite manners.

Good luck, Tracy

 

Our Jada is 11 months old and she has been out of the crate at night since we brought her home. When we leave the house however she is put in her crate. She really does not spend a lot of time in her crate as my husband works from home so it is usually on the weekend when we have to run out and do errands. With our last two dobies we would start with short trips up the corner store and let them stay out. I also got a great idea from my grandmother. We would leave the TV on for them and it would make them think that we would not be gone for very long and it was a distraction. Our first dobie was probably done with his crate about 14 months and Titus was done with his crate probably around 8 months.

 

It all depends on the dog. My current boy Rex, was pretty trustworthy by just over a year. I started with short intervals in a small area, and worked my way up on the time intervals as well as opening more puppy gates. However, Baron the doberboy prior to Rex was well over two. Rex is one of those dogs that when I'm gone he just lays on the couch, then explodes when I walk in and he doesn't have a sneaky bone in him. My second dobe was also like Rex. With my first boy, I made some mistakes by not crating him until he learned to get into things, so it's really not fair to compare him. Puppy gates are wonderful to limit the area.

 

i hate for my firat post on this site to be a flame, but i cant believe you people who leave your dogs in crates all day..dont buy a dog especially a big dog if you cant provide a backyard for it or atleast train it well enough not to eat your things , so you could leave it out...my doberman has been left alone in the house since she was 13 weeks old..sometimes all day if its raining out and shes never done anything more than lightly chew on my shoe...

i hate all of you people who keep your dogs in crates!!!! for those of you who just do it for an hour thats fine..and saying it thinks it a bedroom, " burns" you just straight up suck....i feel bad for your dog:flamethro :flamethro :flamethro

 

I guess IGNORANCE is bliss.....but hey remember to tell us all about it when your 13 week old puppy gets into something dangerous while you are gone all day and it has been left unattended.

Oh and didn't your mommy teach you not to say you hate people? LOL

 

tminard20, your post is a little rude. A crate is safer than the back yard, especially if you have a young puppy. You really shouldn't say you hate someone just because they use a crate. If you leave a puppy or a dog outside all day, thay can get into things that can harm them, especislly if you have neighbors like mine who throw things into our yard. I don't know how many times I've taken things away from our dobe that the neighbors threw in our yard! They can also get stolen or dig out. Yes, you should teach them to not get into things, etc., BUT when they get bored, believe me they will find something to do. Dobes are not yard ornaments! We have never left ours in a crate all day, because I stay at home, but we did use a crate to leave her in if we were both gone, and she liked it. Oh, the answer to the original question is we started leaving ours out by herself when she was about 16 months old. We started leaving her out at short intervals when she was about 12 months old.

 

I dont know when that will be. My Beagle had "accidents" until after a year old so you never know. Sherman? Who knows. As big and boyish as he is, it may be when he is 3 years old!

I'm sure he'll show me when it's time.

 

If we are going to be gone all day and absolutely cant take him with us, he will stay outside.

 

I look at this as when they become reliable to be unsupervised. They have to earn this right. Nikita earned the right around 15 months. We waited until them to make sure we had a success. Trusting too early sets them up for failure and might create some bad habits. Its a gradual process for us. We broke this up in stages that we based on earning the right. Being left alone in another room while we are home. Being left alone while we go out for a few minutes. Being left alone if we go out for an hour or more. Being left out over night.

I just really hate to come home and find all the sofa cushions in the backyard. Ugh

 

are you people all from big citys or what cause youre views on whats good for your animals are messed up!!!! so rather than making sure there was nothing in yoru house or backyard for your dog to get into you just put it in a crate? and my dog does NOT sit out side in my yard all day...only when i leave the house for a bit but usually i just bring her with me...that sux you guys cant train your dobes better so they dont chew on your stuff...of course my dog wanted to nibble on some pillows and the couch but she knows not to do it now...and wow only 3 weeks of training..never hit her once either..and i dont think it rude to say i hate people who keep their dogs in crates , cause i do, and you should know its not right..buy a little jack russel if you cant handle the dobermans...

 

..never hit her once either..

WOW thank heavens for small miracles!

 

i guess we just care a little more about our animals out here in MONTANA?

 

I guess in your case that means your dog rides free in a car.....oh no wait....maybe free in the back of your pickup truck? LOL

Instead of being rude may I suggest you actually READ the posts from the others on this thread....they have provided you with lots of good information and reasons for crating.

Yours isn't the only way....but I suspect you just want to be one of those insulting pot stirrers.

 

Wow, totally off base opinions. I have a wonderful yard for my dogs and my older dogs would spend hours outside by choice but usually with human companionship, sometimes without if we were making short trips. It was when we were leaving that they typically came in. Both were reliable without being crated during adulthood.

Right now I have a 13 1/2 year old senior who is starting to develop dementia and ate the door casing while we left her in the house rather then under the comfy desk in the garage that she PREFERS while we are out, or even sometimes while we are home. The other is a 9-month old puppy that finds it entertaining to throw around and chew on shoes (a rather new habit) and his favorite snack is paper towel and magazines. I will not leave my puppy unsupervised in my backyard no matter how secure I believe it is and I won't leave him unsupervised in the house.

I can't believe the audacity of some people to care about the safety of their family members. More like the audacity of some people to doubt our caring concern for our family members. But, then again, not everybody is from Montana.

Please don't think for a minute that your way is the right way because there will be pleanty who disagree. Your way is what works for you and that is about the extent of it. I personally feel bad for a dog who is left alone in a yard all day rather then the safe comfort of their den.

BTW--It was Jan 1st this year that we were busy with preparing for new years night dinner and family time when the kids were riding their bikes, hubby was cleaning up and I was going to the grocery store. The dogs were outside watching the kids play and my 9 1/2 year old precious girl was zooming back and forth to watch them the last we knew. When I came home to start preparing dinner and hubby went out to get the dogs and start the grill my husband and kids found our girl had crossed over the bridge. She was outside without us and I'll NEVER forgive myself that we weren't with her during her last moments on earth.

 

Yeah, I'm confused.. why not let a dog kick back in the yard for a day while you have to take care of errands that she/he cant come along for? Besides, many dogs just dont need to roam inside a house all day looking for things to do. Kids get into trouble.. so do teenagers.. why would I expect anything less of my dog? LOL

 

There have been a few on here who's dogs ate rocks and needed surgery to remove them, others have eaten things in the house, and also needed surgery. Honestly...this could happen to any of us. If you leave a dog outside, just be sure that there is no possible way he can get over a fence and hang himself up by his collar, this happened to two of my Aunts on the same day....both had their GSDogs died that way with in hours of each other in two different states. Also...people can steal dogs, poisen them. Some dogs are great in the yard while you are home, and the second you leave they bark their heads off for hours. Someone that lived across the road from me had their Golden Retriever poisened because of barking. Very sad. I live in a upscale area too....so you just never know what sets people off.

oxc

 

I don't see anything wrong leaving your dog in the yard unsupervised for a little while if your yard is safe and IF you can trust your neighbors. Unfortunately I CAN'T trust mine. My dog's go out alot if the weather is nice, but I am out there with them, because of my IGNORANT neighbors. Some people are just idiots. My husband I are currently looking into moving to the country so we can have some privacy for us AND our dogs. I am glad I can trust my dogs in the house if they can't go with me, since I can't trust my neighbors. They just sleep when we are gone anyway.