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Subject: When did you begin to trust your rattie alone?

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Mooses'Mama

Obsessed

07/05/2008 5:39 PM
I am starting to get to the point where I am want to leave Moose out alone for small periods of time, but I am nervous. I am just now getting to the point where I will let him venture downstairs without me calling him back up to see what he is doing. Tom and I left him out last weekend when we went to dinner, about and hour and a half, and came home to the same house we left and a sleeping pup on the couch. He is 5 months, and I was just wondering how old your rattie was when you "took the plunge" and what I should be expecting. I guess I should mention that he has yet to chew anything besides his toys, but a big part of me thinks that is because he is crated when I am out. Thanks for the double advice today!

Mother to Moose Jefferson Green Esquire!

rattytatty

Training Moderator

07/05/2008 5:41 PM
You are asking for trouble if you leave your rattie alone (uncrated) at the age of 5 months. Much depends on the individual dog, of course... but it has been my experience that dogs are not consistent with their behavior until at least two years of age. Dogs act differently when left alone than they do when their humans are present.

~Nora~ Mom to Hoss, Lil'Bit, Buster & Bailey, CGC, OA, OAJ

jtabor

Rattie

07/05/2008 6:29 PM
A lot depends on the dog. Does your dog chew? Does he have anxiety issues? Is he still crated at night? Our little Magic, who is ten months old, has been reliable enough not be to crated at night since she was six months old (she sleeps beside our bed with our Standard Poodle). We have been leaving her alone for up to five hours at a time without any damage since she was six months old. She is very laid back for a Rattie. Dee Dee, who will be five in October still chews occasionally. She isn't terribly distructive--she loves to chew up Bic pens. Zen, the Standard Poodle, has been absolutely reliable in the house since he was six months old. My daughter's Bull Mastiff is so destructive at 1 1/2 years old, she still must be crated. My other daughter's Great Dane/Boxer cross has been a coach potato since he was eight months old, except that he gathers any of her worn gloves and socks he can find into a pile and sleeps on them. Bottom line, there is a huge difference among dogs, and you are in the best position to assess your dog.

kp_in_scott

Bratty Ratty

07/05/2008 6:50 PM
I agree that a lot depends upon the dog. Amos is just over 1 year old. I will just now leave him out with our Pug(who NEVER has torn anything up) for short periods while I go to the store or something. I close all the bedroom doors and he has free access to the kitchen and living room. His crate is in the living room and 9 times out of 10 when we get home, he's laying in his crate asleep. He is still crated at night, just so that he doesn't wander around and wake anyone up.

Kim, owned by one sweet Rattie mix and one sweet Toy Rattie and a house full of parrots

pepper

Obsessed

07/05/2008 6:57 PM
Pepper is just over a year. I didn't start leaving her out until I had her trained to know where the off limits areas were. So she wouldn't try to pull things off the desk, etc. She is currently VERY well behaved, but I still close the bathroom door, and make sure shoes are put away, and the house is basically puppy proof. She doesn't really have much of an opportunity to screw up. I just check the whole house before I get home to be sure of no accidents, and no shredded items before I praise for still being here when I get back.

Kristin ~ Pepper's mommy

tiggarat

Bratty Ratty

07/05/2008 7:35 PM
I'm probably a horrible example (never crate-trained any of my dogs because I work from home), but I begin to trust my dogs when they are completely potty trained and past teething. When they were younger, I did confine them to one room while I was gone, but now I just make sure the bathroom is shut since they love getting into the trash can. They see me getting ready to leave and they just go to bed, and when I come home, they get up...nothing is messed up...I think my dogs just go take a long nap while I'm gone. Like everyone else said, it really depends on the dog as to when you can trust them, and since you know your dog better than anyone else, it's really up to you to decide if she's ready to be left alone uncrated.

Lisabeth furbabies: Lucy and Molly (1 1/2 yr old decker ratties), and Rosie (3 yr old dobie) Buddy - gone but never forgotten. "I don't think he has any idea he's a dog, really. Of course, he thinks he has a rather odd figure for a man" - Dodie Smith

MurphyDog

Ratastic

07/05/2008 7:48 PM
So you want to leave your RT pup home alone. I do too. But it's been costly. Sweetheart... I have pictures I could show you. I have repair bills. I have funiture damaged beyond repair... most recent fatality was a $400 PDA. We need to talk. Now Moose looks like a little angel... where Murphy is a... well he's a card. So your milage may vary.

Mitch and Murphy Hancock (the dog) "I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts." - John Steinbeck

Smiles4life

Ratastic

07/05/2008 7:52 PM
I trust my 3yr old and 4yr old. My almost 2 yr olds would tear up the house if I tried it with them. I can't even let them run the house when I am home LOL!

Paula Nowak Foster Mom, GA State Coordinator & More Adoptables: www.imageevent.com/smiles4life www.newrattitude.org

ctakahashi

Rattie

07/06/2008 12:53 AM
I really had no choice in the matter. We had gotten our third dog, Pepper at around a year and a half or so. Also, Piper at around the same age. We had bought a large open top crate for her (four feet high). We also had a dog fence between the kitchen and the living room. No matter what we did or for how long, when we came home we would see the same thing: two dogs in the back of the house and the third in the living room. Dogs climbed out of both barriers and even 3 feet up the wooden slats (one is now and ex-slat). We have to keep everythig puppy-proof as they can and do jump up onto the center island. Thank goodness that it does not have gas attached!

Do they really love us or are we just walking food dispensers?

Katie'sMom

Terrier Terror

07/06/2008 1:27 AM
about 18 mos

Check out Katie Scarlett and Company, KS's new site (includes magazine): Katie Scarlett and Company And email her at: katiescarlettorattie@gmail.com

buttonbutt

Firehouse Big Dog

07/06/2008 10:10 AM
Well, I NEVER leave my girls loose in the house when we're both gone. In all honesty, they rarely get into mischief. In addition, we both tend not to leave food or tempting clutter lying on tables within their reach. But that being said, dogs will be dogs, and that even goes for the best trained dogs out there. And we're certainly forgetful and am sure we would occasionally forget something tempting laying around. So whenever we have to run errands, the girls are either in our cedar-fenced back yard (gate locked and fence bottom lined with heavy stone, even though mine are not diggers) or if the weather is bad, they are crated indoors until we get home. Now if we're just in the yard doing yard work for an hour or so, they are safe to leave alone in the house. Zipper, being a stray at one time, just would never think to get things down and destroy them. Button used to, as a puppy. And she was pretty bad about it. But now, at age 4, she just finds a cozy and takes a good long snooze.

Peggy Mom to Button & Zipper My sweet RatTexans

RatsRule!

Ratastic

07/07/2008 12:01 PM
Yikes! I'd say you got lucky- that time, but who knows with the next? Nope, I don't leave mine alone, uncrated. Ever! Not even when I just had one! (mine are 1 and 7-9 mo) I'm too afraid of what kind of trouble they could get into that could hurt them. Never mind the furniture and appliances, and carpets etc, etc. All of that can be replaced. The fact is, at that age, puppies like to taste things and chew on stuff and it's only a matter of time until Moose decides to do just that if left alone again, or too long. I guess you have to ask yourself, is it worth risking loosing Moose? Maybe Moose would be a perfect angel and never touch or get into anything, but is that a chance you're willing to take for the sake of trying to trust your pup? Just something to think about. Good luck. Crating: it puppy-proofs your home, and home-proofs your puppy !

~ Life is sweeter when you share it with a couple of Ratties ~ Terri, proud mom of Chloe & Bonnie ```````````````````````````````````````````` Ratbone Rescues Application Coordinator

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