I do miss those days of freedom in my house.....

Discussion in 'Labrador Puppies' started by DizzyDaisy, Jun 4, 2019.

  1. DizzyDaisy

    DizzyDaisy Registered Users

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    Rosie is going to be 7 months old this Friday, and I was just thinking about how she is (and me too for that matter) still just relegated to only the kitchen and our finished basement. Its all crates and baby gates at my house!

    I would love to know how much longer it will be before I can start relaxing a bit and allowing her access to other parts of the house without the worry she will destroy something.

    We will not be allowing her on our furniture in our living room and I know that will prove to be a battle as anytime she has been in in the living room she jumps right up on the sectional. I get her down, and 2 seconds later she's back up. :rolleyes:

    How long did it take you all to let your puppers run free or have more access through the house? At what age did your pup stop a) stealing shoes, b) jumping on furniture and c) looking for things he/she shouldn't have and running around madly with them?

    I yearn for the day I can walk through my home with no baby gates hindering my progress!! :D
     
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  2. Ski-Patroller

    Ski-Patroller Cooper, Terminally Cute

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    Cooper and I think Tilly before her had the run of the house before 7 months. Both would occasionally chew up things they weren't supposed to, but neither chewed up furniture or shoes. Tilly did not get on the furniture much, but Cooper does and we are mostly OK with that. All of our dogs have had a surfeit of toys that they knew were theirs, and maybe that helped. We still have a gate at the kitchen, but it is used rarely when we want to keep the dogs in or out of there for some reason.

    There is still a crate in the Kitchen, but only because Cooper sometimes likes to sleep there. I can't remember the last time it was closed.

    We have always had a dog door to the back yard so once they had the run of the house they could get outside when they wanted to.
     
  3. Saffy/isla

    Saffy/isla Registered Users

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    Hi, I feel your pain! Our Isla is 15 months and we still need baby gates on every doorway! She will still steal things and chew them up ( my new pair of sandals yesterday) and cannot be trusted alone in any room. When we go out she is only allowed access to the hall, we even have to barricade the bottom step as it sticks out past the stairgate and she has chewed the carpet off the step.

    Every dog is different though, our first lab could be trusted from 8 months as she rarely chewed and never destroyed anything, whereas Isla has destroyed lots.

    Hope you can leave your girl safely very soon, we'll chuckle about this one day!
     
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  4. DizzyDaisy

    DizzyDaisy Registered Users

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    Sorry about your new sandals! I sure hope I’ll be able to laugh about this sooner rather than later! My first lab Daisy was okay to have freedom at around 7/8 months as well. Rosie is not even close. Tonight, I let her in living room and within 2 minutes she had the remote in her mouth and then a throw pillow. Back to the kitchen we went :(
     
  5. WillowA

    WillowA Registered Users

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    Willow came home with us at 8 weeks old and was in the living room with us all the time. She learnt to use the puppy pads almost straight away and she had a blanket or mat on the floor she still uses to lie on. She does sit and jump on the couch but only when she is playing with us and gets excited.
    She will pick up my shoe and chew the lace but we don't leave things around only her toys if she picks something up that she is not allowed it gets taken away.
    She is left in the living room if I go upstairs she just sleeps.
    She is put in the kitchen behind stair gates at night or if we go out.
     
  6. BacktoBlack

    BacktoBlack Registered Users

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    Are you letting her in there without any exercise? Sounds like she is trying to get your attention. Maggie would always grab the remote and take off, we started being more careful leaving it sitting around. Until we didn't, then she chewed it up. She's pushed the laundry rm open (the latch doesn't obv latch) and has eaten a few no show socks. The thrill of taking the remote and or the consistency of not getting excited when she does, has it wearing off. I would personally try again but after she is exercised.
     
  7. WillowA

    WillowA Registered Users

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    We play a lot with Willow she has lots of toys she finds treats and has a frozen kong.
    She is chewing a nylabobe atm then she will bring a ball to us to throw or a Kong toy octapuss thing.
    They need to use their brains or they find their own enjoyment.
    Try a box with paper or rags with dry food inside or a sniffle mat ect.
    Do some training work in the living room.
     
  8. Saffy/isla

    Saffy/isla Registered Users

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    Oh dear, hang on in there. It's funny how different they are isn't it
     
  9. Saffy/isla

    Saffy/isla Registered Users

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    Ah we do all those things with Isla! Except the rags with food,I shall try that one. She is just a pickle! Lol
     
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  10. DizzyDaisy

    DizzyDaisy Registered Users

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    Rosie is always exercised, but she can actually get more amped up/zoomie after exercise so that may not work.

    It was my mistake really with the remote as normally I put it higher up but I had forgotten and it was sitting on coffee table. I guess the pillows will need to be temporarily put away if she is to spend more time in the living room. It's funny because she is actually good in our finished basement for the most part. I guess its just because the living room is NEW to her, she gets excited and acts like an idiot, looking for trouble.

    I'm going to try WillowA's suggestion of training her in the living room, or hiding some kibble - a game that she loves.
     
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  11. LAS

    LAS Registered Users

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    Poppy will also be 7 months in a couple of days. At the moment she is being crated for an injury, but she has to be supervised all the time and /or everything put away or up high where she wont take it. She likes to sneak away with forbidden objects the moment we let our guard down. I don't let her on the furniture and have foil pans spread out on the seats . But if we forget to spread them out when we are done using then she will be opportunistic and get up there. But jumps down when she hears us coming back. :)

    I agree the baby gates are a pain!
     
  12. Ruth Buckley

    Ruth Buckley Registered Users

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  13. jbg

    jbg Registered Users

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    I have found with all my labs and especially this one, the more time I spend with her, "teaching" what is ok and what is not is what is most important. It can be time consuming and sometimes frustrating but once they are totally house broken, I let them out of their "designated" area to roam with me at all times. example; I always fold laundry on my bed. During the first 4 to 5 months of Maggie's life, I folded on the kitchen table in her "safe" space. starting around 5 months I would make sure she had been out for a walk and a potty then we would go together to the bedroom to fold laundry. Yes I would close that door at first, so I didn't have to follow her around the upstairs but we were adding a different room. I would leave my closet door open so when she first started going for shoes I would have to stop folding cloths and tell her "not for maggie", take the shoe from her and put it back in the closet. YES, in the first month of this, we repeated the above time and time again. Now, at almost 7 months she no longer picks up shoes. She knows what "not for Maggie" means and if she picks things up she shouldn't all I have to say is those words and she drops it! Like I said, it can feel overwhelming when it takes 45 mins to complete a task that would normally take 10 but it is great interaction with your pup and they do learn. Maggie is now allowed to have "roam" of the upstairs while I am Making beds, folding laundry etc. she usually just stays with me in whatever room I am in. Just sharing. It will come and some dogs take longer than others ;)
     
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  14. BacktoBlack

    BacktoBlack Registered Users

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    Maggie can be wound up after exercise ...esp if I over do it. But I wouldn't just leave her if I knew she had been napping a lot and or in a mood for mischief :rolleyes: Typing what your actually thinking is really hard, lol

    I really backed off thinking I had to wear her out to be "good". I guess I just read her, she definitely has ques she gives off. I am able to be home with her now so we spend a lot of time together. I also keep in my head she is still very much a puppy. Theres a lot of us with the same age pup!
     

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