dogs..

What we have done in the past is put a young dog, that isn't house trained yet, in a dog crate until they get house trained, when we are away. Then gradually start letting them out for short periods of time at first to see how they do and gradually increase the time. It has seemed to work very well for us.

Which is better completley depends on the person and probably the dog. I've had dogs all my life and we always let them have free run of the house without any of these weird issues people have nowadays like chewing furniture.

My dog has the run of the house. She's very trustworthy, and never messes in the house or chews up any of my things. She has her own toys and her own bed, and she's better behaved than most kids. She does have one bad habit, and that is if I let her outside, or if she manages to sneak out the door, she'll run off with her boyfriend and then I won't see her for awhile. I have to put her out on a lead attached to a runner, so she has room to run back and forth, and she likes to stay outside like that sometimes. I don't think that dogs should be tied up or kept in a cage, at least for long periods of time. They need activity, and company so they won't get bored. I take my dog for long walks everyday, and it helps me keep in shape too.

My dogs have free run of the house at all times, however they are rarely ever alone. My mother is retired and lives with me, and she's home all of the time. When I have a young pup that can't be trusted, and I have to take my mom to the doctor or a family gathering, the pup will go in a crate to be safe. It's safest in a crate since I know he can't chew up and eat something that could harm him.

We let our dog run around the house when we are home. When we are at work, we keep her in the kitchen, dinning room, hallway, and our bedroom. We didn't used to do this until we knew for sure we could trust her on the carpet from pottying. We can trust her all the time and so we keep her in those room. I do not let her in our living rooms when we are gone as she will jump on the big window and tear up my blinds.

I have a three month old puppy and a year old dog. Female and male. I am home most of the time but I do have a baby gate up at the hallway so they are confined to the living and dining room only. If I need to go somewhere I leave them in the kitchen. Our kitchen has two doors that close so they have no access to anything to chew on except their toys. We tried leaving both of them in a crate with toys but they destroyed a toy and after that I thought they may be too rough playing when we aren't here for such a small area. The puppy has learned to jump the gate now so I have to keep a closer eye on her than I did before. But she has just learned how to do that.

Hello! We have a dog named Jake that we love dearly. We keep him in our yard. It is a pretty big yard and he has plenty of room to run around and get exercise. It hurts me to see an animal penned up in a small cage where they don't have much room to hardly even walk around. Jake is very good at barking and letting us know when someone comes around our house. :)

We generally let the dogs run around the house. The older ones we let stay out to roam the house if we leave but for the younger ones we do tend to put them in a room with food and water if we leave. We do this mainly because they aren't completely house broken and it also serves to keep the older dogs happy by not having a puppy pulling all over them and the younger ones get a nap time. This works really well for us.

My dogs are seldom alone and never for a long time. If I have an errand and can not take my dogs along they have the whole house for themselves. Usually they lay on the sofa. Sometimes they sit on the stairs and look out of the window to see what happens out in the street. The neighbors check and say this is cute. I always give them a fresh bowl of water before I leave. They never do any damage.