Leaving Dogs Inside House When You Go Out

[poochiemama]

For those of you who leave your dogs inside the house when you leave, how do you do it?

Our dogs are inside dogs, and there is usuallys someone at home with them. When we leave the house (usually only for 2-3 hours), we put them in the back yard. We do this because in the past, when we've left them inside, even for half an hour or so, we come back to 'dog bed fluff' everywhere and torn beds. They're not destructive when we are at home with them, but we worry that if we leave them inside when we are not at home, we'll come back to destroyed couches or carpets.

Just wondering how people have trained their dogs for this... because the heat is so blistering in summer (or rainy in winter), I don't like leaving them out . They have a nice yard, with a lovely big kennel, but i would love to train them to stay inside the house. We used to have soft crates, but Charlie ate his way through one of those. Ideally I'd like to train them to stay inside, behave well, and be uncrated (maybe I'm dreaming).

[W Sibs]

My 2 have access inside and outside 24/7. At the beginning, I will shut the bedroom doors and block certain part of the house, then with more trust, I slowly let them have free rein of other parts of the house. Now they have free rein of the house. I do walk them and tire them out before I leave them too, leave them with a treat so they won't be destructive. But, I'm lucky because my 2 aren't destructive.

[Guest donatella]

Mine stays up to 9 hours some days inside when i'm at work but only on the tiled areas (lounge, kitchen and dining areas). she has loads of toys, her bed, food, water and a few bits that keep her occupied for hours (she loves those schmacko chompers bars from the supermarket). she's chewed cords before (so they get turned off and hidden) but she's never attempted to chew the couch. Do you leave them with enough toys and bits and pieces to get into so they don't go for beds and furniture? a radio on and some distraction for them generally keeps them occupied for a few hours.

[corvus]

My dogs are only allowed in their yard under supervision because the neighbours are intolerant of dog noise. I've never had to train them to be good inside. We have baby gates on the kitchen doors and when they were pups they stayed in the kitchen while we were out because there was nothing in there they could wreck that would cost a lot to replace. With time they earnt access to the lounge room as well. I would trust them 90% with the run of the house now, but E tends to shut himself in rooms that have doors that he can open from one side but not the other, and he has his moments when he's bored and finds something to do. Generally it's just something small he has found to chew up. The most expensive thing he's chewed up is a playstation controller.

[~Anne~]

My dogs are outside in good weather and when we are not home, and inside when bad weather and we are home and to sleep. We purchased kiddie playpen fencing and fence them off to sleep and when bad weather so they are inside but with limited access and have the dog door accessible easily to them.

[Alkhe]

Mine is also only allowed outside under supervision, as our escape artist doggy neighbour likes to create gaps in our fence that my dog takes advantage of. Lucky he's cute, and a welcome visitor to our side ;)

Whenever I leave for work, I give my dog a greenie or some chew type thing to occupy her. Thankfully she's not destructive and just sleeps all day, but this makes it easy for me to leave too. Perhaps start with a long lasting chew that will keep your dogs occupied while you go out, and gradually increase the time they're alone for?

[Cosmolo]

Block access to certain areas, remove items likely to be chewed as soon as dogs are left so the habit does not develop, leave toy box, interactive toys etc. And then hope that you don't have one of 'those' dogs!! lol. Out of my 5- 4 are great and one is hopeless no matter what, she will find something to ruin so she never has access to the house when we're not at home. She can be crated or go into the dogs bedroom if its too hot though.

[Gayle.]

My dogs are outside during the day when we're at work or not home, no matter what the weather. They have a big roofed area to shelter under, outdoor beds and plenty of shade during the summer. The only one who stays inside sometimes is Dusty when she's in season, and now because she has stitches in her side where she tore a hole in herself.

We don't block anything off, just put the bin up because she likes to sort the rubbish for us. She just snoozes on the couch though and has never destroyed anything or peed anywhere. I could probably leave Shae inside with the same result but not the boys. I don't think Ripley would destroy anything but he would hate it. He likes plenty of space to move, he's always running or pacing and he'd get thoroughly bored.

I don't allow them to come and go ever. They are either inside, or outside. If they choose to go outside when we're home, they stay out til I decide they can come in. I don't give in to pleading looks or sad faces at the window, and when they are in they are expected to be on their best behaviour.

Edited October 26, 2011 by GayleK

[Remarkabull]

My 2 little dogs are left inside when we are at work (up to 9 hours a day) and the Dobe is outside on his own. I usually come home at lunch for an hour so they get swapped around then. If we are out at night then I lock my SBF (small black fluffy :D ) in our room and leave the JRT and the Dobe have the rest of the house. All 3 sleep inside at night as do the 3 cats and apart from some naughty puppy stage chewing nothing gets wrecked, although I do have to make sure the kitty litter is clean or the SBF will take a piece and devour it on my bed .

[Akay]

I've never had a problem with leaving my dogs in the house, so I can't offer any great ideas on how to train them not to damage things. All I can suggest is to close off certain areas, like the bedrooms or maybe put them in the laundry with a fan or something. Maybe a part of your house that stays cooler in Summer?

[suziwong66]

Wilbur is crated when i go out during the day; there's nowhere safe in the house that can be blocked off so crating was our only option. He is left in the back yard alone for short periods of time...eg me ripping down to the local fruit market.

[fuzzy82]

I take my dogs out for a walk before we leave, and leave them with kongs. Never been a problem.

We usually only go out for 2-3 hours, but last weekend we were gone about 8 hours, and it was the first time I've left my youngest inside that long, so I was wondering if he'd be able to hold it. He did fine, as soon as we got home I let them out and they both went straight out and peed. I had also walked them and left them with kongs and dentastix, and I also hid some biscuits in the lounge, because they normally go to the lounge to look out the window so I figured they would find the bikkies later in the day, which they did.

[OSoSwift]

Mine are not normally left inside when I am not there, however I have forgotten they are in and left them there from time to time and when I come back they are usually exactly where I left them!!!

[Baileys mum]

Great thread guys, & getting lots of good ideas.

I'm increasingly getting paranoid leaving my dogs outside unsupervised when we go out during summer due to snakes on our property. (We have done everything to snake proof the dog yard, but there is still the chance, one could get in )

I would like to start leaving them inside when we go out (which isn't very often anyway as I'm at home for most of the time ) So this thread is giving me some good ideas.

We have left them in the house unsupervised for short periods of time, & they never did anything naughty,but never any more than an hour at a time...We could let them have run of our family room, dining & kitchen, & close of the door to the rest of the house, & they should be alright, if I leave them with their pile of toys,their beds, food, water & something to chew on.

What about toileting? does everyone just leave newspaper on the ground, or does everyones dogs just tend to hold till you get home? Our dogs are house trained , but on the odd occasion when they can't tell us in time that they want out, they will do an accident on the floor nearest to the sliding door they use to go outside....I could probably cover this part of the floor with newspaper or wee pads if they really need to go.

Edited October 26, 2011 by Baileys mum

[Guest donatella]

Great thread guys, & getting lots of good ideas.

I'm increasingly getting paranoid leaving my dogs outside unsupervised when we go out during summer do to snakes on our property. (We have done everything to snake proof the dog yard, but there is still the chance, one could get in )

I would like to start leaving them inside when we go out (which isn't very often anyway as I'm at home for most of the time ) So this thread is giving me some good ideas.

We have left them in the house unsupervised for short periods of time, & they never did anything naughty,but never any more than an hour at a time...We could let them have run of our family room, dining & kitchen, & close of the door to the rest of the house, & they should be alright, if I leave them with their pile of toys,their beds, food, water & something to chew on.

What about toileting? does everyone just leave newspaper on the ground, or does everyones dogs just tend to hold till you get home? Our dogs are house trained , but on the odd occasion when they can't tell us in time that they want out, they will do an accident on the floor nearest to the sliding door they use to go outside....I could probably cover this part of the floor with newspaper or wee pads if they really need to go.

I feel much more secure knowing she's safe inside, got shade, away from predators and thieves.

I use puppy wee pads but thats because she has been trained to do her business on them but I'm sure many others use newspaper. I know of people who use bits of fake grass (bought from bunnings) over newspaper/a tray for inside use as well with good effect for dogs who are trained to go on grass.

Something like this could be useful too (cheap enough at $23), not sure how useful they are though as i've never used one:

http://www.crazysales.com.au/indoor-pet-toilet-p684.html

[Gayle.]

My husband puts newspaper down for Dusty as he's the last to leave, and he let's her out for a wee before he goes. But she's never toileted in the house, she just holds on til we get home, then bolts out the front door as soon as it's open and squats on the lawn with a huge sigh of relief.

She's been inside for up to 10 hours without an accident. At night they all come in around 6pm and don't usually go out again til around 5am so they're all capable of hanging on for a long time.

[Baileys mum]

Great thread guys, & getting lots of good ideas.

I'm increasingly getting paranoid leaving my dogs outside unsupervised when we go out during summer do to snakes on our property. (We have done everything to snake proof the dog yard, but there is still the chance, one could get in )

I would like to start leaving them inside when we go out (which isn't very often anyway as I'm at home for most of the time ) So this thread is giving me some good ideas.

We have left them in the house unsupervised for short periods of time, & they never did anything naughty,but never any more than an hour at a time...We could let them have run of our family room, dining & kitchen, & close of the door to the rest of the house, & they should be alright, if I leave them with their pile of toys,their beds, food, water & something to chew on.

What about toileting? does everyone just leave newspaper on the ground, or does everyones dogs just tend to hold till you get home? Our dogs are house trained , but on the odd occasion when they can't tell us in time that they want out, they will do an accident on the floor nearest to the sliding door they use to go outside....I could probably cover this part of the floor with newspaper or wee pads if they really need to go.

I feel much more secure knowing she's safe inside, got shade, away from predators and thieves.

I use puppy wee pads but thats because she has been trained to do her business on them but I'm sure many others use newspaper. I know of people who use bits of fake grass (bought from bunnings) over newspaper/a tray for inside use as well with good effect for dogs who are trained to go on grass.

Something like this could be useful too (cheap enough at $23), not sure how useful they are though as i've never used one:

http://www.crazysales.com.au/indoor-pet-toilet-p684.html

Thanks Donatella , those doggy toilets are really cheap, so I could actually afford to buy a couple of them.

[Guest lavendergirl]

Mine is also only allowed outside under supervision, as our escape artist doggy neighbour likes to create gaps in our fence that my dog takes advantage of. Lucky he's cute, and a welcome visitor to our side ;)

Whenever I leave for work, I give my dog a greenie or some chew type thing to occupy her. Thankfully she's not destructive and just sleeps all day, but this makes it easy for me to leave too. Perhaps start with a long lasting chew that will keep your dogs occupied while you go out, and gradually increase the time they're alone for?

I am interested in what people leave for their dogs to chew on? I don't feed bones or rawhide type things and apparently it is not good for the dog to have a greenie every day.

[silentchild]

My dog stays inside, she's only let out into the yard with supervision as the neighbour's dog is quite nutty and will jump and bark and lunge at our fence and it drives my girl crazy. She does perfectly fine indoors, I am very lucky that she is not destructive at all. She has plenty of toys, things to chew, fresh water etc etc but she is never interested and is more happy to snooze away all day in her bed until we come home. She's never ever chewed anything or done anything she shouldn't have, so we rarely, if ever, come home to a guilty-looking dog and fluff. :D

Lavendergirl, deer antlers are great chews and they last ages. Emma also used to have Nylabones which she loves to bits. Frozen kongs with kibble / treats stuffed in them also make great long-lasting toys to keep your dog occupied for hours. (altho Emma is quite pathetic and gives up on her kong far too quickly!) Just some ideas.

Edited October 26, 2011 by silentchild

[Marion 01]

We had 17 until last year, and always left them in the house, mind you we shut doors to the bedrooms, and they had the run of the house while we were out, but there were always the ones who would get stuck into things they shouldn't, and when they were younger, on the way home from where ever we had been, the conversation went something like," wonder what the darlings have wrecked for us today". It was usually just the couple of dogs who specialised in this. We just put things up that were within reach of them, or pushed things to the middle of the table so as not to tempt anyone. The TV remote was renovated once, and a plastic box of cotton tips totally splintered and cotton tips spread from A to B. Lots of other things, but thankfully as they got older they all grew out of it, now we only have 8 left and they are all fine.