# Where do you keep your dogs?



## Adam76

For those with multiple dog households where do you keep your dogs when your not home. Are the together or seperated, crated or loose. Since we have adopted another dog I'm just trying to figure out how I want to leave them when were gone, before we got the rescue we have a room that we keep Duke in with his bed and some toys, now I keep them in seperate rooms right next to each other seperated by a gate. I'm keeping them seperate for now until I know I can trust them together unsupervised. Thanks.


----------



## Little Brown Jug

If its a nice day outside, they often spend it outside on seperate tie outs. If someone isn't going to be home for a reasonible amount of time then they are inside in the basement loose together. It use to be one in a crate and the other loose in the house until I felt comfortable with their relationship.


----------



## Scarlett_O'

We have 3 dogs in our household, they sleep and are kept in the same way when both of us are gone:
Brody and Rhett each in their crates, Rhett is on my side of the bed with a heavy blanket over him(he is my "bed side table"!LOL) And Brody HAD been on Daddy's side of the bed...but decided that he liked being able to see brother's crate(he doesnt like being covered, gets to warm)so he is now also on my side of the bed:wink:

Leo is loose in the house, he sleeps between the our bed and the love-seat...and I always find him crashed out in the love seat when we get home!:tongue:

When the boys are each 2-3 we will start seeing how they are out side of their crates, Brody WAS out of his crate every night before we got Rhett, however when we did get Rhett he saw him being put in his crate he started pouting and decided to go into his at night as well! LOL


----------



## Tobi

When we get another Tobi which we plan to do one of these days  probably around the new year we won't leave them out when they are together, even at adult age. I personally don't think bully breeds should be left out together as something can happen and we wouldn't be there to cool it down. I don't trust them. I also don't trust him not to destroy everything in sight, though i would trust he wouldn't go potty inside. In short, they would both be crated for the short time we would be gone.


----------



## Adam76

> When we get another Tobi which we plan to do one of these days  probably around the new year we won't leave them out when they are together, even at adult age. I personally don't think bully breeds should be left out together as something can happen and we wouldn't be there to cool it down. I don't trust them. I also don't trust him not to destroy everything in sight, though i would trust he wouldn't go potty inside. In short, they would both be crated for the short time we would be gone.


Yeah I was thinking the same thing about bullies. When they romp they go hard and every once in awhile they need some correction, so thats why I have them seperate when we aren't home.


----------



## whiteleo

All 3 of my B.T's are left in the house, (bad, bad, bad fur mama) I don't crate my dogs when I'm gone, they only get crated when they have done something uncalled for. Yes, the girls have had a couple fights but never when alone, it is always when I'm around. It is a too protective issue. 

So I don't want to hear about the issues of Bully breeds having to be crated all the time because we have beaten this subject up before but the dogs are happy and they can run and play while I'm at work and they are happier for it.


----------



## SerenityFL

Basically it was the same as Little Brown Jug. One in the crate, the other out until I trusted their relationship...which, I do not right now. I've heard from neighbors in the past that they have been fighting while I'm gone.

Now, because they are no longer allowed on the furniture, they are both crated while I'm gone. However, both crates are in the living room and this seems to have calmed the girl down considerably and there is no more whining and carrying on like there was before. It's going to be awhile before I trust them both out, in the house, together, while I'm not there. A long while.


----------



## Tobi

whiteleo said:


> All 3 of my B.T's are left in the house, (bad, bad, bad fur mama) I don't crate my dogs when I'm gone, they only get crated when they have done something uncalled for. Yes, the girls have had a couple fights but never when alone, it is always when I'm around. It is a too protective issue.
> 
> So I don't want to hear about the issues of Bully breeds having to be crated all the time because we have beaten this subject up before but the dogs are happy and they can run and play while I'm at work and they are happier for it.


I think you're the exception to the rule Robin!!! you've got 3 from the same litter that has to count for something! :lol: I know it's something that's been beat to death but it is a considerable factor with Bullies, NOT ALL will do it but it can happen and can devastate a family I've seen it first hand when i was a kid with 2 apbt's of my dads


----------



## whiteleo

SerenityFL said:


> Basically it was the same as Little Brown Jug. One in the crate, the other out until I trusted their relationship...which, I do not right now. I've heard from neighbors in the past that they have been fighting while I'm gone.
> 
> Now, because they are no longer allowed on the furniture, they are both crated while I'm gone. However, both crates are in the living room and this seems to have calmed the girl down considerably and there is no more whining and carrying on like there was before. It's going to be awhile before I trust them both out, in the house, together, while I'm not there. A long while.


Are you sure they were fighting, did they have cuts or bite marks on them or were they just rough playing? Some people don't know the difference. If some people say my Leo and Cayenne play they'd think for sure they were fighting.


----------



## whiteleo

Tobi said:


> I think you're the exception to the rule Robin!!! you've got 3 from the same litter that has to count for something! :lol: I know it's something that's been beat to death but it is a considerable factor with Bullies, NOT ALL will do it but it can happen and can devastate a family I've seen it first hand when i was a kid with 2 apbt's of my dads


I agree! know the dog...........


----------



## SerenityFL

Yes, I have been questioned on this forum before about the difference...trust me, they were out and out fighting. A neighbor told me about it and I wondered if SHE knew the difference. The next day or day after, they were in the house, I walked to a neighbor's house and was gone, literally, 5 minutes. When I was walking back I could hear them...they were fighting.


----------



## whiteleo

BAD DOGS!:tsk::tsk::tsk:


----------



## Tobi

whiteleo said:


> BAD DOGS!:tsk::tsk::tsk:


Hey, with your three lil' monsters do they ever fight because somebody is playing to rough? I've noticed with the way BT's play alot of other breeds don't particularly care for it.


----------



## CorgiPaws

Well, I have 5 in my house right now. 
Champ free roams, always. 
Annie and Zailey WERE able to stay in the garage while I was out, but then Zailey started to pee in the corner out there way too often, so that right got revoked, and she got demoted to crate status.
Annie then started to cry, the most pathetic cry, in the garage by herself, and seems much happier crated, so I crate those two girls together in a 54" crate.
Timber and Braxton each have their own crate. 
From what I hear, Mousse has separation anxiety, and will need to be crated as well. 


Now, let me also say that my dogs are very well trained to a doggy door, (except for the puppies) BUT... I haven't got my fence up in my yard, let alone my giant doggy door installed yet in my house, and that's why they're not all out. However, I'm pretty sure that even when it is up, I'll only leave two or three to roam, I feel like they get in too much trouble as a pack, (particularly the annie & zailey combo!) but a couple at a time is better for them, AND my $4000 couch set. (my totally irrational splurge upon moving into my house)


----------



## Adam76

I'm not saying that bully breeds can't be left alone together but for now I'm keeping the seperate since the new guys only been with us for about a week. How long does it take when you bring in a new dog for them to be comfortable with each other and know each other pretty good?


----------



## KC23

I adopted the brother/sister lab mixes over a year ago, so that's when we became a 3-dog household. We don't use a crate, and I haven't even owned one since adopting the 2 extra dogs. Sometimes I close some doors and put a couple gates up--mostly to keep the dogs out of the kids' rooms and the bathroom. I always make sure the cords to the mini blinds are tied up, remotes are up, tissues up and make sure nothing's laying around that could get ruined or could be dangerous. We take these dogs on trips with us too, and they've been really good even in our camper when left alone. Yes, they've chewed up a few things in the house in the past (tissues, empty toilet paper rolls...stuff like that), but we've been pretty fortunate so far.


----------



## Jacksons Mom

At my dads house all 3 dogs all left alone together free roam.


----------



## whiteleo

Tobi said:


> Hey, with your three lil' monsters do they ever fight because somebody is playing to rough? I've noticed with the way BT's play alot of other breeds don't particularly care for it.


 If Cayenne and Leo are playing roughly and making the noises like they are fighting but aren't(this is when we have had the problems when we are on our loose leash run across the street at an old campground) Kenzie tries to intervene and starts fighting with Cayenne, she is enticed by the fighting noise, and the fact that the humans are around. We don't take all three together on runs anymore but Kenzie and Leo can play and rough house and she is fine, Leo doesn't put up with any B.S. from her, but she doesn't try to start a fight. It is only when there are 3.


----------



## RaisingWolves

My boxer (8.5 years old) has free roam of the house at all times. Our mastiff puppy sleeps in a crate, and is crated when I have to leave or when I'm in our home gym. 
I'm home most of the day, so crate time is very limited. I am starting to test her and leave her out of the crate when I'm working out. She sleeps on the couch when I'm in my workout room, no signs of mischief.


----------



## FL Cracker

RaisingWolves said:


> My boxer (8.5 years old) has free roam of the house at all times. Our mastiff puppy sleeps in a crate, and is crated when I have to leave or when I'm in our home gym.
> I'm home most of the day, so crate time is very limited. I am starting to test her and leave her out of the crate when I'm working out. She sleeps on the couch when I'm in my workout room, no signs of mischief.


Were right here with you....our 10yr old Corgi free roams...and our Rottie pup is crated for short trips...at night...ect. As of late...she will go in her open crate to sleep now....in the middle of the afternoon...or when it's bed time. Last night I left the door of the crate unlatched...and this morning...it was still in the same position. Short test's is about all we will do for her at present...and over time will ween her off the crate....IF she proves worthy....which has never been a problem with any of our prior dog's.


----------



## chowder

It definitely depends on the dogs. When I had my two girl chows, I came home once to blood everywhere and one of the girls was torn up. Those two could never be left alone together and that situation got worse over time.

Shade, Rocky, and Chelsy are a whole 'nother story. Rocky has free run of the house. He is my guard dog and usually is asleep up against the front door. Chelsy used to roam free until she got so old. Now she stays on her bed in the laundry room (just in case she has an accident). Shade was confined to a giant crate in the laundry room until about a month ago. He was raised in a backyard and we have been turning him into a house dog. He's done great and hasn't chewed anything up in about 6 months now. So we took his crate out (it filled the whole room!) and now he sleeps on his bed in the laundry room with Chelsy. We actually have started letting him have free rein in the house a few times but he actually prefers to go into the laundry room with Chelsy and his bed. I think it makes him feel more secure.

I have no problem with these three being together loose. Shade and Rocky are the best of friends and even share dinner bowls and clean each others faces after eating! I've only heard a growl once in all the time they've been together and that was when Shade was playing a bit too rough and Rocky 'told' him to cool it down a little.


----------



## Lisa_j

I have 10 dogs in the house. 5 are crated, 5 are free roam. The newest foster is gated in a room by herself until we are sure she is ok with the others. My inlaws live next door and let the dogs out potty through out the day as well while we are at work.


----------



## KlaMarie

The little dogs and Beauty have free roam day and night. Rayne is crated at night, and in her ex-pen when I'm gone or can't keep a close eye on her. I don't think I would ever feel totally comfortable leaving her loose with all the little dogs when I wasn't there. She is just too big and drivey, and they are just too small. The chihuahua would probably get mad at her about something and snap at her, and all it takes it one moment if Rayne gets mad. I may re-evaluate when she is MUCH older and more mature.


----------



## whiteleo

Adam76 said:


> I'm not saying that bully breeds can't be left alone together but for now I'm keeping the seperate since the new guys only been with us for about a week. How long does it take when you bring in a new dog for them to be comfortable with each other and know each other pretty good?


I would say that while you are home you need to just observe from a distance and try to see how well they interact with each other without you intervening.

Time will tell and right now the best way to do this is to crate and then maybe use a a gate, less and less obstacles.


----------



## Mollygirl

My Johonna was never crated, but since she has passed on, our 3 new dogs are crated only when we leave, and I'm not working so it's not ever very long. Molly was crated when we adopted her and we didn't have a big crate when we got her. I had bought a smaller crate to put Pinky in when we was gone since she chewed up everything when we was gone. When we got Molly she kept trying to go in the small crate and lay down. She could get in but could barely turn around. Then we bought a huge wire kennel. It is big and will house all three with plenty of room. Since all of them get along well, and 2 are puppies and they all basically came to our home at the same time, within months of each other, they are like family. Ginger was adopted at OKC animal control and was fostered at Molly's home until she was old enough to be adopted out. That is how we got Molly, we was talking to the foster mother and my husband mentioned English Bulldog and she said she had one that she was thinking about adopting out. So Ginger already knew Molly, Molly was like a big mommy to her and Pinky and Ginger are just like sisters. So I just got rid of the smaller crate and put all of them in the big kennel and they love being together. They will sometimes go in there to just sleep but I don't put them in it at night. The puppies sleep with me and Molly will sometimes get in the bed, but usually she sleeps on the floor by the bed or she will go in her kennel.


----------



## magicre

we used to give malia free roam....until we realised that she slept right at bubba's crate...because he does not get free roam.

lately, if i'm gone less than a half hour, i leave them out of the crate.

otherwise, they are crated together because as much as malia says she doesn't like bubba, she never leaves his side.


----------



## lily

cant trust annie yet she would chew everything up,shes only just started being clean through the night and shes 12 months on sunday!!!,so shes crated when im not supervising her ,oh well she will grow up one day ,karen


----------



## Roo

There is just two of us in our 3 bedroom home, so we converted the smallest bedrooms into a "dog room" we took the carpet out and put down vinyl flooring and they have their crates in there, storage for their toys, brushes, leashes etc. and an old soft recliner. We leave the crate doors open and just shut the door to the room when we're gone. I love having a room for them that I can shut the door to, it's great for when they get sick or if I want to feed raw in there. At first I thought I was being over the top for having a dog room, now I love it and if we have kids in the future or move, I will always make sure I have a house with one extra room I can turn into a dog room. I would love to put the freezer in their room with a mini fridge and a little kitchen island with a prep sink and counter top space, so I could do all my raw prep/cutting and storage in the same room.


----------



## wags

My four dogs are all trained and I let them loose in the house when I am gone. I have kids who still live at home so if they are home they let them out. If we are all gone we normally dont go for too long but in case we are out for a long time they are really fine for even 12 hours. So I have no problems with leaving them, but like I said its pretty rare we are gone really long lengths of time. Also we use to camp if we went on vacations so doggies came with us and they stayed in the camper when we went out! Gee wonder now if they were barking haha! No one complained so mjust have been fine! Oh well went off track a bit there!


----------



## SerenityFL

Roo said:


> There is just two of us in our 3 bedroom home, so we converted the smallest bedrooms into a "dog room" we took the carpet out and put down vinyl flooring and they have their crates in there, storage for their toys, brushes, leashes etc. and an old soft recliner. We leave the crate doors open and just shut the door to the room when we're gone. I love having a room for them that I can shut the door to, it's great for when they get sick or if I want to feed raw in there. At first I thought I was being over the top for having a dog room, now I love it and if we have kids in the future or move, I will always make sure I have a house with one extra room I can turn into a dog room. I would love to put the freezer in their room with a mini fridge and a little kitchen island with a prep sink and counter top space, so I could do all my raw prep/cutting and storage in the same room.


Nothing wrong with a "dog room". I have a 2 bedroom place, picked the smaller bedroom for me, (I like it better), and turned the bigger room in to a "cat room". The dogs are not allowed in there and the cats seem to be realizing this. They spend a lot of time in there if they aren't hogging up the bed in my room when I'm home.


----------



## meggels

I totally trust Murph & Abbie together, but I do NOT trust Murph to not potty in the house, so he's crated when I am not home. He's a pig and if he has to go and no one is looking, he will go find a place to potty  I wish I could let him be free.

Abbie is a saint and is very trust worthy, and since I moved back "home" and have my own rules, she is allowed to pretty much stay out all the time now. She has free roam of the house but I'm fairly certain she just stays in my room (where their crates are) and sleeps on my queen size bed lol  She only uses her crate now if it's a night where I don't feel like snuggling and would rather stretch out in the bed. Some nights Murph gets to sleep with me, some nights she does, and some nights I like to stretch out alone lol  

When I start working 8 hour days I'd love to be able to put Murph in a bigger crate (he's in a 24 inch right now). I've put him in Abbie's (36 inch) a few times but I also worry that since it's big enough, he'll take a pee and lay on the other end lol. I'm also considering maybe just using an x-pen with a bed in it...who knows.


----------



## monkeys23

They are crated seperately in the living room.

Scout's crate is locked with a climbing carbiner because she knows how to undo the latch and reinforced with the snaps from all the dog equipment she's destroyed houdini-ing out of her kennel. 

At my mom's they have seperate tie-out set-ups in the yard. And I have some portable chains (bolt snaps on each end) that I had made to take camping. I don't trust them not to chew through their long lines or a cable. They probably wouldn't, but you just never know.


----------



## RachelsaurusRexU

My dogs are crated when neither of us are home. Guinness and Brooke's crates are in an extra bedroom, Frankie and Romeo are right off of the living room. Maggie has a crate in my room, but she's never shut in it. She'll either chill in my room while we're not home or have free reign of the first floor. 

When I buy a house (hopefully in a year or so) I was thinking about some kind of finished basement setup for the dogs. Instead of being in crates while nobody is home, I would like to install decent sized chainlink kennels for them. They would contain their beds, kongs, etc. They'd still be safely separated and contained when nobody was around, but would at least have more room. It would be really awesome to have a small kitchen setup and freezers down there too.

Maggie would most likely still have free roam. She's my "first born" and, though she doesn't act it AT ALL, she's starting to get up there in age a bit. Dont tell her that, though.


----------



## Scarlett_O'

magicre said:


> we used to give malia free roam....until we realised that she slept right at bubba's crate...because he does not get free roam.
> 
> lately, if i'm gone less than a half hour, i leave them out of the crate.
> 
> otherwise, they are crated together because as much as malia says she doesn't like bubba, she never leaves his side.


This is how it was when I was growing up! We had my brother's Basset and 2 Lhasas, my sister's female and my male(they were in that order with age each a year older then the next.) The Basset always got crated and when the Lhasa's were each about 18 months old they started being left out....however my sister's tore INTO the Basset's plastic crate! We came home(after 5 hours of being away)to find both girls cuddled up! From then on we had one big crate for the girls!:wink:



Roo said:


> There is just two of us in our 3 bedroom home, so we converted the smallest bedrooms into a "dog room" we took the carpet out and put down vinyl flooring and they have their crates in there, storage for their toys, brushes, leashes etc. and an old soft recliner. We leave the crate doors open and just shut the door to the room when we're gone. I love having a room for them that I can shut the door to, it's great for when they get sick or if I want to feed raw in there. At first I thought I was being over the top for having a dog room, now I love it and if we have kids in the future or move, I will always make sure I have a house with one extra room I can turn into a dog room. I would love to put the freezer in their room with a mini fridge and a little kitchen island with a prep sink and counter top space, so I could do all my raw prep/cutting and storage in the same room.


AHHH...I SOOO cant wait to have that kind of room!!:biggrin1: And like you said, I want to put a type of "doggie dry bar" in!:biggrin:


----------



## monkeys23

It would be so freaking cool to have an in-house kennel set-up. My dream home would have seperate indoor kennels with seperate (roofed and edged in concrete to deter digging) runs via doggie door. Out in the boonies of course. And fenced yard of course to keep the horses off the porch. :biggrin:


----------



## Northwoods10

I could probably trust Nallah & Morgan to be out if we were gone, but not Remi. 

During the work day, Remi & Morgan are crated next to each other in the basement. Nallah goes to work with us everyday, has since she was 8 weeks old. So, there's no changing that now! She'd have a fit if she didn't get to go to work! My other two are too wild to be around strange people all day. 

Sometimes I'll leave Nallah out and just crate the younger two if we're only going to be gone a few hours. But Nallah prefers her crate anyways so she usually goes in there to sleep. All the crates are set up in the basement. My hope is that eventually I can leave them all out loose in the basement.


----------



## chowder

This is just a general question for anyone who crates their dogs when they are gone and at night. Is there any concern on your part that your dog's can't serve as watchdogs while they are crated? One of the reasons I have dogs is so they can be a protection factor (mostly noise but you never know). I figure any burglar who gets past Rocky will end up tripping over Chelsy! :biggrin: 

I crate mine when they are puppies, but as soon as they are housetrained, their crate doors are left open so they can have free run of the house (Shade is just getting to that point since he is a work in progress). I've always had a Chow sleeping at my front door, and now I have Shade sleeping in the laundry room at the back door so I'm covered both ways. I really have no concerns whatsoever about anyone ever breaking in. Actually, my chows always pick the front door to sleep against, it seems to be a natural tendency for them.


----------



## bernadettelevis

chowder said:


> This is just a general question for anyone who crates their dogs when they are gone and at night. Is there any concern on your part that your dog's can't serve as watchdogs while they are crated? One of the reasons I have dogs is so they can be a protection factor (mostly noise but you never know). I figure any burglar who gets past Rocky will end up tripping over Chelsy! :biggrin:
> .


Levis is not crated, but that's what i was thinking too.... Because at night i'm scared of everything


----------



## Tobi

> Originally Posted by chowder
> This is just a general question for anyone who crates their dogs when they are gone and at night. Is there any concern on your part that your dog's can't serve as watchdogs while they are crated? One of the reasons I have dogs is so they can be a protection factor (mostly noise but you never know). I figure any burglar who gets past Rocky will end up tripping over Chelsy!


We don't crate Tobi just because he's so well behaved in bed, i don't really worry about the home protection part of it, but he is VERY protective of the house were coming to find out... could be an extra incentive on not crating him at night.


----------



## SerenityFL

chowder said:


> This is just a general question for anyone who crates their dogs when they are gone and at night. Is there any concern on your part that your dog's can't serve as watchdogs while they are crated? One of the reasons I have dogs is so they can be a protection factor (mostly noise but you never know). I figure any burglar who gets past Rocky will end up tripping over Chelsy! :biggrin:


The boy barks perfectly well inside of his crate. And he will bark at pretty much anyone who comes to the door so, would be intruders, hearing that low bark and growling will probably think twice before entering. Why risk it when there are other, dog free homes in the area?


----------



## Khan

Until Khan was about a year, he was crated while the other two were left out during the day. Now all 3 are free to roam the house. Funny thing is, as soon as we leave, they all go to there "spots" Khan retreats to the spare bedroom and lays on the bed until we get home. I leave about 15-30 min earlier then my husband, and as soon as I grab my keys, he's off to the bed in the spare room. Shelby sleeps on the pillows in our room during the day, while Bonzi hangs out on the couch or chair in the living room.


----------



## 3Musketeers

Well, if the adopted dog hasn't spent much time together with your dog then I'd be wary of letting them free roan together, I'd keep them separate until you can trust them to behave around each other. Maybe you can leave them in a room alone for 5 mins at a time, then 10 mins , etc. to see if they start anything, but I wouldn't leave them together just yet.

That being said, my 3 brats free roam together when I'm not home, they do end up getting bored, or annoyed by the neighbor's kids, and start barking, but they behave around each other pretty well, if they start bothering each other they settle it out without fighting.


----------

