[StanTheMan]

Sooo Stanley is turning 1 this week and although he has calmed way down since we first brought him home, he is still very puppyish. He cannot be unsupervised in our house at all because he will end up eating a hole in the carpet or eating a flip-flop or a newspaper or a couch, etc. We were prepared for having to supervise him as a puppy and he is completely crate-trained but we're wondering if he will ever be allowed to roam free. If we take our eyes off of him for even a minute he will definitely be into something. We have a little toy box that he can take things out of but of course those are the least interesting things in the whole house!

Is he still growing up or is there something we need to do in terms of training?? I'm worried he's going to end up eating something and need surgery.

 

[Elvismom]

I find that most of my hounds settle down closer to 2 than to 1. But you are smart not to risk him eating something that could cause an obsturction that would need surgery.

My suggestion is to set aside an area like a laundry room or the kitchen that allows him more room to roam that a crate would, but that you can keep free of offending objects. And remember that a basset can reach things that seem physically impossible for them to get at.

 

[Betsy Iole]

My dogs vary as to how soon I can trust them to stay in the house unsupervised and uncrated. Most are at least three, and some don't earn unsupervised house privileges until they're even older. :blink:

 

[niniel1970]

Peanut is 8 and I trust her out...but not Tarquin...he's just now 3. And I don't feel right having 1 crated and the other not so...once Tarquin "matures" a bit...I might let them have bedroom and kitchen privileges when I'm not home. I do this on "short" trips to the grocery store..

 

[shallhb]

They do vary alot in when you can start to leave them alone, unsupervised and not regret it. Bella is four, and I wouldn't dream of leaving her in the house unsupervised for more than 5-10 minutes during her waking hours. Most of mine have been three or older before they were (somewhat)trustworthy alone......

 

[Mikey T]

Wow I'am a contrarian again. I can not recall a dog that I have had that once I was confident in the house training I did not give full range of living quarters. That is to say never the basement and in two story house just the ground level floor,

I have never had a real problem with destructive chewing. Below are a few suggest on Things that I general do that are different from a lot of others whether this makes a difference or not I don't know maybe I have been luckier than most.

1. I don't have anything in the house I consider irreplaceable

2. I have what I consider more dog freindly flooring , tile, hardwood, laminate vs carpet and general no area rugs either.

3. When suppervised the dog have access to the entire house so the can be taught popper behavior in each room.

4. If a teething dog does not seek out on of its toys for chewing then there is a problem that need to be considered. much distructive chew begins at teething. Dogs learn to chew on things that relieve the pain of teething. This is very individualistic to each particular dog. Take a cue from what the dog seeks out to chew on and provide a toy with similar characteristicts to texture, resiliency, plushness. A thousand and one plush squeeky toys will never satisfy a dog that is chewing on wooden furniture, sticks or blocks of hardwood will however. It is not just that chew toys be made available they almost must meet the needs of the teething dog.

5. Practice and reward leaving the dog unsuperivsed from early on. 30 seconds a minute. reward good behavior ignore bad, over time given the dogs house training slowly increase the time left unsupervised.

6. provide stimulation for the dog when you are gone. appropriate toys. buster cubes, stuffed kongs. and I can not overestimate the value of a doggie door and a companion to romp with.


a big part of allowing the dog to be left unsupervised is confidence in the dog, well the only way to gain that confidence and for the dog to prove its worthyness is to allow it the oportunity. {See 5} a dog that is always confined never has the opportunity to learn proper unsupervised behavior. Also once the have explored everything it becomes old stale hat and need no further investigation.

 

[Yogi's Mom]

After our dogs are house trained, they are allowed to have access to more than one room in the house with supervision and gradually allowed another room until they have access to the entire house. They must be taught what is acceptable to chew and plenty of toys and bones provided. Yogi had the run of the house by the time he was a year old.

 

[Aruuuu]

Eloise is two today, and while she's fine most of the time, every now and then something will catch her eye. She's crated when we're not going to be home for long periods of time, and at night all three dogs are in their crates......

 

[Mahna]

Maybe I was just lucky, but I adopted my Bogs when he was a little under 1.5 years. He was terrified of the crate because he had been left in there for hours and hours of starvation, so I didnt even try crating him when i first brought him home and left him alone. Originally I started with baby gating him off in the kitchen with high counters and a doggie bed. After about a month, I came home one day and the baby gate was knocked down, and he had pulled his bed into the hallway and was laying on it there, outside the bedroom door. From then on I crated him off so he had the kitchen and the hallway. Another month or so later I was getting ready to go run an errand, and he jumped on my bed and would not budge. I lifted him up to put him on the dog bed in the hallway, and he ran back into the bedroom onto the bed. I ran my errand quickly, and when I came back home, I heard him jump off the bed. From then on when I leave the house, he jumps on my bed and doesnt get off the bed until I come back in through the front door. I guess I let him earn my trust with one thing, and waited till he let me know he was ready to have more responsibility. But Bogs did not have a chewing problem

This does not mean Bogie was a calm dog at 1.5 by any means. He was crazy and ran around, jumped on everything he could reach, ran into walls. It really wasn't until recently, as Bogie passed the 3 year mark, that he has begun to settle down. Puppyhood is a very long phase for bassets, from everything I've heard and experienced.

 

[2hounds]

I believe my 2 would do okay with full run of the house, but we have furniture that we don't want them on. Because of this they are gated off in the kitchen. I'm looking into giving them more choices some time in the near future though.

~Heather

 

[Elmer-n-Button]

When Elmer & Button were puppies, our house looked ridiculous! Shoes on tables, hats on lampshades, papers piled on high counters, everything pushed back far on the counters. Bathroom doors were always shut; they loved to get into the wastebasket and get tissues and shred them (Elmer still loves washcloths).

Now that they are three, they have really settled down. They have the run of the first floor basically, just not the formal DR & LR, which is separated by a pocket door from the kitchen. But they have the kitchen, Family Room, sunroom and large utility room, a doggie door and large fenced in yard, so it works out great. We still make sure that items are pushed back on counters, and that the remotes and the cordless phones are put up but they pretty much sleep all day anyway so we don't have too much trouble. I find the trouble starts (usually a magazine gets turned into confetti) when we have to be away all day and then we go out at night too. They are just like children, aren't they?

Hang in there, it takes time, but I agree with Mikey T in letting them earn your trust. We started small, with leaving them out for small errands, and gradually working up to them being out all the time. Now we only have the crate in case we have an emergency or we have a lot of company.


Hey Heather, when are you coming to see us? I could arrange a few more bassets to come over from our area and we could have a play date.

 

[Stephn]

HI
Our Charlie he's gone now, but when he was little he chewed a soda can up, played tug of war with a flea collar never bought another flea collar that needed an emergency run to the vets, and paper he loved to shred paper. As he got older he quit chewing bad stuff and stuck to his bones filled with peanut butter. Once in awhile I would find a piece of paper he had chewed up, but not to often. He was crate trained but by the time he was 2 we didn't shut them in but he slept in it. He didn't have free run of the house because of cat litter boxes etc until we moved here. Brandy my baby now is 7 yrs she never has chewed anything but for the first year or so we would gate them in the kitchen.

Stephanie

 

[Lightning&Stomps]

Lightning destroyed thousands of dollars worth of stuff in my house when he was a puppy. He's 11 now and I almost trust him. My advice is: 1) plenty of exercise and mental stimulation and 2) a buddy. When I got Stomps, Lightning's behavior did a 180-degree turnaround.

 

[StanTheMan]

Thank you very much for all of your advice! I think we should start giving him some controlled freedom so he can learn how to behave. Does anyone have any tips for how to teach him what things are appropriate for him to play with and which ones he should leave alone? I was thinking of letting him into a room and if he goes towards something he shouldn't have re-direct him towards a toy and praise him when he plays with his toys... Any thoughts?

We would love to get him a buddy but unfortunately our living situation won't allow for it for a few years. I wish I would have understood the importance of a buddy for Bassets before we got him! He does get to go to day care twice a week and to dog parks so he gets lots of socialization but I suspect he gets bored easily without a buddy to play with.

 

[Mikey T]

Thank you very much for all of your advice! I think we should start giving him some controlled freedom so he can learn how to behave. Does anyone have any tips for how to teach him what things are appropriate for him to play with and which ones he should leave alone? I was thinking of letting him into a room and if he goes towards something he shouldn't have re-direct him towards a toy and praise him when he plays with his toys... Any thoughts?[/b]

Sounds good to me


IMHO Seperation Anxiety is more common in bassset than average for all dogs. This can be a leading cause of destructive chewing. see

Seperation Anxiety for tips to minimize and prevent it.

Haveing the dog work for meals while you are away is one good wall, stuffed kong toys, bust cube and other toys of the same ill that dispense kibble or cookies when turned and moved , or just scatter the kibble around so the dog must hunt to find it are all good ways to entertain the dog and provide mental stimulation.

also A companion need not be another basset nor a dog at all. That said IMHO the advice of getting a dog to prevent or minimize problems with the first is frought with danger, It has been my experience is the first thing that happen is the two dog teach each other their bad habits never their good so you end up with in the end is twice the headaches to address in training.

 

[GREGGO]

Maggie just turned 1 in April. She will destroy anything paper & she steals shoes. We are slowly leaving her uncrated for longer times when she's home alone. We make sure our bedroom & bathroom doors are closed. She is so eager to please & knows when she's been bad, I think she will grow out of it soon.