Just curious how many of you let your dog have "run-of-the-house"?  Wolfgang is 15 months old now and a very good dog, however, I'm a bit concerned about leaving him without being in his crate.  We're rarely gone for more than 5 - 6 hours at a time and, if we are, we make arrangements with either doggie day-care or a pet sitter.  That all being said, I've had several other dogs (a SharPei, and 2 beagles) that we let have full access to the house for hours on end.  Only one time did I have a problem and that was after my mother-in-law gave my SharPei a slice of pizza with MUSHROOM on it -- ugh!  I don't necessarily want to give him the whole house - just a room or two in the basement (finished).  He really isn't destructive, but if he finds one of my son's toys on the floor, he'll chew it.  I may start out giving him 20 - 30 minutes at a time with lots of his toys (kong, antlers, etc.) in a room.  Any comments/suggestions????  Thanks!

My two "sets" always had the run of the house in and out (with a dog door) and none have been seriously destructive.   (Well, there was that expensive wicker dog bed. . .)   Of course we learned not to leave leather goods, let alone food, out. . .   

 I currently let Adenine (1 year old) have the run of a couple rooms when I'm gone.  When he was very young I kept him locked in his crate in the laundry room. After he got more comfortable, I would leave the crate open and let him loose in the laundry room.  Since then I've added the kitchen.  So far he hasn't destroyed anything.  Interestingly, whenever I come home he's always napping in his crate even though its open.  I guess he just feels most comfortable there.

We have a 6 yr old that we have let have run of the house since we acquired her at the age of 3. We started with small increments but we can leave her for long hours. Record is like 11 hours. She will not pee or poop in the house and not a chewer. Does like to sleep on the furniture but we don't care. Our just acquired 4 yr old stays in the crate while we are gone as she was a kennel dog and just getting used to the house. We just started letting her out of her crate at night and she is doing fine. Don't know if we will ever leave two have run of the house. Worried they may get playfull and crash into things. But you never know what the future will hold. We will know when they can be trusted. The 4 years old will go into her crate when we are home relaxing and watching TV. She likes it in there.

Same here..started with him in the crate in the bedroom..then crate open only in the bedroom. Now I never close the door on his crate but he still loves it. He will go in it every night and most of his naps take place in it. Its his little den