Miranda and I turned our 5 month Old Basenji Loose….
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Out of curiosity, where is he when he isn't able to run around the house? Our dogs are pretty much confined to our family room, and the dog room, where their crates are (or the bedroom at night for the bed dogs)…but I think most 'normal' ;) people allow their dogs to roam the house. Just wondering what your set up is.
I don't know how anyone dares to just let their b roam their house…if mine are missing from the room I'm in for more than a minute or 2, it is a definite signal they are up to no good. :rolleyes: I wish they could be trusted. I think Ruby alone would be ok, but no way with the addition of Brando. Brando is usually the instigator, and the kid seems happy to join in whatever trouble he may have found. I have the upstairs blocked with a baby gate, but the bottom floor of the house (log cabin) is an open floor plan and between the kitchen and the living area there are still places that they are hidden from view.
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I don't know how anyone dares to just let their b roam their house…if mine are missing from the room I'm in for more than a minute or 2, it is a definite signal they are up to no good. :rolleyes: I wish they could be trusted. I think Ruby alone would be ok, but no way with the addition of Brando. Brando is usually the instigator, and the kid seems happy to join in whatever trouble he may have found. I have the upstairs blocked with a baby gate, but the bottom floor of the house (log cabin) is an open floor plan and between the kitchen and the living area there are still places that they are hidden from view.
With the exception of the bathrooms, my dogs are free to roam the entire downstairs of our house. I just keep an ear open. They'd be able to go upstairs also, if they weren't hellbent on killing the cats!
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Out of curiosity, where is he when he isn't able to run around the house? Our dogs are pretty much confined to our family room, and the dog room, where their crates are (or the bedroom at night for the bed dogs)…but I think most 'normal' ;) people allow their dogs to roam the house. Just wondering what your set up is.
Our setup is pretty simple. We have a good size bathroom connected to our bedroom. It has really been the perfect setup in my opinion for raising Roo. It has a ceramic tile floor so in case there is any kind of accident during housebreaking its easy to clean up. Roo's crate fits between the wall that goes from the ceiling to the floor and a cabinet that extends from our sink. Actually his Kennel is right next to Miranda's Rolling makeup Artist Cabinet and fits in there perfectly. We also keep Bonzo's and Roo's Food in a plastic sealed container in the same room. So we really have just about everything we need for him.
Just so I do not get to graphic, as you know we visit Roo's Throne room several times a day. When we are in there, we make good use of the time by either petting Roo or playing fetch with one of Roo's favorite toys. We found most of Roo's Toy's at our local Big lots for around $3 each. These are the same AKC Toys they charge $9 in most other stores. Roo's favorite to chase it the Fox, so we bought 3 of them just in case he rips a hole in one.
When we leave Roo alone, which is not often, we have a metal gate with vertical bars that we purchase at Wal-mart. After looking at the high prices at Pet Smart, we decided we would look in the baby Dept at our local Wal-Mart and found what we were looking for. Roo does not seem to mind the gate, and this way we can leave the door to his crate open more and just close the gate.
Roo sleeps in his crate every night and usually goes in there during part of the day for his naps as well. He appears to be very happy and comfortable in this setup. We do not allow Roo in our bed.
Bonzo also has her own bed that is right next to the gate, that she can lay on when she is not in her crate. So she and Roo can see and even lick each other through the bars.
Miranda and I must not be normal people, because even Bonzo is crated when we leave the house. By the way Bonzo's crate is directly across from my side of the bed, and between our walk in closet door and Miranda's computer desk. Although I trust Bonzo totally, our crating policy keeps her safe and does not allow her to get in to trouble or be destructive when we are not around to supervise. It serves the same purpose for Roo.
Jason
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With the exception of the bathrooms, my dogs are free to roam the entire downstairs of our house. I just keep an ear open. They'd be able to go upstairs also, if they weren't hellbent on killing the cats!
Darn…you are lucky and good job, BTW! I'm hoping with some training (I've been working with Brando quite a bit...and he is a quick learner and very, very focused on what you are asking) and some more time with us, that he'll be a little bit less fresh/mischievious...but I'm not counting on it. He is kind of "hard wired" :D :rolleyes:.
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I have a dog room with a doggy door access to the yard for when we are not home, however that said, now that all my kids at home are elders, I don't keep them in the dog room anymore… they have access to that room and the kitchen/family room with a doggy door both in the Kitchen slider and the doggy door in the laundry room. When I have young dogs, we do use the gate that for the doggy room when we are not home.... I am glad that I don't have to use crates when we are not home... works great with the doggy room...
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Our two roam freely throughout the house. I think maturity on the dogs part and being a master at baby-proofing are key. We can now leave our garden shoes inside the back door and neither touches them. That said, they'll probably get chewed up tonight!!
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Miranda and I must not be normal people, because even Bonzo is crated when we leave the house. By the way Bonzo's crate is directly across from my side of the bed, and between our walk in closet door and Miranda's computer desk. Although I trust Bonzo totally, our crating policy keeps her safe and does not allow her to get in to trouble or be destructive when we are not around to supervise. It serves the same purpose for Roo.
Jason
When we leave the house, both our B's are crated. I used to confine Gypsy to the mudroom, but that's no longer necessary now that she is a senior citizen. She doesn't do anything but lay on her pillow until we come home.
It is only when we are home that the B's have free roaming.
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When posting our 'setup' at home, we forgot to mention that we spend literally ALL of our time in our Master Bedroom. The computers are there, TV, and we even eat dinner in there most nights. This means that Roo can see/be with us all the time if we are home. The only time we really spend out of the Bedroom area is if we go to kitchen to fix food, or out in the yard (and usually we take busy Basenjis and Bostons with us in the yard)
I know we aren't normal at all and that other people make use of the WHOLE house….but we're odd. Of course we're odd, we're Basenji people!
Randa
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Doesn't sound odd to me at all. If that's where you spend the majority of your time, that's where Roo and Bonzo should be as well. Doesn't matter the name of the room, just the quality time you spend with your dogs, IMO. It also helps that that then is where the day to day debris is and when the unexpected visitor arrives, all you do is shut the door.
We spend 90% of our time in the family room. Thank God for pocket doors!! Close them and do a quick search for the wayward chewed up kleenex, and taa-daaa… clean house;)
