First off, I have been lurking these boards for a while now and owe ALL of you major posters an enormous amout of gratitude with my new pup.

Being my first post here, this is just a lil about my companion and self.  (For those in a hurry, this part can be skipped--question will be posted in next paragraph.)  I recently acquired a mix pup, Ace.  He is 5 months old, and according to the lady who I got him from, he is part Carolina Dog, Chow, and Lab.  Oh, and yes, I do live in the USA (but don't hold that against me ;-P ).  Anyway, he is my first REAL pet and for the month I've had him, the blessings have more than outweighed the poop.  He is a strong and apparently healthy dog--loves his Kong ball, rope bone, and stuffed animal.  I am currently looking for a good training program in which he and I can both attend and further our relationship.  I truly look forward to corresponding with all of you and will be a sponge to any advice given.  Thank you all in advance...

THE QUESTION:  Ace is crate trained and has only messed twice inside the house (my fault).  My question, though, is will he eventualy grow out of his "curiousity stage?"  He sniffs and takes everything inside his mouth, which is common, I'm sure, to all pups, but when is a good time to allow him to roam the house fairly-freely?  (I intend to keep an eye on him when I can, and both, if possible.)  As of now, my room, in which his crate is also, is the only true puppy proof room.  Mostly, his activities are limited to my room, the backyard, and our walks around the neighborhood.  I would eventually like him to be a "TRUE" house dog able to roam the house at will, but when (how old) is a good time to do this?  Puppy proofing the entire house is close to impossible as my nieces (3 and 4 years old) live with me as well, and they tend to be as messy as my pup.  The couple of times I have let him off the lead inside the house, he found a stray toy and ran around like crazy.  I'm sure small steps is the key, but just looking for a light at the end of the tunnel.  Thank you, once again, in advance...

Kingace
the world is an exciting place when you are just 5 months old :)
you are right in that you cant make the house 100% puppy proof as there will always be someything that smells or looks exciting . Its a case of making sure that the obvious and dangerous things are all kept out of his reach and supervision is maintained.
Crating in your absence is a good idea too although obviously not for long periods.
You will also need to become a "human hoover" after your nieces as they are still too young to realise that pup will find their toys rather interesting ;)
Good luck- pup sounds adorable :D

By the way SOME dogs will never lose their enthusiasm for those items they shouldnt have ;)

Ace is still very much a puppy. Stealing toys is going to be fun for him for a long while yet :-)

I would gradually get Ace accustomed to exploring the house, supervised.   You will need to keep it puppyproofed a while longer - most likely until he is a year old.  If you block of "no-go" areas with a dog or child gate or panels from dog pens (you can order these from dog supply places like Cherrybrook, they have an online catalog, fyi) you can give Ace a bit more freedom earlier.  It all depends whether he is a chewer of fixed objects (of wires, furniture legs, the sofa and so on) or a chewer of moveable objects (shoes, TV remote control, toys, etc.), or not a chewer.     Every dog is different -- and the only way to find out is to give him the opportunity to make his selection.   My current dog (1-1/2 years old now) has never been interested in chewing.  I watched her once sample a table leg, told her "no", and that was the end of her taste tests of wood.  She does remove the cable remote control - but all she does is pick it up and put it on the floor.  She goes mad for the mail and will stick her head in pockets to remove tissues -- she's a paper ripper, that's her thing.   On the other hand, I had a dog who destroyed a sofa and ripped up the lino tiles on the kitchen floor.  I've had dogs who ripped wallpaper off the walls (trying to scratch through the plasterboard to get at mice in the walls)  and dogs who did a bit of carving on the kitchen cabinets with their teeth.  A dog who gnawed the heels off shoes, but then as she got older all she would to is to move them around the house.   And I had a dog who never, ever did anything destructive at all.

Get the picture?   You just never know :-)   In the meantime, with small children you need to make sure that toys (especially small toys that can be swallowed in one gulp) are out of the puppies reach.   Dogs are pretty good at throwing up or pooping out nonedible objects - but they sometimes do get lodged in the intestines and need to be surgically removed.    It's a good idea to teach a dog "leave it" or "drop it", so at least if you see him with something he should not have he will give it up more easily.

Best of luck with Ace.  He sounds like a lovely dog.

Stacey

Hi to you both ,if i can give you any advice it would be to do what you are doing now ,just keep checking out this forum ,in my experience if it is not a question allready asked  ,it will be eventually ,if not ! it  probably does not exist!! LOL ,never be afraid to ask a question ,they are a  pretty tolerant lot  here & before you know it ,as Ace grows you will have   your own experiences to offer   !,......& this is what makes Champ Dogs so addictive ,good luck with Ace & try to enjoy this "Puppy " time ,it goes all too quickly . Bye Sue & Lola xx a

I read in the book 'The Dog Whisperer' i think it was, that to a dog, everything is a chew toy - and he cant tell the difference between a shoe and a piece of old rag.  Our pup is chewing everything (including starting to devour small chairs) but we usually just distract her and make her play with one of her toys and that works most of hte time. distraction is everything!

Oh the magic of a new puppy. Isn't it wonderful? Even cleaning up the poop is fun, to an extent. I have a five month old pup and a two year old dog. Both are Siberian huskies and what is in their character as a breed? Chewing. Those dogs love to chew. Kieron, the adult girl, chewed on everything possible. I was so afraid that she would sneak behind me while I wasn't looking and chew the electrical wires to lamps and such. Luckily, she never did, but after being caught chewing on the chairs, shoes, pencils, erasers, pop bottles, empty snack boxes, plastic wrappers, used tissues, and even (OMG) used women pads and tampons. How gross is that? But through all of that, Kieron is a wonderful girl and is trusted to be alone in the house. Houdini, the pup, on the other hand, is still a work in progress. But he will one day get there. With Ace, just follow the advice of these great people and you will soon have his trust and he'll have yours. But don't let him get into women pads and tampons, they are a reck to clean up... ;)

You say you live in the USA. What state are you from? I am in Oklahoma. =)

LOL sibeluver - so funny. i just heard of a standard poodle pup who ate womens underwear. ALL of it. bras, pants the lot. apparently he would eat the pants and regurgitate them. mmmm nice.

Thanks for all the helpful (and entertaining) replies!  I did a "supervised" exploration of the house today with Ace and he behaved quite well - sniffing and chewing at random objects, but nothing too unpredictable.  He is slowly becoming less frantic around the nieces, which is a great relief.  I have found that training my nieces around the pup, is almost as challenging as training the pup around them...go figure.  To make a long story short, I understand it will be a while before Ace is able to roam around freely (although, always supervised around the girls)...and I'm just going to try to enjoy his puppy stage and the niece's childhood, before they all slip away like sands of time...

--Rex

P.S.  Sibe--I'm a neighbor from the south in TX... I'll make sure to keep Ace away from those feminine products... ;-P