# off limits rooms



## jp (Nov 24, 2009)

Does anyone have any rooms in the house that are off limits to the dog? What do they do when you go there and they can't follow?


----------



## Pineapple Princess (Nov 20, 2009)

We have our lower living room (with cream colored carpeting) gated off right now because we recently got the carpet cleaned and Hobie isn't 100% potty trained yet. We aren't down there often but when we are and she isn't, she stands on the bottom step and barks her head off. It's fabulous.


----------



## Crazy Kian (Aug 10, 2009)

We have spare bedroom that he ins't allowed in because he will either eat the cats food or stick his head in the litter box and eat til he's full :-X
If he follows us and we walk into that room, we just make him "stay" outside the door. He's usually pretty good about. I think he knows a mouthfull of cat litter will make him end up at the vet's office ;D


----------



## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

The basement is off limits for our dogs. It's the cat's domain. They will foloow to the top of the stairs and jut look down. If they descend one step though, out comes the squirt bottle. They caught on really quick.


----------



## scooby (Mar 23, 2009)

I know that a lot of you will disagree but the bedrooms are of limits to Scooby he's allowed free run of the house but I just can't trust him NOT to go on the beds so the bedroom doors stay shut and most of the time he's asleep were I left him when I do come home.


----------



## barrel browner (Jul 30, 2009)

scooby said:


> I know that a lot of you will disagree but the bedrooms are of limits to Scooby he's allowed free run of the house but I just can't trust him NOT to go on the beds so the bedroom doors stay shut and most of the time he's asleep were I left him when I do come home.


We too keep upstairs off limits by using a stair gate. Purdey did sleep in our room for the first six months then we put her down stairs protecting the front and back door  I did let her sleep with me this week as hubby away because I am a chicken she did really well!..
I am always worried she will destroy something in the kids rooms so I don't normally take the chance. i've tried removing the stair gate with no sucess......she's just sooooo nosey!!
BB


----------



## jp (Nov 24, 2009)

We also have the bedrooms on the second floor and basement gated off to give the cats their space. (Yes, that does require them running the gauntlet on the first floor to get between their two protected areas!) While curious, Penny does fine with this except when we go upstairs without her. She may scratch at gates/doors or see it as an opportunity to be mischievous.


----------



## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

Yes, we do have a couple of rooms upstairs we don't want her rummaging in unattended (because everywhere else is dog-proofed with precious/delicate stuff on high shelves). Usually only one of us goes in those rooms, and not when Rosie would be alone in the rest of the house, lonely or desperate to get in. She seems to know by now not to follow, but if she tries, she responds well to just being gently turned around and shown the door.


----------



## tyler1998 (May 9, 2009)

We're getting an 8 week old vizsla in a week and a half. My wife and I have come up with a scheme to keep her out of off-limit areas. We're going to put a gate in the entrance to our master bedroom with a strip of gray plastic underneath (like what people use to cover cables in walking areas). When the wife is home with kids, the gate stays up. When I'm home working with the dog, I'll take the gate down and work with her on not crossing the strip. Over the weeks we'll gradually get more strict about it and hopefully be able to take the gate down before she's big enough to jump it. Then we'll try putting the strip in other houses and training her not to cross it. 

The long-term plan is to have a portable border that the dog can easily recognize. This will be usefull in hotels, the family cabin, and at the parent's house for sunday dinner. We'll see if it works or not.


----------



## maxxie (Jan 3, 2010)

When we brought Bentley home, we made our new extended kitchen his main domain and allowed him in the lounge for people to come and see our new puppy. Big Mistake!!! He assumed this was his play room and started to go mad in it, so after 2 days we thought this a big no no and made it with the rest of the house out of bounds for the time being until he learnt his boundaries. His crate is at the end of the kitchen with a side glass door to the garden in which he loves sitting on he doormat looking at everything that moves. He has an area at the side which is his area about 45ft by 7ft to do his doings and play with his bones and toys etc.
In the evenings, we take him into the lounge on his lead and walk him round the room calmly and then sit him down and he now sleeps in his spare bed next to us on the floor or chomps on a chew. It has taken a while but well worth it. I know if we had done this straight away, we would not have confused him, so totally our fault. When we are in the garden he is allowed out in the big garden we have that has farmland back onto it with lots of birds to watch. Again at first, he would throw himself into every bush and plant and chomp holes in my husbands prized lawn, but he is really good now. This is all working well thank goodness. The calming down in the garden coinsided with going out and about on his walks so was just pent up frustration I think.
At first, if he escaped into the capeted rooms, which was the lounge and bedrooms, he went mad, lying on his back with his legs in the air which was very funny but unacceptable and I think it was the feel of the carpet that excited him, but he has finally learnt that if he is calm, he stays in the lounge with us. If he goes mad, he goes back into the kitchen. He is a very cuddly and affectionate boy so has learnt what is his best option. I have never let my dogs on the furniture or upstairs and don't intend to change that, although now we live in a bungalow, so don't have to worry about it now! We just keep doors closed to keep him in his area, but he does not run in like he used and strolls in the lounge but comes when called, so progress is being made all round. Dogs need boundaries just like us and are much happier when they know what is expected of them.


----------

