Leaving Yorkie Home Alone... Help

[YorkieRiley]

Hello! We put our 7month old Riley in a pen (laundry room) with a baby gate. He has everything he needs in there, including an open crate to lay/hide in. Riley has a little bit of separation anxiety. He barks when we leave but doesn't seem to tear things up much, at least while confined in his pen. He has a dog walker who comes at noon every day.

Now to the problem...
Last week, Riley figured out he could jump over the baby gate. The first time was on my day off while I was running to the store. He met me at the door. Nothing was out of place or chewed up. When I left he was pretty tired, so he probably just laid down the whole time. The next day, he did the same thing. Both times he was only alone for a couple hours... so who knows what he would get into if left out all day long. I made the gate higher by adding a board to it. He hasn't escaped all week until today. The dog walker called and said he met her at the door. He tore up some pee pads, but that's all that he seemed to do. She didn't want to put him back in the pen because she feared that he could break a leg or get hung since he is jumping that high. So I'm at work, over an hour away, and he's at home having a field day. He is house trained. He holds it until let outside. If we are home and he doesn't make it outside in time, he'll go on a pad. I'm afraid if we leave a pad out he'll keep tearing it up and will just do his business anywhere. Do you think at this age that he'll be fine to leave out of his pen as long as things are "puppy proofed"? Or should I make the gate higher and keep him in the pen.

What do you all do with your yorkies while at work? I'm going to leave work early and hopefully the house will be in one piece.

[ace611]

The exact same thing happened with my mom's yorkie Bazil! He has got some major hops and can jump over his gate so she got another one and just stacks them 2 high to keep him contained. Otherwise, she usually just lets him have the run of the house because he is 2 yrs old.

[vanessa19]

Im very lucky with Jasmine, you could have anything out and she will not get into it. She just does her own thing while we're not home. You might want to try the little trays that the pee pee pads lock into and then he shouldn't be able to tear them up. I hope this helps!!

[sabsab00]

Yes, I do the same thing with Buster...I never realized how high these guys could jump! I hate leaving him in the crate all day so stalking 2 gates works best for me..

[lara2913]

Could you not just puppy proof one whole room in your house? That way you could leave him in there and shut the door, I doubt he could open doors.

[Yorkiekids]

I like the idea of putting him in a room where you can shut the door. Otherwise you can try and give him a chance with free run of the house.

[MIZBROWN]

Wow... dont know what I'd do... Like someone else mentioned, maybe try two gates rather than one.

[PrincessPoo612]

I say let him free. If he is potty trained and the house is puppy proofed..go for it. I let Yumi roam my condo...I just keep the bedroom and bathroom doors closed. She has a zillion toys and smooth jazz on the radio to keep her occupied She does really well.

[YorkieRiley]

Thanks for all the replies. I made it home by 3pm. He had plenty of time to do a LOT of damage, but there was just pee pad shreds all over the place and a broken blind chord. He's been trying to chew at one of our blind chords the past couple nights. He broke it and a tassel that my wife had holding a curtain in place. I think we can live with that. Since his pads were ripped up, he peed on the floor nearby.

Not too long ago my sisters dog's escaped in her house and trashed it. She had to have an emergency cleaning done from professionals. Compared to that, I consider myself very lucky! haha. These past few times that Riley has escaped, he has proved that over time we can trust him. He didn't hurt any of the furniture or anything else. I think we will continue to put him in a pen until he gets a little older. I'll go get another gate today.

[YorkieRiley]

haha, Right before I got on here I vacuumed and put down a fresh pad. I just looked over there and he went potty on it, lol. When we finally let him free roam... if we still need the pads I'll probably try getting one of those trays to attach it to.

[SophieRose]

I have in the past placed two gates - on top of the other - because of the exact reason. Once they figure out how to escape, it is easy. Two gates will keep in inside though. (I used plastic heavy duty gates)

[Sunnie]

two gates work for most, but Rainbow, my little escape artist just climbs the gates. I would swear she is a rock climber. I have hidden out of sight and watched her so I could see how she does it and she can climb to the top in about 15 seconds flat. Then she jumps down the other side.. So rather than 2 gates and have her break a leg, I close off the rooms I don't want her in and she is free when I am gone.. of course I also have 4 other yorkies and a poodle so they keep each other company. Once the newness of being free wore off, I found that they just sleep all day anyway. lol
Sonya