When to Give Puppy More Room

P: My husband and I work during the day so one of us has been coming home during the day to let our pup out of his crate. For the past 2 weeks, our puppy hasn't been in the crate for more than 3-4 hours in a day. He's now 10.5 weeks old. At what point can we let our puppy have some more freedom and put him in the kitchen or gated off area? Is this based on once he's putty trained? Once he has more freedom, are we able to let him be for the majority of the work day without one of us coming home to check on him?

A: You can start adding limited area outside the cage at any time. Now that he is learning your routine you can gradually change the available space and time between visits. He will not have complete control over elimination for a few more weeks so restrict the available area using an exercise pen at first and then move toward a gated room.