Oh girl, let me tell you that I hear you and I totally understand. But, chin up girl, there is a light at the end of the tunnel! I know it doesn't seem so right now, but there is, I promise!
Okay, we started off crate training Sully, who is now 10 months old. We were consistent and no matter how bad it got, we stuck to it. We never left him in there for over 3 hrs (except to sleep at night) and on the days we had to leave him up to 5hrs (only random saturdays) we would put his crate by the tv and turn on Animal planet. But that's irrelevant, sortof.
His crate is about 1.5 feet by 2.75 feet, approximately. It was WAY too big for him when he was a little puppy! We had to barracade off more than half of it with two big tupperwares because he was peeing and pooping in there. When we 1st started barracading it, it seemed cruel. He barely had a place to lay down. He would wine and it was soooo sad. But it started to work! He was learning to hold his business for outside only! It was great.
But we had our many crises. Oh girl let me tell you how disgusting some of them were. One time, he pooped in there. And to try to get away from his poop, he knocked down one of the stacked plastic tupperwares. well it fell on top of him so he panicked and it fell into the poop so he moved away from it, which scooted the other tupperware into the poop.
We had just left to go to the store and come back, but let me tell you, there was POOP EVERYWHERE. He got a bath....but we were too grossed out to touch him so we filled up the bathtub, opened his crate and kindly "dumped" him into the water. Poor little pup was scared to death of what he'd done!
But we haven't had even one accident in MONTHS! We were consistent and it worked! Now, we have stopped putting him in his crate! We barracade off the kitchen and put his crate in there...b/c he likes it. Its his "bed'. Anwyay, he plays around in the whole big kitchen whenever we have to leave.
He's a really good boy! I'm serious, no accidents at all anymore!
If you could search back, you can read freaking-out, frustrated posts I've made on here while he was still learning to "hold it" after months and months of having him, we still had accidents! It took time! I was just about at wits end at times!
But the best advice I can give to you is give her only a little bit of space...it seems cruel but really, dogs like it. They're pack animals...you can research about crate training but anyway, BE CONSISTENT and most of all, don't give up!
There's light at the end of your frustrating tunnel, I promise!
