Hello...i need some advice! We have a 10 month old yorkie. She is pee-pad trained, which is what we decided to do when we got her. now my boyfriend wants to start training her to go outside as well since the weather is getting nicer and since we are thinking about getting another dog this summer. She is home alone during the day (another reason why we wanted to train her to use pee-pads, so she wouldnt have to hold it) and we have been keeping her in our second bedroom during the day. its big enough for her to be able to play and has her food and peepads. Now since he wants to start training her to go outside, he wants to keep her in a crate all day, so she will have to hold it until he gets home to let her out.
So getting to my questions....the crate we have is small. when we originally potty trained her we were told to keep in small so that way she'll learn not to go to the bathroom in there. its about 12.56"W X 19"D X 10"H. I have no problem keeping her in there for an hour or two, because she actually likes it in there. But the boyfriend wants to leave her in there ALL day, like 8.5 hours. I think thats a little intense and unfair
i would rather get her a slightly larger crate/cage (still not big enough for her to really go the bathroom in) and one that she can see better through. I put a picture similar to the one we have below.
What do you guys think? Am i completly over reacting? Will she be ok in the small crate for over 8 hours? or should we get a slightly bigger one so she can move around a little bit more? OR should we just leave it the way it is now, and still just take her out when she has to go to the bathroom when we are home?
What does everyone else who has a full time 9-5 job do with their babies???
Im just concern because when she is caged either way she really wont have any access to water or food...which makes me nervous with the warm weather coming!
Let me know your thoughts!
Thanks!!
(my apologies if this has been asked before...i did a search but nothing came up exactly matching my question...)