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Originally Posted by mistyinca  When you started the crating, how old was she when you first started leaving her for 10 hours at a time? A new puppy simply CANNOT hold it for that long. You have to wait for them to mature before they can hold it that long.
You have to set yourself up for success with crate training. The rule of thumb is age in months +2, so if she's 3 months old, don't crate her for more than 5 hours at a time. Take her out and let her go potty. If she's been left in there for longer than her body can physically hold it, she has NO CHOICE but to relieve herself. So it sounds like she just got used to it. That is sad.
IMO. 10 hours everyday of being crated sounds like too much to me. I would look into doggy daycare. If that isn't an option, an x-pen might be a better choice, with someone to stop by and check in on her halfway, stimulate her, exercise her, feed her, etc. |
when i started the crating she was about 4 months old. i think she's about 7 1/2 months old now. she is crated honestly just less than 9 hours. some days my boyfriend has work later in the day and can stop by around lunch time and lets her out for 45 minutes to play with him and potty. but it isn't every day. i can't afford doggy daycare, but i am most likely purchasing the exercise pen this weekend, and using it as a method of training on pee pee pads.
i heard about lining the whole bottom of the pen with the pads and taking away a little at at time until there's just one, and training for that.
has anyone done this?