Here I go again with my anti-crating rantings...I don't believe dogs are meant to be caged...they are dogs, not hamsters or gerbils. My suggestion (this is what I did with Archie) is to keep the puppy in one room with the door closed. Put a wee wee pad on one side, and train him to go on the pad, and on the other side, keep his food and water. Also, keep a lot of toys closer to the food, as well as a little bed. Dogs won't "go" near their food or near where they sleep or play. Also, if you're going to be gone for a long period of time, you might want to leave a radio or tv on otherwise, outside noises might startle him.
I trained Archie to pee on the wee wee pad by watching how he acts when he has to go to the bathroom (he ran around trying to find a place to go), and I picked him up and put him on the pad. If he went there, I'd praise him. Otherwise, I just cleaned it up with Nature's Miracle (it erases the smell to the dogs, since they tend to go in the same spots over and over again). The best is if you catch them in the act of going in a place they are not supposed to, at which point, just pick him up and put him on the pad...he'll get the idea.
I usually take Archie out three times a day and he just waits until we take him out. Otherwise, if it's an emergency or the middle of the night, he will go on the one wee wee pad in the bathroom (and jump on the bed, wake me up and let me know that he went in the bathroom).
Once they're trained, you can start letting the dog out into other parts of your house.
If you're gone the whole day, it's too long to leave a dog in a crate. Crates are supposed to be for training, and should be used by someone who is there most of the time. They are not meant to be a cage for your dog to sit in all day. |