[Mom2BabyNatalie]

Originally Posted by Misti1

Just like when you were raising your children, everyone has advice. Mika is in her crate while her Mom and I are at work. We put her bowl of water in there with her. A friend says we should NOT, that she will drink and it will make her want to go, yet she will hold it as she is in the crate, and it will make her uncomfortable. Better not to leave the water. What say you experts. And before you ask, this is like from 8:00 AM-3:00 PM. sometimes later depending on boss' demands.

Hmmmm, that's tough because it's SUCH a long time crated for a little one..... I can say that I never put food / water inside the crate for just that reason... crate training is all about teaching them NOT to potty in their crate... but if they eat / drink and are in a long time, they're bound to... which defeats the purpose...

It would be better, if you have an area - when you're going to be away such long hours... to maybe gate a room with a tiled floor... bathroom, kitchen, whatever.... just so it's safe....and put her crate inside it - open door... so she can sleep in there and get comfortable being in the crate..... while keeping her food / water outside of the crate - and a puppy pad on the floor at the opposite end of the gated area, for when she needs to potty...

I'd never leave my kiddos kenneled in their crates for longer than a few hours at most..... (unless it was when they were younger and we first started training through the night) - they're never kenneled now because they have their own room...

Good luck!