My babies have full run of the main living area of the house. I do not crate nor confine as a general rule, except for keeping Chattie and Chizzie separate because of their fighting issues. The dogs have washable potty pads and go outside -- so if they "need to go" and aren't let out, they automatically go to the pads. I do occasionally crate and/or confine individual dogs so that they will not go ballistic in case I were to ever have the need to crate/confine.
I admit that pad training the pups is a bit more tricky since they have run of the house, but I firmly believe that the social skills learned are worth far more than a few potty mistakes. At six weeks Chizzie's pups are learning where the potty pads are and try very hard to "make it". Chattie's pups aren't quite there yet. |