One suggestion I have is to leave a few ice cubes for your pup. We got this as a suggestion from a trainer while crate training. It gives them enough water throughout the day while we are gone, but not so much that he drinks it all at once and has to pee while in his crate.
We leave our little guy in a crate while at work and my husband is usually home around 5pm (half the time it's earlier - yay!) He hasn't had an accident in his crate since he was very little. We go back and forth about leaving him in the tiled bathroom with a baby gate. However, we've tried it a few times since he's gotten older and a bit more trustworthy, but when given such a large space, he usually goes pee and/or poop in the bathroom. When this happens, we feel he slips on his potty training when he's out of his crate when we are home. When he's crated during the work day, we feel he is much better about his potty training while roaming free. Does that make sense?
On the weekends, if we leave early in the afternoon and aren't planning on being back until very late, we definitely leave him in the bathroom. Also, if we have to feed him and leave for the night while he's eating, we also leave him in the bathroom. During the work week, we always give him a chance to eliminate before going into the crate while we're at work. However, if we have to leave on the weekends or at night during the week, we leave him in the bathroom so he can eliminate after eating if we can't be there to let him out.
I hope all of that makes sense. |