We still have ours set up and Bandit is 3 and Nala is 1. Bandit sometimes sleeps with us but otherwise they sleep in their crates and we put them in there when we are at work. Make it as "homey" as possible and don't use it as a punishment for accidents, that was a mistake we made with Bandit, and finally within the last year he's started going in the crate on his own when he wants a nap, while Nala did that from the beginning. We have their crates next to each other and a blanket over them except for the front to create a 'cave' feeling which our trainer said was great. If he's 9 months and still having accidents I'd expect to keep it up for a while, and then after he's been 100% for a while decide if you want to continue using the crate.
Just make sure you give the pup lots of chances to use the bathroom outside and watch him like a HAWK when he's playing and otherwise crate him. It will teach him crate = bed (don't soil) and outside = potty. It's not going to happen overnight but the better you are at watching him the quicker he'll learn. |