I think if you want to have a dog trained to go outside, you need to start that from the beginning. If you are going to crate train - why not do this anyway? How old will your pup be when you get him? If he will be 12 weeks, that means he will be about 16 weeks by the time you will be at classes? I think 2 hours in a crate for a 4 month old puppy is not unreasonable. 4 is too long but I think 2 is OK if there is lots of play time before and after. Everyone needs to go grocery shopping or do something where the puppy can't go with! We always just kept our trips short. We never did potty pads, and Loki is 100% outside trained. IMO you need to make the decision soon or you are setting your puppy up for confusion. |