Wolf,

You said that he'll be spending most of his time in his crate until 8 months when you get him. I'm not sure what you mean. You don't have the pup now? Just wondering.

In no way am I suggesting that the pup be in the crate forever. I'm just saying that there is no set rules or anything written down on exactly how long. It all goes back to what was written before in earlier posts. If someone has to leave a pup in the crate too much do to time constraints then they should probably not have a dog in the first place. I do realize that there are sometimes when the puppy has to stay in the crate for a longer period of time.... when there is no one home for example. The bottom line is that it really comes down to common sense. If someone has a puppy and it lives in the crate all day and only is let out to relieve himself then that person should probably stick to owning fish. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

No no, that's not what I meant. I've had dogs all my life, and I spend a great deal of time with them. I probably spend more time with them than the average person. I meant that this one in particular won't be doing the same things. I didn't crate the others in the past because I didn't know what I know now.

I don't have a new one as of yet. I'm just preparing myself info wise so I can do a good job.

I just was double checking on how much time in particular. I still plan on spending as much time with him as possible, and when I don't then I will put him in his crate. That's what I meant.

The biggest obstacle I faced in getting a dog is what am I going to do with it while my wife and I were at work .I couldn’t get a pup and leave it alone for 8 hrs..That’s my wife schedule I usually work 12 hrs per day. I wanted a dog so bad and this tormented me.I thought about keeping the dog outside, but I wouldn’t do that to a puppy. I considered putting a den in the basement, but that wouldn’t teach the dog not to make in the house. My problem was resolved when my wife gave up her lunch hour to let the dog out. What no one bothered to mention is what to put in the crate and do you have a crate small enough so the dog can turn around and not much more in space .Theory is that the dog will not soil its den. You all know that. What we did wrong is we kept a blanket in the crate. I have been told that this was wrong because it absorbs the urine and the dog doesn’t know if it made in its den. I would still use the blanket right or wrong. The only time the dog had an accident in the crate was when my wife came home and the pup would get excited. As far as keeping the dog in the crate when I came home from work was impossible. I didn’t wait 23 years for a dog to keep it locked up when I came home from work. It wasn’t really a problem I just kept taking the dog out and encouraged good outside. I also spent that time socializing the dog in pet stores, taking the dog to different parks and most important I wanted the dog to associate the car with fun. My last dog was terrified of cars because the only time it went in a car was to the vet. I was 13 at the time. The pup went back in the crate when we went to sleep and would wake us up around 1 am crying to go outside. That lasted for a few months. It’s nice to have a house and a fenced in yard. Face it guys people have to work and they face the same problem I faced. My neighbor solved his problem by hiring a babysitter and paying her $300 per week to take care of his dog.

Milt

WolfLarsen,

I understand what you mean now.

it just seems strange to hear that a dog will not be fully house trained until about 8months to a year.. in ed frawley's how to house train a puppy article he gives the technique of how to use the crate on a schedule type of thing which seems to be working wonderfully, but he says that with that technique a dog can be house trained virtually over night...does it just depend on the dog or what???

I know people who swear their pup is house broken in 3 days. What they fail to tell you is that they are home all day and take the dog out every 15 minutes. Crate training is not only about house breaking.

Milt

Hi Milt, I always do the BASIC housetraining of puppies within about 3 days. This means that they are "imprinted" to relieve themselves outside, not that they are perfect.

I make sure I have 3 CONTINUOUS days to devote to the pup. The pup is taken outside once every hour while it is awake (or any time it goes to the door) and immediately upon waking up or eating.

Its a lot of work for those 3 days, but it drastically reduces housebreaking time.

It depends on what you consider "fully" housetrained. I really like what Dave Lilly just said. He refered to the first 3 days as "basic housetraining."Wording it like that is completely reasonable. Some people swear that they can fully housetrain a pup in 1-2 weeks. IMO, they are full of shit. Yes, you can get the pup in a nice routine where accidents may become few and far between, but theyare not "fully" housetrained. IMO, a dog that is "fully" housetrained is a dog that has ZERO accidents and is 100%reliable(unless the dog is sick with diahria....did I spell that right?LOL. If you clarify the statement by saying "my dog is pretty much housetrained" or "reasonably housetrained" or "basically housetrained" then yes I agree with that. Like I stated earlier, some dogs are better than others. My latest pup has not had an accident since he was 3 months old. He is now 11 months.

My reason for feeling so strongly about this is because I have seen many people get so discouraged when their 5 month old pup still has a few accidents. Then they have some know it all idiot friend telling them "Oh my dog was housebroken in 2 weeks, you must be doing something wrong."

Not always so. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

For some reason; the terms "housetrained" and "potty trained" are interchanged but in reality have complete different meanings. A dog can be fully "potty trained" and wreak havoc in the house. A dog can also be fully "housetrained" and never bother nor touch what it isn't supposed to; yet will urinate or defecate within the confines of the house. Crate training teaches the dog both lessons.
Each and every dog is unique. My older female husky/shep mix was completely potty trained by the age of 11 weeks; however, she was not completely housetrained and trustworthy until she was almost two years old meaning she didn't grab the couch pillows and have a pillow tug of war when I had only "left for a few minutes..testing her". So..until she could prove to me that she was trustworthy; she was confined to her room. The older male lab wasn't completely potty trained until the age of 18 months. Yet; he was completely housetrained and trustworthy at 12 months old.
I work a full time job and am gone 10 hours a day. When I'm not home; all of my dogs are in the house. Some have free run; the others are crated. I also make it a point to walk perimeter with my dogs in their fenced area at final potty time for the night and remind them of why they are out and to get it done. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

When I speak of housetraining, I am refering strictly to getting your dog not to urinate or deficate in the home. I suppose the word is "housebreaking". Nothing more complex than that.