o.k. I will get on getting him a crate. no he is full bred english bred lab. never rescued a mal.
btw, are there any heavy duty crates that I can get somewhere local? he bit his old crate up. a metal crate

If you're thinking of trying a plain old vari kennel, craigslist is a great resource. If you want a really nice metal crate there are a couple builders in Virginia I think.

Bounette,

This is a re-training challenge that you can do, but you have to make a commitment to it. It's going to take loads of time spent in the same space as the dog so the habit he has formed can be broken, simply by replacing it with the good outside habit and praising and rewarding like a nut for it.

"Simply" doesn't mean "quickly" or "easily." But if you're consistent, you can do this.

Have you housetrained a dog before? If not, do you need pointers to re-start as if he was an untrained puppy?

Connie I have house trained puppied before. My only thing is this: because he is "some-what" trained, and i say somewhat because he was good for almost 2 years with no accidents in my house.AND he only does it when i'm gone and asleep. I guess this is a crate issue. I just have to get a great crate for him that he cannot bite up. He is perfect when we are at home. I just need to crate him at night now and when we are gone. and praise like crazy when i take him out and he goes.
i dont need to tether him becauase for 1 he follows me around everywhere, and second he never goes when i'm home, except when sleeping.

 Quote: bounette white

Connie I have house trained puppied before. My only thing is this: because he is "some-what" trained, and i say somewhat because he was good for almost 2 years with no accidents in my house.AND he only does it when i'm gone and asleep. I guess this is a crate issue. I just have to get a great crate for him that he cannot bite up. He is perfect when we are at home. I just need to crate him at night now and when we are gone. and praise like crazy when i take him out and he goes.
i dont need to tether him becauase for 1 he follows me around everywhere, and second he never goes when i'm home, except when sleeping.

Sounds good .... and I would get up in the night for a few nights, too, to really set him up for success.

sounds good. Connie, thanks again for your help. I will be updating you as our success comes.lol

well, I have an update.

The reason why I left his old crate behind when we moved is because he tore it to bits. It was one of the petsmart heavy duty wire crates. He bit and tore wires apart and made a hole for himself to climb right out of. He would stay in it if I put him in while I was at home, which was hardly ever. When I left the house though he would just climb out. I figured it useless so I left it behind. Especially because he never went to the bathroom in the house, never destroyed the house.
Anyways I went online to start shopping for a "real" heavy duty crate and found some from a store on Ebay. I payed about $250.00 for a heavy duty crate and had it shipped. I was very excited.
This is the description that was listed for the crate:

"This is the strongest cage you can find in the market, this cage constructed with the 3/4" frame, forged from 20-gauge steel and reinforced by 1/2" diameter steel tubes for the strongest, sturdiest, most durable cage. Designed specifically for powerful dogs and/or professional breeder
Heavy-duty welds & stout door latches and floor grate, removable tray & four removeable-locking wheels for added mobility"

I put him into the crate and went out for about an hour. When I pulled up to the house he was at the window. He tore the bars on the top of the crate out of their sockets and it is now useless. I am so frustrated. He does not destroy the house but him going to the bathroom in the house is just about driving me crazy. An now to spend so much on a crate jsut to have it destroyed after the first use. I am really going batty. Please guys if you have suggestions, give them, give them, give them.!!!!
I took pictures of the crate. I also left the camcorder on him while I was gone to see what he does in his crate when I'm not home.

Pictures?
Any who, I know it's flustrating. Seems one can't buy anything these days you don't have to modify, rework, or redesign completely from the ground up.
What I'd do if it were me is I'd take it out to the shop, hammer and bend it back together, replace any piece of steel not salvagable and then make sure it wouldn't come apart again.
However if you don't have the necessary tools or know how go talk to a couple of welding shops see if they'll help you out. Or maybe try asking a trade school shop teacher if he'll turn it over to the class for brain storming and repair. If you can talk him into that it'll probably be for not much more than the cost of materials.
On second thought try that first, you may be surprised.

Good luck.

Thanks for the response Randy. I really consider my money just lost now but maybe I can find a shop somewhere that will fix it up for me. I am nervous of cost though. They would have to replace many bars with stronger ones so that he does not do the same thing to all of them.
Is there anyone on here who has a dog that goes through anxiety when they leave and breaks crates ? what are you guys keeping your dogs in while you're not home ?

I don't think it was the strongest crate on the market. Was it similar to this?
http://leerburg.com/1093.htm