I crate trained and housebroke (is that word??) our dogs without the extra step of the pad. I personally do not recommend it. I agree with Deanna; you are telling the dog it is OK to go in the house.

Dog is on a schedule for food, water and walking. One common mistake is that people do not let their dogs sniff, walk around for any length of time when they take them out to go. 15-20 minutes. Last female was done in 2 days.

We recommend this to anyone who calls us with housebreaking issues; the majority of them have used the pad route 1st. We walk them through the schedule and it fixes the issue.

So...when it is time for you to go to work you crate the dog, and if it is not possible to get back during the day to let it out, you just clean up and deal with it until the dog is old enough to hold it? The reason for asking is that I currently crate my 11 week old gsd at night. I have to get up once and let him out during the night and he has never gone potty in his crate. When I go to work, however, I leave him in a 6'x12' kennel inside my heated shop. Sometimes I do not get back to him for 9-10hrs and he will only urinate in the kennel. My question is this...am I just shooting myself in the foot by giving him this much room already? Will he just consider the shop as his toilet?...or will he learn that it is OK to do it inside the kennel only? I had planned to build an outside dog run in the spring anyway and felt that this setup was going to be the most humane way of leaving him alone for so long. Now I am not so sure, should I just crate him all day and deal with it? I have crate trained dogs in the past, but have never been in the situation of having to leave them alone for that long on a regular basis. Any feedback will be appreciated! JR

Tom,

Hey, it's whatever works that the trainer/handler is happy with.

I don't really think it's anyones place to say that what you're doing is wrong if it's working for you. Now on the other hand, if what you are doing isn't working and you come ask for advice and someone says what you're doing is wrong...hey, you asked for it--and obviously they are correct.

Jason

In my own personel opinion - 9 - 10 hrs at a time in a cage is way to long for an 11 week old pup, not just for the house traning aspect of the dog, but how does he get fed? Where's your time spent with the dog?
You ask if you are shooting yourself in the foot by giving him to much space, you are probbaly shooting yourself in the foot by leaving him for this long on a regular basis. How is he being socialised for example. I dont think its a good idea to keep your dog caged for this long. On the house training - how will he ever know wheres hes supposed to go - dogs by instinct dont like to mess in there own den - but if you give him no choice how will he ever learn?
Judging by your post (you may have left things out, but what i read from your post)you should seriously review your ideas on raising a puppy.

Jason, Several of my coworkers have found an interesting solution.

During the day they leave the young pups with a nearby groomer who has extra cage space and he charges them $5 per day. It is right across the street and they can go visit the pups at lunch and the pups get used to the different dogs etc. Of course we all know the groomer and how he treats dogs etc. and he loves puppies. Perhaps there is a similar situation near you.

I would not want to do with a very young pup until all shots but it is an idea. I just took two weeks PTO when I got my pup, worked half days the following two weeks and went home during lunch the next month...It is a lot but I don't get new dogs more than once every 5 or 6 years and figured it was worth the early time spent.

Thanks for the input. I would like to clarify that my pup is not always in his kennel that long, but it does happen on occasion. As for the amount of socialization he gets, I spend 2 hrs every morning with him and he is with me for the remainder of the evening when I get home. On weekends he is pretty much with me all the time. I think that I will just start taking him to work with me on the days that I know I will be late getting home. I appreciate the suggestions...thats what I come here for! JR

Gina,
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with a shelter <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> . You would hope that shelters would try to keep a clean house (free of disease), but unfortunatly some just don't <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> . I hope that this experiance does not completely turn you off from shelters. I have had 2 rescue/shelter dogs in my life and they have both been great animals. They both competed in Agility. If you are willing to try again with a shelter do the same research you would do for a breeder. I'm not sure about So. Cal., but the SPCA here in Dallas is great. Just to be safe take the pup to the vet as soon as possible for a new puppy check up (do this with breeders too). Have the pup tested for everything. As far as crate training goes, it does work very well. I myself do not use it only because that is not how I learned to train dogs. It really is a great method. Another thing to remember is that just because you find a good breeder doesn't mean you found a good trainer <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> . Hope you are willing to give shelters another try

Gina, you will also want to consult with your vet your new puppy could still catch Parvo, you need to throughly clean your carpeting, etc before you bring in the new puppy. Any areas where other puppy pooped need to be cleaned very throughly with a bleach mixture-1 oz bleach to 1 qt water.