[daterxies]

We have a 10 week old German Shepard lab mix. Our other dog we got around the same age who is six now we attempted crate training but as first time dog owners felt it was wrong (we know better now) He got the hang of going potty outside only very quick, like in a week. Our new one we have been having a lot more difficultly with.

For the crate training do people crate the dog whenever you can’t give them your complete attention? I have read quite a few things on crate training but everything just tells you how to get them loving the crate, not necessarily when and when not to crate.

Any advice is appreciate.

Thanks

 

[RonE]

As an alleged adult, I've had just one dog I needed to house train. That was 13 years ago.

We crated her only at night. Our adult dog slept uncrated next to the crate and the pup was generally calm. If she stirred, the adult dog alerted me and all three of us went outside. The adult dog didn't NEED to go out, but it was very helpful. The pup was trained by demonstration.

During the day, the pup was tethered to me unless we were outside, which we did with great frequency. I ALWAYS went out with her, as did the adult dog. I rewarded both extravagantly when the mission was accomplished. House training took about two weeks and is still bullet-proof 13 years later.

Now that I think back, I didn't house train Molly. Esther the Plott hound did.

 

[LeoRose]

Yes, any time you can't be right on top of them, they should be crated or otherwise confined. They typically don't like to soil where they sleep, but some will pee on any soft bedding in their crate. I say "typically", because some of them don't read the book.... My GSD slept on the bare metal crate pan until she was five, because as a puppy, she would pee on and/or chew on any type of bedding in her crate. If I had to do it over again, I probably would have gotten her a solid crate pad, like a Primo, just for some cushioning. Oh, well, she survived, and even though she has a crate pad now, she still tends to push it off to the side.

I don't require my dogs to love their crates, but they DO have to tolerate being in them.