You first have to ask yourself how much time are you able to spend at home during the day if at all possible because crate trainng can take some disapline of your own. You would want, at the very least, to go home for lunch and let them outside or possible ask a neighbor or hire a dog walker. If you cannot make it home there will be accidents to clean up, this I can guarantee. But I like to think of this method as a more proactive approach. It really tries to prevent the accidents from happening by becoming more involved in positive reinforcement.
You’ll want to buy a crate or ask a neighbor if you could borrow one for about six months. Put in the crate or small walled off area all the things that would make you comfortable, a blanket or sleeping pad, a water dish that connects to the crate so he won’t kick it over and some of your dogs toys.
Crate training works better if you are planning on leaving him during the day place newspaper at one end, he will need somewhere to go. The aim here is that your new dog sleeps and eats in his crate or goes in when you cannot watch him. Eventually he won’t want to go potty in the crate if he is in it too, so he will wait until you take him out. The idea is to keep him in a space he feels safe in and wants to keep clean. The more room he has the more the chance he will use it as a bathroom. Small enough so there is room for him to get bigger or just put a divider in so he can only use what you see fit.
You’ll definitely want to make a schedule. This establishes a routine and to a dog that is exactly how they learn, by doing exactly the same thing over and over. And if you reward your puppy for positive behavior, well it wants to be rewarded so it continues to do those things. A schedule also lets everyone else who will be helping out with the feeding and walking and yes playing, all do the same consistent thing.
Most dogs are hesitant to get into the crate at first so just reward him for doing so and he will go every time you ask. Make things fun for your puppy it just thinks it’s a playing a game and as long as he get a reward whether spoken or with treats they will obey your every command.
When you wake up in the morning take them outside, they should be good for about an hour after that, depending on how much attention they are getting. Take your puppy out again before you feed them. Not too long after they eat about ½ an hour or sooner they will have to go outside again. And this repeats as they eat and drink through the day. Play, poop, eat, poop, play, sleep, poop, play, eat and on and on. Remember to feed you puppy in his crate and keep him in there if he not relieving himself, or being played wit. He will get used to being around you but in his own environment and this will reinforce his potty training because they usually don’t poop where they sleep. If you are ever not sure if he has to go take him out, trust me.
There will be times throughout the night he may wake you up because he needs to go, and at first you’ll have to let them go, just don’t reinforce any other behavior, take him out and put him back in his crate. After a few weeks your puppy will be sleeping longer and will have developed bowel and bladder control and your dog will sleeping throughout the night and will be asking you if it can go outside. Your efforts will be worth it in the long run with a well housebroken dog.
