# Potty Training without a crate



## jfinner1 (Mar 4, 2009)

Is it possible? Otto has serious crate issues, which I can't even work on until we can afford to get a new crate. He destroyed the old one, and I'm lucky he didn't manage to hurt himself in the process. He's really good about being out in the house. He doesn't get into anything (well, he got into the trash the first few days, but I solved that issue), he's not destructive or anything like that. So the only issue I have with him being free in the house all day is that he will sometimes go potty inside. Even that isn't too awful, because he always goes in the same place, a concrete floor room in the basement. Easy clean up, but obviously I'd still like for him to do all of his business outside. But every potty training thing I've read is very crate focused. Is it just not possible to potty train without a crate?


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## Sendiulino (Jun 20, 2011)

We're potty training without a crate. She does own a crate, it's just that we work full-time and we obviously sleep 8 hours a night, so crating a puppy for that long is just not feasible.

What we've done instead is that we've divided the kitchen in half with a puppy-gate (we have an L-shaped counter which brings the counter close to the wall in the middle, close enough to erect the gate, but you can also buy free-standing gates if you don't have this option -- I know PetSmart in particular carries a free-standing gate) and she has that area all to herself. Half of it has her (open) crate, her food, and her toys.. the other half we cover in puppy-pads.

She took to the puppy-pads quickly and now when we let her out in the apartment when we come home, she knows exactly where to go (runs all the way to the kitchen to pee). We're also taking her out into the back yard when we can to show her where we'd -eventually- like her to go.. and now after only a week of this she's started waiting and indicating at the back door, usually for #2 more than #1 though 

She still has accidents so we do have a good carpet cleaner pet product on stand-by, but over all she's catching on quickly. I find the puppy pads a really great stepping stone to the outside.. but we're kinda lucky in that our kitchen opens up directly to the outside, and the puppy-pads are right by the door we want her to get used to using.

Edit: I should also mention.. where I grew up? No one "crate trained" dogs, and yet everyone had a dog that knew where to go pee. So obviously it is very possible. The only time I ever heard of crate-training was when I moved out to the big city


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## kelii36 (May 7, 2011)

We didn't crate train our puppy. He has a nice bed in the bathroom, and when I can't watch him I put him in there with a gate. He never used the bathroom as a toilet because he didn't like te tile floor, I guess. The rest of the time when he's out, I take him outside every 20 mins. 

My parents never used a crate while I was growing up and all our puppies did great.


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## JulieK1967 (May 29, 2011)

I'm home most of the time so I'm doing the 100% supervision method with a small, gated puppy playroom for a long term confinement when I can't watch 14 week old Molly. For people who are uncomfortable with crating or who would need to crate for too long, I really like the idea at the following link better than puppy pads because the "toilet" you provide mimics the surface the pup will use when fully trained. It seems less confusing. So far I haven't needed to provide the recommended "toilet" because I'm able to arrange my schedule so that she's not alone longer than 2 hours for now. So far, it's going well. We've had a few accidents but my fault, not hers. We're both learning.  http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/puppy-playroom-amp-doggy-den Good luck!!


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## BrittanieJo (Sep 23, 2010)

I will tell you that before I got Aggie I had NO idea that people used crates to potty train. We also never used potty pads (I think they are detrimental but to each their own). I potty trained Aggie by taking her out after every nap, any time we played, after she ate or drank anything, and then anytime she started sniffing around. Probably about every 20 mins or so. Another idea is to not let him out of your sight. You can do that by tying him to you or simply making sure he comes with you wherever you do. When I had to go back to school she was in a crate during the day, and she quickly learned that she did NOT want to potty where she had to sleep. My advice would be to shrink his area so that he has enough room to stand up and turn, but not enough room to pee in one place and sleep in another. Thats basically the same way a crate works. You could do this with an expen or baby gates. Also, are you using an enzyme cleaner to clean up his potty place so he isn't encourage to pee/poo there again? Try that and not giving him as much freedom. It's more training YOU then training THEM I've realized.


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## Labmom4 (Feb 1, 2011)

I've never used a crate to train. I actually hardly ever use it at all, except to sleep in at night for the puppies. I use the constant supervision method. I keep puppies leashed indoors and use a tie-down when I cant hold their leash.


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