# Help! Crate training while working full time



## Cabomom (Jul 23, 2008)

This is my first post on dogforums - here goes....

My husband and I rescued a 9 week old Lab mix almost two weeks ago (now he is 11 weeks). He is wonderful and we love him so much already. He really is a good puppy, is good on commands, a quick learner, doesnt mess in the house when we are home, sleeps amazingly, doesnt mess in the cage overnight, etc however our only problem is that we both work full time. 

What is the appropriate way to crate train when both parents work full time? Over the past two weeks we have left him in his crate while we are gone that is "just the right size" (enough to stand, sit, lay and turn over - as we were instructed to do so through readings) he has a blanket, bedding and toys in there. The issue is he is still a puppy and there is no way we can expect him not to have an accident for that long of time periods. Every afternoon when i return from work i smell his blanket and wind up washing it because it smells like amonia (pee). I am sick of 1. washing his blanket every night and 2. more importantly, knowing that he is laying in an amonia filled blanket every day while i am at work. He shouldnt have to lay in his own pee. 

.... when we leave for work should we open up the divider in his cage and have newspaper towards the back so he can use the news paper when he has to pee and not his bed? our house is an open floor plan so it's not like we can section him off in say the kitchen with a baby gate while we are gone so he has a larger area to rome. 

Any advice would be great!!!!!!

I have already changed my schedule at work so that I get home as early as possible.
- 3:00 am'ish : wake up daddy take Cabo out
- 5:30 am'ish : wake up mommy, feed Cabo and take out
- 5:30 - 6am : sleep a little more
- 6 - 7: mommy get ready for work, dad and cabo play mom joins before she leaves the house.
- 7:00 am : mommy leaves for work, daddy plays with Cabo
- 8:00 am : daddy leaves for work
- 12:00 (noon) : neighbor comes over with her 2 yr old to feed
- 12:45 'ish: Neighbor leaves because daughters nap time is at 1:00pm
- 4:30: mommy home from work
- 6:00: daddy home from work

Thanks for any help at all!


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## TooneyDogs (Aug 6, 2007)

While I'm a huge fan of crate training for short periods/low hours, I don't use it when the hours are too long. 
Here's a set-up that I used when we were working: I took the door off the back closet in the laundry room. That became the puppys' sleeping area with the crate door open/off. The rest of the laundry room became the potty area and a wire baby gate closed off the room from the rest of the house. As the floor was/is ceramic, cleanup was easy. 
Not a perfect solution but, it worked well until they were old enough to hold it longer.


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## Cabomom (Jul 23, 2008)

Thanks! I completely agree that in this situation that would work but the way our house is setup the largest, non-carpeted, non open floor plan room we have is the master bathroom. Our washer and dryer is located upstairs in basically a bifold door closet. We dont have a traditional "mud room"


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## CalamityJane (Mar 16, 2008)

I don't know how, or if, this would work with a puppy the size of yours, but when we got our dachschund puppy years ago we were both still working full-time. Long hours, longer than 8 hour days. We bought two crates, the open wire kind, bigger than he actually needed, probably a medium size.

We put them both in the kitchen, which had a ceramic floor. They faced toward one another, against a wall. The doors of both crates were opened, and facing each other; we snap-clipped one door to the other crate, and the other door just was against the wall. There was a space the length of the door between the two crates, with the door not against the wall snapped to the other crate. We put bedding in one crate and papers in the other. In the middle area, which was the space between the two crates was his food and water dish. As he got older and bigger we started putting a heavy tray on the top part of the open space, so he couldn't jump out.

I don't know if I've described this well enough, I hope so. It took up a good amount of space, but it was against a wall, and out of the main traffic area. We called it his "condo", and he would go to it even when we were home, and the door was unsnapped and open. 

Not ideal, I know, for a puppy to be alone for long periods of time. But, we had to work, and we did the best we could. When we were home, (and I worked extended hours and had more days off than just 2 a week) he was out with us, and went places with us and everything. It worked for us, he was safe, and didn't have to pee where he slept. And had access to water. We also didn't have a place to make "his", like a laundry room or something like that.


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## loratliff (Feb 7, 2008)

Does he not get to go out and go potty when the neighbor comes over to feed? It seems like that could eliminate (no pun intended!) all of your issues.

If the neighbor can't take him out, have you tried getting rid of the mid-day feeding for right now? That could also be a factor with him going in the crate.


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## Cabomom (Jul 23, 2008)

Thanks for the replys - They've been great! From talking to family and co-workers it sounds like this is just something that we are going to have to do for some time until he gets older and can hold it better. As my cousin said - Mojo had a fleece blanket and that thing saw the washer and dryer constantly in the first few months. 

Yes the neighbor does stay at the house, feed him, play and let him out for a good half hour if not longer each day. But he's a puppy. He pees constantly... i dont know how he does it. This morning he barely drank anything and probably peed a good 8 times before my husband left the house for work. 

thanks again!


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

First, if your dog hasn't seen a vet yet be sure to get a complete exam ASAP. And take along a FRESH fecal specimen so they can check for parasites.

The two problem periods I see are the 8AM - noon and 1PM to 4:40PM. Your pup probably needs to go out at least every 2-3 hours. So expect accidents if you leave him longer than that.

If you have a bathroom with a hard surface floor that could be another option for daytime. I would put a gate across the doorway and then put the crate and some toys in the bathroom. And I might be tempted to put down some newspapers or puppy pee pads just to keep the mess to a minimum. In the long run it might make traing a bit more difficult (you're teaching the dog that it's ok to pee in the house with papers or pads down) but I can imagine that a lab pup could put out a fair amount of urine while you're gone.

Also, I wouldn't give totally free rein on water. I would give the pup plenty of water with meals. And when you leave the house in the morning maybe you could leave several ice cubes in his bowl. He wouldn't be able to gulp water, he might find the ice cubes entertaining for a bit of boredom relief, and he wouldn't be able to drink all at once. And then the neighbor should give him plenty of water with his meal but pick up the bowl before she takes him outside. When she leave she could give him another handful of ice cubes in his bowl. Also, pick up the water bowl 2 hours before bedtime and you can relieve yourself of the night time outings a bit sooner. I would think he might be able to go 3-4 hours at night, but you might want to start with 3 hours and see if he is consistently staying dry. If the dog is dry then you can increase the time appropriately.


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