5 yr old beagle night house breaking

Question
I have a 5 year old beagle and she is almost completely house trained. However I am still crating her for the nights, I want to start letting her roam house during the nights but when I did she left messes in the house. How can I leave her out of the crate and get her to stop making messes in the house over night?

Harrison  

Answer
Hello Harrison!
This is a simple answer, but I get clients asking me this all the time. You just have to work with her on not making messes such as taking her out before you let her roam. She is very used to being trained and knows her schedule, and place when she is in that crate and by taking her out of that routine it is difficult and confusing for both you and her. If you really feel strongly about letting her roam then take her out once or twice right before you go to bed. For the first couple weeks purchase the puppy training pads and leave those around in case, but only for a little while or else she will get used to those and think she can use those all the time. I never crate trained my beagle. I just made a schedule. After she eats (she eats when I eat) I take her out 1 hour to a hour and a half and she uses it in the same spot and my beagle is 2. I never wanted to put her in a crate because of instances like this because it is hard to take them off that schedule and security. I let her sleep with me. She roams the house while I'm gone which I usually take her with me and I am allowed to take her to the office VET with me. If you feel strongly about it try a different approach to training her. Such as making a schedule. I can help with that if you need me to. But for now try what I mentioned and see what happens and if you need anymore help don't hesitate to ask. Best wishes to you and your beagle.