crate training a 8 week old beagle

Question
So my gf and I got a little girl beagle pup and she's great. she has a crate but she freaks out and crys when she dosnt sleep with us. shes only slept with us for two days and she had an accident (for the first time) in the bed last night. whats the best way to get her use to her crate? i dont want her to feel like its a punishment but when ever shes in in she just cries and uses it as a bathroom. please help me any advide?

Answer
Hi Jack, thanks for writing to me. I personally do not crate train my dogs so I am not an expert in this but I know that there is a lot of info on line about how to do it. There are people who swear by it so it is not that it isnt good, I just prefer to start out from the beginning teaching my dogs boundaries without caging them. This takes a lot more work but for me it is the preference. What I wanted to share with you though is that an 8week old puppy can only hold their bladder for 2-3 hours and will need to poop or pee within 10-20 minutes of eating or drinking. Rule of thumb is for every month a pup is that is how many hours they can hold it.... of course until you get to adulthood. Puppies do not have full muscle control this early and lots of things on your little girl are still finishing forming. Times vary for adults from 8-14 hours, Anyway, even if you crate her she will still need to go out every 2-3 hours during the night and the day. Adjusting expectations of what she is able to do at so young an age wll help to make it less upsetting for all. I would be happy to share housetraining techniques with you if you'd like so let me know if I can help with that. COngrats on your new beagle, they are the best dogs ever!!