When crate training and classes do not work...?

Question
Hi Jannie,
   I have a 7month old boxer puppy (spayed), my husband and I are having the most difficult time training her. We have had her since she was 10 weeks old and stated crate training immediately. She was doing great we weren't having any problems at that time. For the past few months she has been going #1 and #2 in her crate daily. We took her to training classes and they told us to make her space smaller, feed her on the floor of her crate with no bowl that way she knows its not a place to use the potty, however this is not working for us.  She even has started to roll around in it. I am becoming mentally exhausted with cleaning up urine and feces every day from the crate, carpet, and her. From this point I really do not know where to go, I love Kassie to death but I cant keep up with this insanity. Thanks for any help that you may have. - Cayla

Answer
My most hated subject- crating. (And excuse me now in advance before reading because I can sound harsh concerning crating, and not attacking you personally)...

I do not believe in crates except for occasional behavior modification and protection of a young puppy when no one is home- no more than an hour or two most- and then, I cringe at any time over an hour.

Puppies, even 7 month olds, cannot hold there bladders and bowels for very long. Not more than a few hours before they loose control and cannot hold it any longer. Bowels are bowels; when you have to go-- you have to go-- there is no holding back for a dog, let a lone; a puppy-- and even humans have a difficult time. Have you ever been at work and had to go and could not right away for one reason or another? Did you eventual excuse yourself to go because you could not wait a second longer? That is a dog- especially a puppy, and 7 months old is still very, extremely puppy.

Can you imagine being locked inside a confined area for hours on end and all day? -- Oh, wait- that's called jail. No different for a dog- especially a Boxer; especially a Boxer puppy.

Boxers are social and believe they are as human as you, and are part of the family; they must be an active part of the family and in the middle of it all, even if laying around quietly, observing the activities and conversations of his family, in order to thrive and be happy and healthy.... without this, they get depressed then sick-- then die at a very early age.

I am assuming you crate your girl, your 7 month old "baby," in a crate all day while everyone is at work?

This is an 8-hour stretch for Kassie. 8-hours of sheer boredom, 8-hours of the same position: shift to the left, shift to the right, turn around (if possible in the sized crate you use), stand a moment and stare out threw bars or mesh at emptiness, then lie back down-- never finding comfort, having to pee or poop and not being able to even when nature calls so badly it cannot wait, thus, eliminating where you lay with no other choice, no food and no water, and if it is provided-- not much of it, and it laying next to you in a cramped atmosphere or getting knocked over then laying in food and water-- muscles and bones aching because of no choice in movement and unable to stretch out and be mobile... and more.... can you imagine it now? I cringe....

I do not mean to sound insulting and do not mean to offend, so I apologize now and say "I am truly sorry if it sounds harsh and offends," but people are blind to what a dog goes through when they are confined in a crate- and we are mentally conditioned to believe it is "normal and acceptable" to put our dogs inside crates while we are away all day... it is a misconception in its entirety. A sad, and cruel, misconception.

Training classes are fine, but remember, they are people with their own set of ideas concerning dogs-- and might not be correct, and might not be accurate and agree with other methods and ideas. My own notion and reasoning for hating crates is my own and cannot impose it on to you or anyone, but simply state my logic for you to decide for yourself-- but a smaller crate will not, I repeat, will not, discourage bladder and bowel movements when nature calls and the dog or puppy, is given no choice.

If nature called on people when no bathroom was available-- the first thing we'd do is seek out a bathroom- preferably the nearest one, and if none is found; we have two options; pee in our pants or go off into the woods. What choice does a dog have in a confined crate when nature calls?

Size is not relevant.

She is not "rolling" around in it as it would appear. It is unavoidable because of poop and her sharing the same space at the same time-- of course it will be all over her. And especially since she is still a puppy and has not developed the rationing skills to huddle in a corner elsewhere yet. And of course, is there room enough to relieve yourself in a corner and huddle in an opposite corner as far away as possible until let out of the crate? Probably not.

Feeding her on the floor of the crate does not aid in the "won't poop where you eat" philosophy- because as I said repeatedly, when nature calls............

Training classes cannot help you when crating a dog. They train behavior and commands for "outside" a crate- there is no "training" for inside a crate.

Think about it.

You have some choices depending on your personal dynamics:

1) come home every few hours to let her go outside, give her fresh water and food

2) have a family member or friend come home and let her outside every few hours and all the above

3) pay someone (an in-home doggie-sitter) to come into your home (providing them with a house key ) every few hours, to let her out and all the above

4) Provide a safe, dog-proofed (baby-proofed) room for her to say in during the time you are at work

5) take her to a doggie-daycare facility, while you are away working

#4 or #5 is preferred.

If you have a spare bedroom that you can "baby-proof, i.e. puppy-proof" and supply Kassie with Nyla bones, hard (non-chewable) ball(s) and Kong toys, (no stuffed animals, no soft toys that can be chewed and her choke on pieces, no rawhides, no treats that can choke, etc,) but only the hardest, of hard, toys that cannot cause injury (just as you would a child or baby) and allow her to be free in that puppy-proofed room.

But- you will need to gradually introduce her to it as her new place. Leave her in there as described above for 10 minutes and increase the time by 5 minutes twice a day until you an leave her in there say, on day three, for a few hours with no incident.

But, even then, she will need to be let outside a few times a day-- lunch hours? Breaks? Family or friend come in? Pay a dog-sitter to come in?

If you cannot resolve the issue, it might be best to re-home her to a family that has a stay-at-home mom or dad that can be with her so she can live free.

Not all people and families can own a family dog, especially a Boxer, because of being away from home working and cannot allow the dog to be free and loose inside the home.

If you had begun the training for her to be left alone and free-roam inside the home while gone, she would have, by now, been well-adjusted and able to be left free and loose inside while you were away for hours and hours.

She has not been trained for this, but it is not too late to train her to be on her own, alone, inside the house while away.

Let her stay inside alone with Nyla bones, Kongs toys, hard balls, fresh food and fresh water while you are outside, out of view from her eyesight (a nose)-- for 15 minutes.

Try this as often as possible while she becomes accustomed to being alone- but free and loose without incidents.

Good luck.