Goldren Retreiver Pup - Crate Training overnight

Question
We are getting a goldren retreiver pup at the end of October. We are planning on crate training her. How long can a puppy stay in thier crate? Are there different guidelines for overnight?

Answer
Here I feed my puppies no later than 6PM, and cut off all water by 8PM. They go out last thing at night, before I go to bed, and then I do not let them out until someone fusses or it is time for me to get up and start doing dogs. By seven weeks, mine are usually able to hold everything until 5-6 AM, and it isn't long until they can make it until 7 AM, when I usually get up and start putting dogs out and feeding them.

During the day, I don't like to crate the puppies longer than four hours. It is very hard for them to go longer than that, and to force them to go longer may have them eliminating in their crate... not a good thing!

If both of you work, one should try to come home at lunchtime to let the puppy out for a few minutes. If you cannot, then possibly a neighbor could do that. Another way to do this is to keep the puppy in an exercise pen with a door-less crate in the pen for the puppy to sleep in. With newspapers or potty pads at one end of the pen, the dog should be able to potty at will, while sleeping, eating, and drinking at the other end.