housebreaking a 1 yr old male doberman mix

Question
two of my dogs got stolen back in september. they were the parents to the puppies i have that were born june 2nd. now i am on vacation for the next few months and when i return i would love to bring bear in. he will be around 1 yr old but he isnt housebroken. he has lived outside since the day he was born. i have sucessfully housebroke his sister asia. i have a large dog crate that isnt being used anymore so i can lock him in it while my boyfriend and i are at work. but isnt it unfair to lock him up as he can see his sister and our older dog run about? how would you recomend housebreaking him? oh yeah, one more question is shold i get him fixed or her? i have 6 dogs and she is the only female and the male inside is fixed..... please help me. thank you for your time.. erica

Answer
Erica..ikt is extremely hard to break a dog that has been left outside. That is why most dogs are in. When they are outside they learn they can go whereever they want when they want. You are going to gave to use a crate and crate train the dog to housebreak him. And while it is NOT cruel to put a dog in a crate for 8-10 hours, it may seem that way for a little bit to a dog who had free reign. You should definately get him fixed asap..the earlier the better. Use the crate to not let him have accidents. He may whine for a bit but it will stop. Go out with the dog when you let him out to potty and praise him for going outside. Good luck
nancy