Crate Training a Puppy

Hello,

My wife and I just adopted a lab mix puppy. He is 9 weeks old, and we
have had him for about 1.5 weeks. We are trying to crate train him.
He does great at night! The crate is located in our bedroom, in the
beginning I had to get up at 3am, 6am, etc to let him go, but now he
can hold it almost through the night.

The problem is when we leave him in the crate when we are not at home.
My wife stays at home, so he is only really in the crate at night.
When we leave, it is only to run an errand or get some dinner, we are
usually only gone 1-1.5 hours. He gets so upset when we leave, and
when we come home there is a mess in the crate. We have only left him
in the crate twice when we are not at home. Do you guys have any
suggestions? During the day we will leave him in the backyard when
running errands, but feel it is a little too cold for him at night.

Thanks,
Mark

Hi Janet,

We have him on an eating schedule, 3 times a day, once in the morning
(when I get up), once at noon, and once around 6pm. We bring him out a
lot. Always right before a meal, and immediately after a meal. We
probably average bringing him out every 20-30mins. He does pretty
good. He might have 1 or 2 accidents during the day.

The schedule would be, I wake up, take him outside to eliminate. Bring
him inside, give him his meal and water. Play with him a little bit.
Take him outside to eliminate. Come back inside and put him in his
crate. I take a shower. After I am done, i take him out of his crate,
play with him a little, bring him outside, then put him back in the
crate, and I leave for work. When my wife wakes up, she takes him out
of the crate, and brings him outside. Basically, she watches the dog
for the rest of the day, taking him out probably every 20-30 mins. He
has his meals around noon and 6pm, going outside before and after the
meal. We cut off his water at 9pm. Take him out one last time before
bed, then put him in his crate. I might need to take him out early in
the morning, but he has gotten better about that recently.

Yes, he has defecated in the crate. He has also urinated. He only
does this when we leave him. At night, he never has accidents. Oh
yeah, we also take him out to eliminate before putting him in the
crate.

My wife is around him all day. She leaves him in the backyard when she
goes out to run errands, or sometimes takes him with her in the car.

That is a good idea about leaving at first for only 15mins. Should she
leave the house for that 15mins, or just go to another room?

Yesterday was the most current incident. I came home around 6pm, took
him outside. Feed him, then took him out again. Played with him a
little while, probably took him out once or twice. We went for dinner
around 7pm. Took him out right before we left. Put him in his crate.
The crate is in the bedroom. Turned off the main light, but left a
lamp on. Turned on the TV so he could hear people talking. Left him a
couple of chew toys. We turned out all of the rest of the lights,
except the one in the living room. We came back around 8pm, and he was
crying when we got home, and he had defecated in his crate.

Thanks for your help,
Mark