# Housebreaking adults how long in the crate???



## sadiedog (Aug 20, 2013)

Newbie here.... Considering adopting an adult 2.5 yr old golden) He is "housebroken" but has never been on rugs (their house only has wood and tile).

I know I will need to review and teach him about carpets/rugs -- should I expect accidents? Should I treat him like a puppy to start and have total supervision? For how many months weeks can I expect to keep this up before and adult dog "gets it" and can have more freedom? (For all I know he will be fine but just preparing...) I have only had toy breeds in the past and as you know that is a whole other kettle of fish!!

How long can a 2 year old stay in the crate. I will be away from home for 5 to 6 hours stretches at the most but this seems like a long time (remember I am new to the breed!!) IS this ok to leave them crated that long? Do any of you just leaves your dogs out when you are gone-or is that not safe?

What kind of crate is good? Do they need a certain kind of bed in the crate??
Thanks for helping a newcomer to this wonderful breed!?


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

sadiedog said:


> Newbie here.... Considering adopting an adult 2.5 yr old golden) He is "housebroken" but has never been on rugs (their house only has wood and tile).
> 
> I know I will need to review and teach him about carpets/rugs -- should I expect accidents? Should I treat him like a puppy to start and have total supervision? For how many months weeks can I expect to keep this up before and adult dog "gets it" and can have more freedom? (For all I know he will be fine but just preparing...) I have only had toy breeds in the past and as you know that is a whole other kettle of fish!!
> 
> ...


1. A 2.5 year old Golden who is housebroken should be fine very quickly in your house. I don't know how much of a difference carpets will make over tile, but it's more of an issue on new home, new routine, etc. Their bladders are much better at holding than a puppy's would be. Several times a day should be sufficient, but watch them all the time in the house until a routine is established.

2. I would certainly crate them in the beginning to make sure they don't get into trouble when you are gone, but if they have been trustworthy in the past I see no reason that, again once your routine is established they won't be trustworthy for you. Some dogs, like my Tayla took a little longer than other dogs we have had, but at 20 months she had full run of the house (except bathrooms - we have a bit of a toilet paper issue). I wouldn't crate any longer than 4 hours without a break, but that is just me.

I would think that within a few weeks things will be established for you and you will have a wonderful house dog.


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## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

I never crated any dog so I would not be of any help there. Instead we used pet gates. 
As far as housebreaking, most definitely I would treat the new dog as a pup (remember, this is a new environment and you are the one that sets the rules and house routine). 
Our newly adopted 4 year old flat coated retriever had a bad UTI which caused her to have accidents in the house (it took us a week and a pretty nasty pee smell on the carpet to realize it). We increased the time from 3 to 5 hours between potty breaks until we felt comfortable with her being able to hold it.
While others may feel comfortable with the longer periods of time, in my opinion 4 to 5 hours it is max for me to leave a dog alone. We are fortunate not to even go that length of time.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Hi, Congratulatons on your new addition.

Both of my Goldens were adopted at the age of 2, my girl will be 9 in Dec. and my boy is 4.

My boy has been the easiest dog I've ever had-he was housetrained, knew basic commands, could be left alone in the house for several hours without any problems and has never needed crating. 

My girl on the other hand was a huge challenge, she is a former puppy mill momma that had spent the first two years of her life in a cage where she couldn't stand up or turn around. She was not housetrained, had never been in a house. I spent maybe three days working with her on potty training, after about a week she stopped having accidents in the house and started using the Pet door on her own to go in and out whenever she wanted. I have a larged fenced in yard. 

When I was working with her, I took her out on a leash. She was not food motivated at all,so I made a HUGE deal telling her what a good girl she was when she pottied outside. She responded very well to lots of praise. 

To get her use to a crate, I set the crate up in my dining room and moved it back and forth between there and my sun room. I left the crate door open, started giving her treats and she would go in on her own. I also fed her in her crate for several weeks without closing the door. 

I started putting her in her crate and would leave for maybe 10-15 minutes at a time with her crated (door shut) then gradually increased the amount of time over about a week. She got to the point where she knew I was leaving and I got a treat out for her, she would automatically go in the crate before giving her the treat. I gave her the treat and then shut the door. 

My guys go all through the night without needing to go out and neither are crated anymore. I take them out before we go to bed and let them out first thing in the morning. My girl still uses the pet door, my boy doesn't use it, so I have to let him out. They are both left out in the house whenever I'm gone and can go for 5-6 hours without needing to go potty. 

I have wood flooring and tile in my house, but I also have two large area rugs down. After my girl became housetrained, she has never gone on either of these rugs. 

It takes an adult dog maybe 2-3 weeks before they adjust to their new environment, your family and your schedule, so give your new dog the time he needs. 

Hope you'll share some pictures with us.

Best of luck to you!


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Forgot you asked about a bed in the crate, I just used a blanket.

You can buy a crate liner if you want, you can find them at Petco, Petsmart, Amazon. 

Here's a link from Amazon you can see several options-
Amazon.com: crate liner: Pet Supplies


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## GinnyinPA (Oct 31, 2010)

We adopted Ben at 3 years old. He was crated at night or when we left the house for the first few months, until we were sure he wouldn't get into mischief. At first, he got into a lot of mischief because he was not used to being indoors. He seemed to try everything once - ie. He ate one shoe, one bra, one sweater, one roll of toilet paper, etc. Then he got on the bed once, the couch once, the dining chair once. When we said no and pulled him off, he stopped doing it. Moreover, he only peed once, and that was our fault because we weren't paying attention to his signal. (He would just stare at us.) It took a while for him to realize that he needed to be a bit more insistent when he wanted out. 

As long as your carpets don't smell of urine, your dog is not likely to pee on them, even though she's not used to the padding. 

The first couple of weeks we had him, I kept a very close eye on Ben. After he started to settle down, I stopped following him around and let him be. We crated him at night, which was a huge relief because then I didn't have to worry about anything. (Ben is the first dog I've had that was crated.) But then we'd start leaving the house for short periods of time and checking to see if there had been any problems when we came home. We did a certain amount of management too - like making sure that we had strong kitchen trash cans that he couldn't get into, never putting anything that smelled like food (i.e. dirty napkin) in any of the other trash cans, keeping socks and clothes out of reach, keeping food away from counter edges, etc. As Ben proved himself trustworthy, he got more freedom. He learned our schedule and we learned his. (It takes a while for him to go to the bathroom when we go on walks. They are never quick walks.) After a few months, we left the crate door open at night. He was a bit uncertain at first, but then he settled onto a bed in our bedroom, or the cool linoleum in the bathroom, without problems. We keep his crate because it provides a safe haven for him when he wants it, but he hasn't been deliberately crated in over two years. 

As to the bed in the crate - we did get a cushion/bed liner for his crate. As long as your dog isn't a chewer, it is a lot more comfortable than the plastic liner.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

Buddy was almost 3 when I got him- Not housebroken and had PTSD related to being crated. I kept him leashed to me most of the time at home but I also had 4 yorkies, 2 resident older cats, and 2 foster kittens at the time. He was a wild man about everything. I took him out every 2-3 hours which is how often at least 1 of the yorkies needed to go out. They peed and then he peed. They pooped and then he would. He got the idea really quickly plus is super praise and food motivated. He never had a single accident and was unneutered at the time. After a few weeks once he learned that if he messed with/was playing to rough "her daughters" Mama dog Cozy would attack him I was able to trust him with the yorkies fully. He has a healthy respect for Cozy as the Pack leader. I was able to leave him gated with her from day 1. He looked to her for support and reassurance.

If she is used to being crated I would ask the breeder what she does and how often she uses it. If she used to being crated daily she should be fine for 5-6 hours.


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