Indoor Potty Training Method #2 - Crate Training

The crate training method is a good choice for owners who don't have an appropriate space for creating a confinement area and for those whose dogs escape from their confinement areas. This method is also helpful for those whose dogs are not responding well to the small confinement area, such as those who are destructive when confined or who potty in the bed or food area instead of the potty area. It will only work for owners who are able to take Fido out frequently for potty breaks. Please see the chart below for guidelines:

Rather than leaving Fido in a confinement area with access to his potty area when you're away, you will be leaving him confined in his crate. He'll need to learn to wait to pee and poo until you get him out and take him to his potty area. To train Fido using this method, you should follow the instructions outlined in the crate training article, using trips to his indoor potty area in place of trips outside.

Choose an indoor potty area as outlined in Indoor Potty Training. If Fido is a puppy or in the early phases of training, his crate should be kept close to his potty area so he can get from the crate to the potty area quickly without having an accident. The crate can stay there long term, or if it isn't in a convenient spot, you can move it farther away as Fido has more control and becomes more reliable.

As with the confinement area method, you may also find it helpful to carry Fido to his papers for the first couple of weeks so you can prevent accidents from happening on the way there. Once he's matured a bit and is getting the idea, you'll definitely need to let him walk with you to the papers so he can learn the path he'll need to use to get there on his own later in training. As Fido becomes more familiar with the location of his potty area, you should let him go there anytime you see him trying to head in that direction. You'll need to follow him at first, of course, to be sure he doesn't take a detour or have an accident along the way.

When Fido is at least 6 months old and has been reliable about using his potty area with NO accidents for at least one month, you can begin allowing him more freedom. Assuming that Fido has no other behavioral issues that require him to be crated when alone, you can stop using the crate and move to confining him in the room that his potty area is in. You can gradually increase his access to the house one room at a time, using puppy gates, exercise pens or closed doors to keep him where you want him. Most dogs do well on a schedule of adding a new room each (accident-free!) month. However, if you find that Fido begins having accidents in his newly expanded area, this means that you're advancing too fast for Fido. You'll need to go back to the smaller area temporarily, then try again in a month if Fido's continuing to do well. Continue expanding Fido's area until he can reliably get to his potty area from anywhere in the house.