I have crate housetrained 3 dogs in the past and it worked really well. I would go to work and put the dog in the crate all day.
Now I work at home and I don’t think my new dog is going to put up with being in a crate when I am at home. He’s 1.5 years old and we got him from local SPCA.
Are there other methods that work besides using a crate?
What is your goal for this training, if not to train the dog to enjoy being in its crate?
If the dog doesn’t need to be crated then it doesn’t need crate training. If it does need crate training - like if you want it to be in its crate when you leave, eat or when people come to the house - then just do the training in those situations.
The only purpose of the training is to have him use the bathroom only outdoors. I don’t need him to be in the crate except to learn that . That’s the same as my other dogs.
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Never used a crate for any of my dogs. That is a method that works besides using a crate.
Ah, well then you need to look in to housebreaking techniques. You don’t need to use a crate for this (actually not sure how a crate would help…?)
The general rules are to take the pupper outside immediately after they eat, use a word like “potty” to help them associate the word with the deed, don’t let them play when they’re out there, and once they go give big praise and come right back in. Do it several times a day, including the next time they eat. Make sure it’s separate from outdoor play time. Give them as many chances as possible to get it right - don’t set them up for failure!
And be prepared with a good cleaning spray and cloths to clean up when there’s a mistake. There will be many - but they will learn!
yes we are taking him out after he eats. He is going potty outside every time so he knows outside is where to go to bathroom. So he’s kind of half trained. The other half we need to do is to get him to not go potty indoors .
Until he’s housebroken, keep him on a leash with you, or in a room with you. Potty when waking, after eating, and start with once an hour all day. You can extend the time between breaks when he starts to get better at it.
If you want, use a phrase while he’s going potty. For example, I use the very elegant “go pee” with my puppy. I started by just saying the phrase as soon as she squatted, and then praised her as soon as she was done. Now once she heads outside, I give her that phrase as a command, and she’ll head for her corner and “go pee”. This is a very nice feature.