Training puppy without crate

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Daisygirl

Forums Novice
Hi there, we have a 9 week old female puppy that we have had for a week and a half. We are training her without a crate. I would love to hear from others who have trained this way since I feel we are in the minority. Thanks
 
We never used a crate with Oberon, now 4 months. We did have a baby gate that we used to block off certain areas of the house, and closed doors to rooms we didn't want him in Also, since I work at home I was able to take him out every 1-2 hours in the beginning, in addition to after nap, after meals, after play time. We were walking him 10-12 times a day for a while there!
 
I sort of halfway crated with Cubby. I did crate at night but for the days I got a waterproof bed liner and put it on my couch and he pretty much napped on the couch while I worked nearby. I also worked from home so I could go out every 1/2 hour if needed. He was very happy to just lay on the couch and play with toys. It also got him out of the way of the other two dogs and gave them a break from all the mauling. I was lucky though because by the time he figured out how to or that he wanted to get off the couch he was ready to be babygated onto the wood & pergo portions of the house. I pretty much watched him like a hawk when he wasn't sleeping though and got very in tune with his potty schedule. I did, though, wail and cry over accidents (about 8 of them total) like I was seriously saddened. No anger, no punishment, just deep grief. We celebrated outside for every potty correctly. He very quickly figured out that inside was not the way to go. We kept crating at night because he seemed to like it. I stopped when he was about 6 months.

Did you add your puppy to the Who's Who Class of 2014 thread yet, please do if you haven't. We have an impressive lot this year -- glad you are joining us.
 
Should also mention that when Oberon did what he was supposed to outside, we acted like we were ecstatic and he was the best dog in creation, and gave him a treat. We never caught him going inside, so the few times we found an accident, we just quietly cleaned it up.
 
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