Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got a crate for Chani but I'm having problems working out a feeding schedule to minimize the the chance of her having an accident in the crate. I need to have her in the crate for about 4 hours during the day and then during the night. Oh she's about 6 months old since that probably matters a lot. Thanks for any help.

We got Moriah when she was 6 weeks old (now 9 weeks old) and had her in the crate from day one. I just make sure she is fed during the day and taken outside to eliminate before we leave and we never had an accident. As far as at night...I feed and water her around 6, I cut water off by 8 or so and she is in the crate around 10...no accidents. She had been great about holding it!!

So long as you dogs go out to eliminate waste before or after eating then you will have less issues.
My dog is almost 2.5 years but I've been keeping her in a crate on the following schedule for the last year and she has never once had an accident inside her crate.

Morning we get up, depending on weather go for a quick walk giving her the chance to eliminate waste. come home and then she eats breakfast and drinks a full bowl of water. I do the rest of my morning stuff and let her out again shortly before I leave. I put her in her crate with something to do, like her ball with pieces of biscuit in it or her bone or both.
On some days I come home for lunch let her out again... but some days I can't make it and when I let her out, you can tell she was asleep right until I got home.
I feed her and let her out to eliminate.

On mornings when it's not so nice we just skip the morning walk and I let her out.

In the evening, rain, snow or sunshine we still go out running(well she runs and pulls me )for anybody who may be thinking I don't excersize my dog very much.

If your crate is the right size for your dog then it will try it's hardest not to mess in there.
If your using the full size dog crate and putting in a little puppy then he still has room to mess and lay down elsewhere.
Obviously buying different sized crates all the time would be expensive, so if you only have the adult sized crate, just use cardboard or something to section parts off.

Puppy should be able to go the 4 hours without any issues... although I wouldn't want to push the envelope.