I have a black lab mix who is 5 months old. We don't crate him (everyone tells me I should but my Chi has always been allowed to run around as he pleases and I just feel bad!). Everytime we come home there is poop and stuffing (fresh from the couch cushions...thank goodness it's an ugly couch!), not to mention what ever else he can get his paws on. We punish him but apparently not the right way. Nothing is helping and it makes us dread coming home to see what mess is there not to mention the horrible condition my carpet is in now. I really don't want to get rid of him! Any suggestions? Thanks!

[mightymite]

I am sorry - but you must confine your dog. There really isn't any other way unless you are willing to stand guard over your dog 24/7 until he is housebroken. If your dog eliminates in the house and you can't catch him the act, you are just teaching him that it is OK to go in the house when you are not around. The only way to prevent that from happening and still be able to have a life is by crating. Think of it this way, keep to a steady crating program for a month, see how it goes, you'll feel much better knowing your dog is on his way to being crate trained and can rest with the knowledge that onces he's trained, he will also have earned himself the right to roam around the house as he pleases.

We crated him before and he just used the bathroom all in the kennel and then rolled around in it so when I came home at 3am and had to be at work at 7am I had to give him a bath and deal with cleaning that up.

I'm sorry, but I have to agree...the pup needs to be either crated or confined in a "safe" room while you are gone. As for eliminating in the crate, your crate may be too big. A crate should be big enough for the dog to stand up, turn around, and to lay down in with little extra room. It is not cruel or inhumane to crate a dog, it is for their safety along with your sanity. Now I don't suggest that the dog stay in the crate for hours on end...(12 hour days, etc.) but a dog can safely stay in a crate during a normal work day as long as they have plenty of exercise and out of crate time. I crate at night, and keep pups in the kitchen with child gates blocking the doorway during the day until house trained. The tile floor is easier to clean, and I make sure that the room is "puppy proof", in other words, nothing that they can get into, on the counters, floors, no trash can in the room, etc. With any dog, though, if you are going to be away until 3am and then go back out at 7am, that is too long to leave them. You need to have some sort of pet sitter coming to watch the dog during the day. Maybe a puppy was too much to take on at this time in your life, if you have long hours at work. Good luck.