Crate training - Seems sooo long!

I purchased Sirlee Kalstone book long before Libby arrive and read it several times over. I am currently crate training Libby and I must admit its working a treat with the toilet training! This is the first to be crate trained (2 of my other Cavi's were resue) so this is new to me. I can see and certainly endorse this training but please HELP me stop feeling sooo guilty! It just feels she is alone in the crate so much and I do at times have awful pains of guilt!! Sometimes she is out longer then suggest, but last week I began to extend that and then of course what happened - accidents that were my fault completly!! So i am sticking to it fairly tightly but do feel guilty - Am I alone in this

The puppy doesn't have to be in the crate the whole time if you are supervising when the pup is out. I actually crated very little time -- I kept Jaspar at arm's reach or tethered to me or on my lap, so he got lots of interaction time. You really need to have her out and supervised as well as in the crate to housetrain. Or play with the puppy outside so that she is already where she needs to be to do her business. I really only crated in the time leading up to when I knew he might be at risk of having an accident.

Thanks Karlin, When reading the book I thought I was doing it wrong because they show very long periods in the crate and I have never done that. Lucky because I am a stay at home Mum so I am able to spend most of the day with her. They longest stretch has been about 90 minutes when I have taken boys to school and then collected a few bits of shopping. Even then I was on edge and couldnt settle until I was home back with her!! She is a darling and have read articles on chewing/biting because she is my first real chewer! Bless her

It's a great housetraining guide but very American in that it recommends quite long crating periods. However she also notes that you can have the puppy out as well as long as there's 100% supervision. My accidents all came from assuming Jaspar was more housetrained than he was, too early on, and not watching like a hawk!

i have a puppy playpen in my living room so we can put him in there when we are playing games or doing stuff. he is not fully potty trained as well. so we need to be able to monitor him at all times. we have a 3 level townhouse so he gets out of sight very easily.

Thanks for the replies - I did think the stretches of time were very long! She is in the crate when I do school runs, she has her naps in there, goes in when I am doing dinner as I cant watch her and then of course for bed. She has been a really good girl and has the odd accident but thats only when I took my eye off the ball and lost track of time. It is a fantastic training tool even if I do get some odd comments and looks from some that are against crates

I think the crate is a wonderful tool in training. Don't let others make you feel guilty. It is a safe place for the puppy and you don't have to worry about your home being a mess when you can't be with them. I used this method to train Jato, and he loves his crate! I too only put him in there when I can't watch him like a hawk- otherwise he is very close to me at all times. Good Luck!