Hi all, I need a little bit of advice on housebreaking a dog that I got a few weeks ago. He is a black-lab mix (predominately black lab) and is about a year old. I got him from the pound about 3 weeks ago, and I am having some problems getting him to stop having accidents in the house. When I first got him he had no idea how to even walk on the leash let alone go to the bathroom in the leash, and to his credit he has picked both up very quickly, and for about a week and a half he was not having very few problems going to the bathroom in the house, and then one night I got stuck late at work, and since then he has been going to the bathroom on the floor every day while I am at work. I know the crate routine, and I bought a crate and put him in the crate this past Tuesday, and he must have panicked, because when i got home he had gone to the bathroom all over the crate and had been sitting in it all day. I have not put him back in the crate since then, I guess I'd rather just clean a mess up off the floor than to do that again.
My question is there any other way to housebreak this dog??? I am at work monday-friday from about 8 to 5:30, I am thinking maybe constricting him to a very small area or one room might work???? He is only going to the bathroom over and over again in the same spot in the living room, so maybe if he is confined to the bedroom or another room?
many thanks in advance for any advice you guys have