Greetings everyone;
Things are going pretty well us all as we adjust to life with our new girl (she's 6 months now). I am struggling with getting her to housetrain, though. I know that I'm also confusing her, so I was hoping that if I explained the situation, you might have some ideas.
I am out of the house for over 10 hours a day (note - I realize that this is a long time for her to be alone, and it will change in the spring when my boyfriend moves in). At any rate, it's far too long for her to remain crated. I have her crate in a gated off area, along with her water bowl, some toys and papers. She's pretty reliable about using the papers to eliminate, but when we're home, I can't seem to help her understand that I'd prefer she go outside.
I'm not sure whether the answer is that I just have to deal with it for the next couple of months until she's not on her own as much, and then properly crate train her. Am I doing her damage in the meantime though, by allowing her to use the house as her toilet? Will it simply confuse her later on?