While potty training, pillow in or out of crate?

[Shepherd Jones]

Looking for experience comments on whether to put a pillow or pad in crate when puppy is not quite potty trained or just let puppy sleep on plastic bottom? My 8 wk old gsd has not gone #2 in crate for about 2 weeks now but still goes #1. Vet says no pad so when there is an accident, the gsd lays in it and begins to not like that feeling. Comments please!!!

[Emoore]

No pad for the reason your vet says, but also because your puppy will invariably destroy the pad when he gets bored and could possibly ingest a piece and die.

[Shepherd Jones]

Thanks, I'll take it out. She has not chewed on it yet but doesn't mean she won't someday. The good thing about the pad is it absorbs the liquid and she doesn't wreak of #1 smell.- She's doing well with #2 so I'm sure within another couple weeks #1 will be more controlled.

[Angelina03]

Your puppy is adorable. Can you take her out every hour or hour and 1/2? I know it's hard at night. I had to set the alarm two different times during the night to take Rocco out to potty when I first got him. I still set it once a night. He hasn't gone #1 or #2 in his cage. Try taking up the water after a certain time at night too. I could never use the pad with Rocco. We put a pad out the first night that we got him and he peed and pooped all over the floor (not the pad) and tore the pad apart.

[Twyla]

The way I house trained Woolf was setting my alarm every couple of hours and take him out. I increased the time every few days. Then left it to him to wake me up if he needed to go. I didn't want him to get even a hint it was ok to pee in his crate. He never did have an accident.

For an 8 week old, it would probably be closer intervals then 2 hours to begin with.

I kept an old towel (washable just in case) in his crate until he began sleeping all night then changed it to bedding. I was lucky he never wanted to chew on it.

[GSDMUM]

I would keep something safe and comfy in there for her to sleep on. You will, as others said, have to taker her out very often, I'd say once an hour during the day and once every 1 1/2 hrs at night. You won't sleep much for weeks but it gets better and the hours will stretch out to a decent margin.
Your pup is adorable!