If you must leave your poodle for more than a few hours, you'll need to put him in a long-term confinement area, rather than a crate. This area — your safe room — should be stocked with just a few basics: a water dish, some toys, and a place where your dog can eliminate if he feels the need. This is the only fair way to leave your puppy for hours at a stretch. If you crate him so long that he's forced to soil in his crate, you've ruined the crate for house-training. And you'll come home to a miserable, messy puppy. A comfortable bed that your puppy won't destroy is also a good choice. If he destroys everything you give him, try piling up some old towels for him to lie on. This way you won't be too upset if he chews them up. You might also want to see if he can be comfortable on the cool, bare floor — some dogs actually prefer this.

Because your long-term confinement area is by necessity sparsely furnished and thereby boring to your pup, you must provide him with some diversion. A great way to do that is to provide at least one stuffed Kong toy. Leave other Kongs and safe chew toys in the room with him, so whenever he's awake he has something to do. Rotate the toys to keep things interesting for him.

Creating an Indoor Potty Spot

Ian Dunbar, veterinarian and renowned dog behavior specialist, recommends that the “toilet” area you leave for your pup in the long-term confinement area mimic what you want him to use outside. So if you're a city dweller who expects your dog to eliminate on the sidewalk or curb, bring in a paving square of concrete. If your poodle will be expected to eliminate on grass, bring in a patch of sod.

Toy poodles can be trained to use a litter box if that is more convenient.

If you have a Toy Poodle, you can consider using a litter box designed for dogs, or special pee pads. Purina makes a litter box system for dogs called secondnature. It consists of coarse, absorbent, paper-based pellets, a litter box designed for small dogs, and a training booklet. (The training is similar to teaching your dog to eliminate outdoors.) Your dog can learn to use the box indoors, but it's up to you to keep it clean so it doesn't smell.

Returning to Your Puppy

When you come home, take your poodle outside to pee (and give him a treat when he does). If your dog has used the indoor area you set aside for elimination, just pick up any feces, but don't worry about trying to eliminate the urine odor. You want him to be attracted to that area. Try to monitor how much he eliminates while you're gone. You should find less and less mess as your dog gets bigger and begins to understand that eliminating outside earns him treats.

Now that you're home and your pup has had a chance to pee outside, it's time to play with him and spend some quality time interacting. Remember, don't leave him unsupervised anywhere in the house, besides his crate, long-term confinement area, or ex-pen.