crate training is great, it makes housetraining so much easier and truly helps to prevent "accidents", which always mean a setback to the housetraining process.
however, i also think it's very important to distinguish between long-term confinement (several hours) and short term confinement (a few minutes to an hour or two).
for very young puppies, a crate isn't suitable for long-term confinement, except during the night. the duration they are kept in a crate without a potty break shouldn't exceed a number of hours that equals their age in months plus one (e.g. 3 hours for an 8 week old puppy), because they don't have the necessary bladder control.
it's a great thing to accustom a dog to a crate, not only for housetraining. there are so many situations in life where it benefits a dog tremendously to be used to confinement without getting stressed out.
however, i also think it's very important to distinguish between long-term confinement (several hours) and short term confinement (a few minutes to an hour or two).
for very young puppies, a crate isn't suitable for long-term confinement, except during the night. the duration they are kept in a crate without a potty break shouldn't exceed a number of hours that equals their age in months plus one (e.g. 3 hours for an 8 week old puppy), because they don't have the necessary bladder control.
it's a great thing to accustom a dog to a crate, not only for housetraining. there are so many situations in life where it benefits a dog tremendously to be used to confinement without getting stressed out.