Umm, no offense, but why did you get a dog if you can't deal with that kind of stuff or didn't want your house messed up?I am unwilling (no flack please) to let her be loose to potentially potty in the house.
I am going to first agree with the others that the dog doesn't belong in the basement. I understand that you have a new house that you would like to keep clean and new looking, but part of having a dog is being able to deal with your posessions being ruined and deal with cleaning up messes. An isolated dog will not make a good pet. In fact, it is isolation that causes many behavioral problems in dogs.
Second, you are not going to be able to successfully potty train her if she is in the basement and you are upstairs. Potty training requires constant supervision, she shouldn't be allowed to have the opportunity to potty where she's not supposed to and this includes in the crate. How are you going to know when she has to go potty and see those signs when you are upstairs watching TV and she is down in the basement completely out of sight and possibly out of mind?
And finally about crate training, you can't force it on her. If she is claustrophobic, then trying to force her into a crate and lock her in there all night will only damage her emotionally and can potentially cause aggression. You must have patience and you must take it one step at a time. If you can't even get her to go in using beggin strips or treats, then you need to stop what your doing and back up and start again using baby steps. And by baby steps, I mean you reward her for every step she makes towards that crate and even sniffing it before you start to get her to walk in.
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