My dog won't stop peeing in his crate!!

matthewa · 02-07-2008, 03:19 PM

crate maybe too big, if its just the right size, ie not big enough for a toilet area then it may be more likely to hold on to do its business when you take it out of the cage and put it outside

RonE · 02-07-2008, 06:47 PM

A friendly reminder that this is a VERY old thread and the OP hasn't been on the forum since October, 2006.

wvasko · 02-08-2008, 08:24 AM

Through the years I have cratebroke many puppies starting at 7 weeks of age. Due to the way we are setup during the hours we are awake pups are out of crate every 1 hr to 1.5 hrs and stay in crate all night 8 hrs. Do puppies have accident in crates you betcha. If done properly accidents get less and less until done. We do spread newspaper on crate bottoms and also use the fiber-glass/plastic crates. Dogs would prefer to sleep in clean areas so you have mother nature as your partner in this. It is a lot of work, but nobody ever promised me a rose garden whenever I cratebroke a pup. It just comes with the territory.(the work)

Schnauzerlvr · 05-22-2008, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackgavotte

I wish you'd get an ex pen instead of expecting him to potty train in a crate at 11 weeks old. See some of my other rants... He will most likely start, around 4 months of age, to wait a bit... that's the more natural time than 11 weeks...

I have a question for you blackgavotte -- i have my 9wk old pup set up in my bathroom that isnt carpeted, his crate is in there lined with a blanket, but i took the door of it and i have a pad set on the floor for him to use while i am at work and cannot come home for lunch. I use a baby gate so that I can leave the bathroom door open and he can have a view.... i will be moving to a new carpeted house soon and i think the kitchen more than likely will be the new set up (maybe an ex-pen)..... do you think its possible for him when he is older to be able to do botht he pads while i am at work and go outside when we go for walks and exercise?

onthevirg · 05-22-2008, 04:28 PM

I know that this thread is pretty old, but it looks like there has been some recent activity, so I'll post here rather than start a new thread for now. It had particular relevance to me since I'm experiencing a similar issue. First, some details (and I apologize in advance for the length).

We picked up our little guy Dakota last week from the pound. He's an 8 week old Lab mix that has been fixed. We believe that he was at the pound for several weeks and do no know where he was before that. We brought him home and adjusted a large cage/crate to give him some space to move around that wasn't too tight nor too large (we think...we have about the same distance as shown for the puppy on the website).

As far as what we keep in the cage, we leave a Kong chew toy and a nylabone in there for him to gnaw on during the day. We also have a towel for him to lay on in there. Sometimes he pees on the towel, sometimes on the plastic tray. It varies.

Re: our schedule for him. Wake up @ 5, give him water and walk/play for 30-45 minutes. He always pees & does @ least one #2 in this period. Then food and more water if he wants it. At that time I get ready for work and he goes back to his crate for another hour until my g/f takes him for another walk before she leaves for work (7 am), which is typically 30 minutes.

Unfortunately I'm not able to come home for lunch until 12 (at which time he's soiled his cage). I then walk/play with him for 30-35 minutes and water if he wants it. Back to his crate.

I get home by 4:30, and it's immediately walk/play time again for at least another 30-40 min, then food and water again. When I head off to school, the g/f will let him hang on the couch/around the house with him until she walks him again @ around 7-7:30 for another 30 min.

He gets a walk/play again when I get home from school, for up to an hour which takes us to 9:30-10:00 pm. I take him outside before I rack @ 11 and wake up again @ 2am to take him for a quick outside trip.

*Phew* Sorry about the verbosity there, just wanted to give all the details for anyone who cares to respond. As you can see, he doesn't have a problem with #2 in the house, he always crunches outside. It's just the intermittent peeing in his cage. So I'm wondering, given that he was a pound puppy and caged all the time combined w/ the fact that he's still so young, am I just needing to exhibit more patience? We've discussed getting an outside kennel to house him during the day. But I'm worried that this will have an adverse affect on trying to house-train him. Because right now, there really aren't any visual cues that he's trying to go pee (even his poo one is really quick), he just squats and lets it fly.

Again, sorry for the length and appreciate any input anyone is willing to provide. Looking forward to hearing from you guys!

Dogstar · 05-22-2008, 04:37 PM

I think patience will help, but I also think setting him up in some way that he can get away from his mess- a crate opening into an exercise pen or a dog door into an outdoor run- would REALLY help him learn to LIKE being able to get away from his mess. It just sounds like that one long gap from 7 to 12 is just too long for him right now. (A more vigorous walk before he's left at 7 MIGHT help. The problem is, he's only JUST woken up from a 3 hour nap, so getting him right back to sleep is going to be tough.)

onthevirg · 05-22-2008, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dogstar

I think patience will help, but I also think setting him up in some way that he can get away from his mess- a crate opening into an exercise pen or a dog door into an outdoor run- would REALLY help him learn to LIKE being able to get away from his mess. It just sounds like that one long gap from 7 to 12 is just too long for him right now. (A more vigorous walk before he's left at 7 MIGHT help. The problem is, he's only JUST woken up from a 3 hour nap, so getting him right back to sleep is going to be tough.)

Unfortunately, due to the way our house is setup, the option to get him outside is not available. The only exterior door to the back yard is setup such that we would able to get his cage there.

Re: moving is crate to an area where he could exit to EP. We could probably find room for that (our house is relatively small, 1100 sq ft and most of that space is used) but wouldn't that just reinforce him to take care of biz in the house?

Dogstar · 05-22-2008, 09:07 PM

Reinforcing him to potty outside of the crate on newspapers is FAR preferable to reinforcing him for pottying in the crate. And while he's having to then lay in it, that's not going to bother him if he has lost the instinct to be clean (that's recoverable, but MUCH slower to fix than if it distresses him) and the feeling of relief he gets from eliminating *is* a (mild) reinforcer in itself.

Either he has lost the instinct to be clean (and honestly, this wouldn't be my bet) or he just plain CAN'T hold it any longer when he's awake.

Maggpie · 05-23-2008, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scissorhands

Where did you get the dog from? A breeder or a pet shop?? Dogs bought from a pet shop are used to going to the bathroom in the crate and laying in it.

I have to say this was not my experience. I bought my dog at a pet store 7.5 yrs ago (before I knew better) and she hardly ever had an accident in her crate at all, but when she did............. she would be cuddled up in the farthest distance from where she had the accident.

onthevirg · 05-23-2008, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dogstar

Reinforcing him to potty outside of the crate on newspapers is FAR preferable to reinforcing him for pottying in the crate. And while he's having to then lay in it, that's not going to bother him if he has lost the instinct to be clean (that's recoverable, but MUCH slower to fix than if it distresses him) and the feeling of relief he gets from eliminating *is* a (mild) reinforcer in itself.

Either he has lost the instinct to be clean (and honestly, this wouldn't be my bet) or he just plain CAN'T hold it any longer when he's awake.

Dogstar, I guess I'll have to talk to the g/f and see about getting something else setup if we can. Like I said we're limited in area in our house, so we'd have to find someplace to get a setup like that done. I suppose that doing this is better than just putting him outside in a kennel during the day, since that won't be teaching him to be house broken or prevent him from going in his crate.

My question if we go with this setup though is how does it relate to trying to house-break him? If he gets accustomed to going inside the ex pen, won't that be trouble later down the line for him to always want to go in that area? Additionally, he'll be big enough to just bull through an ex pen I would think and get into the house. Or am I way off here?

Dogstar · 05-23-2008, 04:41 PM

Well, putting a top on the exercise pen really helps, and putting it on something (a shower curttain, plastic sheeding) with paper over it (newspaper or potty pads- I actually prefer newspaper- initially covering the entire floor so that urine can't accidentally soak into the floor.

I've got detailed steps on my blog here http://dogstaracademy.wordpress.com/.../crate-soilin/
This topic comes up a lot on this board. :P