adoption opportunity for a boy with peeing issues?

[woobies mom]

Not sure if I should be in this forum or adoptions, but the adoptee has behavioral issues, so I'll start here. I'm interested in an 8-year old (or so...he was previously adopted from a kennel, so age is not sure) male who needs a good and loving home. The current owner adopted him for her grandson...now neither grandson nor grandmother have time for the dog, so he is in the crate most of the time. The dog apparently has isolation anxiety or dependence issues because when he is put in his crate, he urinates. The owner gave him back to the shelter for this behavior but then took him back home for fear they would put him down due to his age. She clearly does not want to keep him and wants to find him a home. I work from home and am very interested in this guy and know I could give him a loving home. What worries me is, I will have to leave my house sometimes, too, for grocery runs and errands, and I'm wondering if urinating in the crate behavior can be stopped and, if so, how to go about it. This poor baby has been shuffled around enough in his 8 years, and he's probably so paranoid about people leaving him behind. I'm very interested in giving him his forever home and am asking for any help, advice, tips to embrace him in his new home and make him feel loved and safe and hopefully reverse his fear/anxiety with the crate. Many thanks in advance for helpful advice and tips!

 

[natrhymer]

Start with potty training 101 and go from there. Practice NILIF from day one. Be a leader he can be confident in, and hopefully that will help with his anxiety issues. It sounds like he's already sort of crate trained, but, you probably will have to start over with that, too, because he pees in there. Just treat him like a puppy who needs to learn everything. It might be a good idea to meet with a behaviorist, too. Our guy pees in the house due to anxiety, and it took us a long time (about a year) to get it under control with a strict daily routine, lots of training and tons of patience (oh, and new flooring, too ). Good luck, and thank you for wanting to adopt this guy -- he obviously needs somebody like you!

 

[gmacleod]

You may very well find that there's no need to crate an 8 year old dog at all And if his problem is purely crate anxiety, or having been effectively taught to urinate in there, then by not using a crate you rather bypass the problem...