He goes on his cage! :S

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maclogic

maclogic

Boxer Pal
Hi There,

I have a 8 month old boxer that behaves really really strange.. He seemed to have learned already (or at least i thought) that he should not go anywhere inside the house... So when he wants to go he sits beside the balcony door and wait for us to open it.. The problem is: Apparently to him, his cage (meshed iron, or whatever its called) is not part of "inside the house". As soon we put him on his cage (to go to the mall or visit someone for example), he starts barking and when we come back, the cage (and him) is a pure mess.. I tried to ignore the behavior and days (very rare) that we come back and theres no mess to reward him, that didnt work..
I'm not really sure what can i do to change his habit..

Another weird thing.. we bought one of those travel cages for him since we will be traveling with him in a few weeks; he uses this one to sleep and never did anything in there...

Can anyone help? I'm about to buy a cork and put on him while we are out :D

Thanks
Mac
 
gmacleod

gmacleod

Elusive Moderator
Staff member
Two possibilities come to mind here: One is that the dog suffers from crate anxiety (which at first glance at least, seems to be supported by the description of him barking when crated - doesn't sound like a happy camper at all) - in which case, urination in there is not surprising. If this is his problem, he should not be left alone crated until the anxiety issues are first solved.

I would also ask though, how long you're leaving him crated, and how soon after crating/leaving him the barking and urination occurs. If it is a matter of minutes, then the above crate anxiety would seem the most likely cause - and your options are (a) to quit crating the dog, or (b) work on his crate anxiety issues before you start leaving him alone in a crate.

If the barking /urinating are taking place some time later - after you've been gone an hour or two (or more), then the answer would seem much more likely that you're just leaving him too long. Although the average dog of this age (and above) would be physically capable of lasting up to 8 hours before being forced to pee - you should bear in mind that (1) we are not talking about a comfortable length of time here, but the absolute limit of physical endurance. No dog should be asked this unless absolutely necessary, especially on a regular basis, as over the long term it is really not good for health (not to mention being as uncomfortable for them as it would be for you or me - which is to say, very uncomfortable indeed); and (2) not every individual can actually last that long. It might be "average" endurance, but not every animal can manage average.

I don't know what length of time you're talking about, of course. If it is a matter of 2-3 hours, then I think (a) above is where you should concentrate your thoughts on cause/solution. But if we're talking significantly long duration - like 5+ hours - then the answer might be that it is simply too long for this dog to endure without having to relieve his bladder. In that case, it is not a matter of him "not considering the crate as part of the house" but being unable to endure the length of time you're asking that he hold his bladder. The answer then is that you actually have to provide for his physical needs with a potty stop ;) and can't ask him to hang on all day long (not as rare as you might think - many dogs (and people!) are incapable of holding their bladders all day long).
 
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