Help! 11 month old boxer soils crate every day!

[Scrapper's Mom]

Does he only do it when you leave? This may be a form of separation anxiety. Since from what you've written he's fine when you are there, you might want to look into seeing if this is the cause. A canine behaviorist may be able to help you.

 

[bmeshier]

Does he only do it when you leave? This may be a form of separation anxiety. Since from what you've written he's fine when you are there, you might want to look into seeing if this is the cause. A canine behaviorist may be able to help you.

Correct, only when I leave. As I type this he's peacefully sleeping in his crate now, no problem. How / where do I find a canine behaviorist? How expensive is that?

 

[AlasDeSol]

Our little boxer is 8 months old and he used to pee in his crate when he was younger... The trainer in PetsMart suggested that we fed him in the crate... She said that could work. We didn't have to do it because he stopped doing it on his own. Good luck!

 

[Super Boo]

I would try everything people suggested for at least a few weeks. Your dog (for all intents & purposes) is still a puppy. He is going to do an enormous amount of mental maturing over the next year or so. My female did not come close to being an adult until she was 18 mos old--many times she had me in tears and I thought I was going to kill her. But it passed and now she's 'almost' perfect. I'm counting the days until my male gets there too--he is also more clingy and dependant so it may take a little longer. He had a lot more separation anxiety--it took MONTHS for him to grow out of it. Yours may just not be there yet.

Just have faith--it WILL get better.

 

[Scrapper's Mom]

Correct, only when I leave. As I type this he's peacefully sleeping in his crate now, no problem. How / where do I find a canine behaviorist? How expensive is that?

To be honest, I don't know how you would find one. You might start by asking your vet if they have any recommendations. Or possibly the internet might be of some help in this. Sorry I'm not able to be more help; I don't know how much they cost either - I haven't had to deal with one so far (*knock on wood*) And while you are on here, I would try using the Search function with "separation anxiety" and see what threads come up. You might find some help that way; or at least some ideas to get you pointed in the right direction.

 

[Shakira's Ma]

You can tell from all of your posts that you truly love this dog and he is a part of your family, so with that being said, I really don't think you are serious about letting him go because you wouldn't give up a family member. I can tell from your posts that you are not that kind of pet owner. My baby is 11 months also, although I have never had a crate issue of any kind, Thank God for that, I have had other issues as she is so intelligent that she is always one step ahead of me in getting into trouble I would certainly try what everyone has suggested and definately surf the search engine on separation anxiety and see what you come up with. Good Luck

 

[Champ's Papa]

Lose the crate

And I thought I was the only one!!

I suggest leaving him out of the crate when you are not at home. However, before doing so, you should place the plants and EVERYTHING else that he can get his paws on somewhere that he won't have access to. Most people won't recommend this b/c the puppy is safer in his crate. While this is true, everyones circumstance is different; therefore, different measures need to be taken to get the most enjoyment out of your pup.

I had the same problem that you experience (see previous post on the "training forum"). However, I stopped using the crate after just a few days and several hours of cleaning up a poopy crate. I can't believe that you have had the patience to put up/clean up with this for months! You should definately be commended, or perhaps committed (just kidding)!

So, Champ now has free reign of the house when we are not home (for the past 2 months). Like your pup, he does not chew furniture. However, he will chew/tear up other things (only when we are not home) if they are not put up (example: found the telephone book scattered over the house one day when we came home). So, before we leave each day we make sure that nothing is left out that he can get into.

Champ is perfectly house trained when we are home (always goes to door when need to go out and Never has an accident). However, he poops and pees in the house when we leave. Although this still stinks, it is much much much easier to clean up a pile of poop on the carpet than clean out the crate and the dog. I am conviced that this is the result of some type of sepearation anxiety. We have used several strategies to eliminate this, and Champ made it though the entire last week without an accident in the house, yea!!!!!!!!!!

If you plan to try this I can give you more specific info. on everything that we went through, during this process. We got a lot of advice from several of our friends who are vets. You can drop me an email: jay00420@aol.com

You have been so patient for this long, so DON'T GIVE UP NOW!!!! If you are willing to try a few different things (which will take far less time than cleaning that poopy crate), everything will work out.

Good Luck, and please feel free to email me if you want more specifics. I know how frusturating this can be!

 

[Champ's Papa]

Previous posts

bmeshier,
If you click on my name (Champ' Papa) at the top of this post you can view previous threads and replies that I have made.