Help! Peeing in crate!

[springboxer]

Help, we are getting frustrated! No matter what we do, Barkley pees in his crate. We take him out at 5:30 am, feed him and take him out again at 8:00am. He is crated until 12:00 pm when a dog walker comes and takes him out and plays with him for 30 minutes. He is crated again until 3:00 pm when another dog walker comes and takes him out again. He is crated again until we get home from work around 5:00 pm. He pees sometime between 3:00 and 5:00. From what I have read on this board, even a 3 month old like Barkley should be able to hold it at least 2 hours! We take him out on average 4-5 more times before we go to bed around 10:30 pm. Sometimes he wakes us up around 3:30 am to go out (or out of boredom), but by the time we get down there, he has already peed in the crate (which is why I think he barks out of boredom). He goes back in the crate until 5:30 am, where once again, when we get down there he has already peed in his crate.

We have tried everything - pillows in his crate, towels only, and worst of all newspaper only (up ALL night). We made the crate smaller - with no luck. We eliminated the pillow thinking the soft fabric encouraged him to pee - with no luck. We eliminated the towels for the same reason as the pillows - with no luck. The two times he has slept in bed with us (I know, bad idea, but his loving mother insisted!) he was fine.

No one we talk too have ever had this problem - all other pet owners say their puppies never went where they slept. However, Barkley has peed in his crate three times daily ever since the first day we got him (4 weeks ago). We restrict his water intake after 7:00 pm to no avail.

Any thoughts?

 

[bayleebrndl]

Are you still having this problem? if so, let me know and I will put in my 2 cents. We had the same problem with Baylee and it was so weird because she wouldn't have accidents in the house, only the crate which is supposed to be the only place they DON'T go! let me know and I'll write some advice....

 

[EnzoB]

bayleebrndl, can you post up your suggestions/thoughts. We just got Enzo a week and a half ago and I am sure it is just getting used to things and having a few accidents. But I want to be prepared just in case it does keep happening. He is 4 months old - last week he did great in the crate the 3 days we went to work. But yesterday and today, we have had accidents.

Thanks

 

[springboxer]

bayleebrndl - yes we are still having this problem...sort of.

We have since moved the crate into our bedroom at night and it works like a charm - no barking, no crying, no accidents whatsoever in over 2 weeks. He lasts from 11 - 5:30 without any problems. Maybe he was getting scared at night by himself?

He is still having accidents during the day. We move the crate downstairs every morning to make it easier on the neighbor who comes over after lunch to let him out. Every night when my wife or myself come home (no later than 5:30) he has peed in his crate (daily). He rarely has accidents in the house, although he had a day to remember on Monday when he had 5 accidents in the dining room - I think he was just mad at us for leaving him after being home with him all day over the extended thanksgiving weekend.

Any advice you have would be much appreciated.

 

[bayleebrndl]

some possible advice....

Okay, like I said we had this problem too when we got Baylee. Actually it was weird because at first she was okay, but after about a week she was peeing in the crate basically every time we had her in there for more than 2-3 hours. We were getting SOOOO very frustrated because every single person I talked too, thought it was crazy because their crate is the one spot they should not go! Well, not always the case. We did many different things including switching to newspaper, making the crate smaller (they say this helps), putting nothing in at all (wouldn't recommend this as it is a pain to clean), you name it! make sure when they do pee in the crate, that you clean it out with a de-smelling agent. We did this but it still didn't help. We even worried about her having a UTI or bladder infection, because they say this will make them lose bladder control - so if all else fails, you may want to get this checked. Eventually what we did that worked, was had either me, my husband, or neighbors come very frequently throughout the day....We wouldn't let her be in the crate for more than 2-3 hours without being let out. I think this helped for a number of reasons.....first thing being that maybe they just can't hold it for that long! Everyone says they should be able to hold it for 3 hours at this age, but each puppy is different so maybe not! So, if you think he's going at like 2 1/2 hours of being left alone, make sure you get him out at 2 hrs 15 minutes....or whatever is just enough for him not to go. This will get him out of the HABIT of going in the crate - which for us I think was another factor. After they do it a couple of times, they don't think much of it I believe. So this worked with Baylee because after letting her out often enough to not have an accident, I think she remembered again that she liked a clean kennel! Slowly but surely, you can increase the time in increments until he can go 1/2 day or so. So, this is what worked for us....seriously, I was so frustrated and worried it would last forever! But this helped, so give it a try. We couldn't afford a dog walker or anything like that to come, so we worked out a deal with a friend and a neighbor to give them like $5 everytime they had to come over. It does add up, but keep in mind you should only have to do this for a week or two and by then hopefully he'll be past it!! Good luck!

 

[Maggies dad]

have you tried using a smaller crate?

 

[Joe Beam]

tired = sleeping = not peeing!

I had the same problem with Chance a couple months ago. I needed him too last around 3 to 4 hours twice a day. With a webcam, I found he was peeing at 2 hours in. He would even splash around in the pee or lick it (gross)!

So I started to wake up 20 minutes earlier and take him for a long walk. I also take him for a slightly shorter walk during my lunch break. This totally worked! I think it's because it really wakes him up and helps him drain his bladder completely. Also, it's going to tire them out a little so they can sleep for a longer time in the kennel.

Does your neighbor walk him or just let him out to pee? I think the walking is crucial. My boy will pee at least twice when I have him on my lunch break (before the walk and before I leave).

 

[Ritzertboys]

off the subject but guinness use to poop in his crate, nearly every night, every day, we we lost on what to do (tried to make crate smaller, etc.) finally I got fed up with it, started crating him with his brother and BAM, never pooped in his crate again