peeing in crate DAILY (3yr old female)

[Macie'sDad]

I've searched and found some info on this, but nothing directly on point.

Our 3 yr old female will almost always pee in her crate if left alone. We can't figure it out? It doesn't seem to bother her at all if she lays in it. Other than that, she literally is the perfect dog.

We eliminated the crate for a while and gave her the entire kitchen gated when we left, but she would pee in the kitchen (and sometimes pull paper off the counter). Now, she is back to the crate. We also give her a kong everyday to keep her busy.

We do think she has a small bladder, but it seems that it is more out of separation anxiety perhaps or fear of being alone (or even out of spite that we left her)? We don't know? Occasionally we will leave her for 8 hrs, but it usually is only 1-4 hrs at a time and we always have her "do her business" before we leave.

Now, similar to other posts, we're not sure if she will always be fine laying in it or if this can be corrected? Note, she has never gone in the house while we are home (and she was potty trained early and it was easy).

This peeing in her crate daily is driving us mad! Any suggestions or advice is appreciated.

 

[gadorgan]

Peeing in Crate

My husband was cautioned when he picked his Goldie Puppy by the Breeder that the act of chewing encourages the urge to pee. He confirmed that with his Vet at the time. So, you might want to consider foregoing the Kong in the crate!

You might also try making the area of her crate smaller.....put a divider in so that she doesn't have the space to potty as they usually don't want their bedding wet!

Good Luck!

 

[Roxygirl2006]

Are you putting a blanket or any type of bedding in the crate with her?
Our girl would ALWAYS pee in her crate. Then I decided that maybe she was only doing it because we had a blanket in there. So I tried taking the blankets out (DH called me a big meanie) thinking that she wouldn't want to lay directly in her puddle (although she would lay on the urinated blankets).
Since I started that she has not had 1 accident in the crate. And we DO put a kong in with her.
May be worth a try for you if you put any type of bedding in with her.

Good luck

 

[Macie'sDad]

Thank you for the suggestions.

Yes, we do put either a small bed or blanket in with her. And yes, she pees on those and then lays on them. Perhaps we will try to crate her without the "luxury". Although my wife and I are big softies too!

Thank you again for the suggestions- keep 'em coming if anyone else has ideas...we are at the point of trying anything and everything!

 

[Roxygirl2006]

I would without a doubt try removing the blankets. It's hard to at first because you feel so mean like she won't have any place to lay. But just try it once. The first time I tried removing the blankets with Roxy i was really nervous I was going to come home to a dog with pee all over her, but she didn't. Like i said before, just try it once and see how she does. If she pees all over herself, you'll know it wasn't the bedding.

 

[LilygirlCO]

A note on the blanket. If you just wash it with laundry detergent, the dogs can still smell the urine in it so perhaps thats why she keeps repeating her bad habit. Add some white vinegar to the wash next time you wash it and it will neutralize the smell even to her

 

[Macie'sDad]

Update: It has only been a couple days, but removing the blanket/bed from her crate has worked so far!

Even though it is still a small sample size, we are optimistic that a bare crate may be the answer! Thank you again to everyone who replied. Hopefully, I won't have to reply to this particular thread again!

 

[PreciousMom]

Precious had the same problem. She always peed in her crate with blankets, so we stopped that. Then when we didn't return them when she wanted them, she went back to peeing in her crate. Now that we've put her bed that stays in the living room in her crate, she has stopped peeing in her crate again. Picky boxers!!