The Urinator - how to stop him from going in his crate?

[Missy]

Magnus is our 7 month old "housetrained" Boxer. He is excellent when we are home, with free run of the house with his step-sister, Kasha. He whines or goes directly to the door. However, he has no problem with urinating in his crate everyday. (He is in an appropriate sized cage for his size. Initially, we down sized when he was a "puppy".) It could have been 4 hours or 8, it doesn't matter. He will go and then lay in it (lovely). He has been crate trained (you could call it that) since we brought him home at 8 weeks. Is this a male thing (it's our first male dog/Boxer)? Our female would NEVER urinate in HER house, just ours Anyone else experience this problem?

 

[Kim Y]

Hmmm......Oscar has never urinated in his crate. I would have suggested a vet check for a urinary tract infection but since he is only doing this while crated, I don't *think* that would be the cause (although not impossible). Is Magnus drinking a lot before being crated? I think I would look at that and the length he is crated (I think 8 hours would really be stretching it). I'm assuming he doesn't have access to water in the crate. Perhaps taking his water up a bit (half hour or so?) before being crated, making sure he goes a couple of times (emptying his bladder well) before crating will help the situation. I don't think it's common for a dog to urinate and then willingly lay in it. The crate should only be big enough for him to stand, turn around and lay down. You might also try completely scrubbing out the crate well to remove any traces of urine and washing all the bedding. You've probably already done all of these......just were a few things off the top of my head.

Perhaps someone can give you some better advice. Good luck!

 

[karens]

Well my darling boy Spencer was a little smarter about it... he would lift his leg and pee outside the crate. Plexi glass seems to be taking care of it. Sorry I can't offer any advice, never heard of a dog laying in their own tinkles...

 

[Sherrie]

Urination

Just wanted to share that my son has a boxer who is 13 months and he still has problems with urination in the crate, plus Drake will go thru cycles where he makes a bowl movement and because he has limited room to move he ends up laying in it,all over him and crate, a mess. He has been to inumerable vets, had many dog trainers, no one has an answer. My son loves his dog, but unfortunately, he must make a living and the dog is crated 9-10 hours a day. The last vet said he may have to live with it, they did suggest changing food to IMS (?) or Ekanuba. So that has just started. We thought it was separation anxiety, however the vet visit on 3/2 advised not problem. I know this does not answer your question, however, i didn't want you to feel alone. I am jealous of all these people with the perfect pets, my son has done everything in his power, we just hope with maturity he will stop. I PRAY alot..

 

[Nakota]

Maybe Magnus is letting you know how he feels about being crated. Some dogs adjust to it, some resent it. Just a thought.

 

[Kim Y]

Re: Urination

Originally posted by Sherrie
I am jealous of all these people with the perfect pets

Oh my goodness! If you met Oscar, you'd find he is far from perfect! He tends to have a wild hair. I have the *luxury* of working at home thereby allowing me to be with him 24/7. I wish your son luck, I know at times our furbabies can be trying. Consistence and patience is the key. Check in and let us know how it's going.

 

[kakennedy]

...to much pee...

I think you already got this advice but just wanted to reiterate, too much water is a possibility. We couldnt figure out why Jake still messed up his crate and that was our problem.

 

[Eric]

Just wanted to add a "me too". Ana is now four months and although house trained during the day, she does have the occasional accident inside the house. Our main problem however is with her peeing in her crate. It's correct size and all, but we sometimes wake up to find she's peed in it. She doesn't make any audible noises or scratch at the cage to warn us that she needs to go outside. This morning she was laying in the wet bedding licking it (Yuk!). We thought we had the only dog like this since all the books say they don't like to do this in their crate. We are going to take her water away earlier as this is most likely our problem. But since she also pees every time we leave her in the crate alone (which is rare) we think Nakota's theory may also have some validity. When we get up in the morning and open her crate door, she just sits there and doesn't want to come out. Definately not a morning dog After much coaxing she finally exits, goes out in the back patio and make's a lake! It's comforting to know that Ana is not the only dog with bladder control problems while being crated.

 

[Trish Sciortino-Wright]

boxer puppy blues

We have recently made addition to our family, his name is Maximus. Tim and I are full time military, so we really try to make as much time as possible for Maximus(6-7hours a day). Maximus is only 8 weeks old. We need advise on the best way to potty train him. As of right now he goes when we are not looking or all over the kennel when we are not home. HELP!!! When we take him outside to play or walks, he doesn't even make an attempt to potty. When he gets inside, that's when he goes. It's sooo frustrating. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know ASAP. Thanks Trish

 

[Eric]

Post for Trish Sciortino-Wright

Trish,

We recently passed through the potty training stage and borrowing from the advice received from others, and our own experience, my recommendations are as follows:

- For crate (I assume this is what you mean by kennel), put in a partion if it is too large for him so that he will be less likely to soil in it. If the crate is too large for him he will find a corner to do his business. Crates can be bought with dividers but since you already apparently have one you can make you own divider out of anything that is safe.

- Key times. Take Maximus out after long drinks of water or eating, when he's just woke up, and after excitement such as when you've finished playing with him.

- Other times. Be as observant as you can. You'll start to notice little signs if you really focus on his body language. But he, or more correctly you, will make mistakes. Don't scold him for a mistake unless you catch him in the act.

- Bells. Doesn't work for some because the pup can learn to ring to go out just to check the cloud formations, but we put little bells on a piece of leather and hung it by door to our back patio. In one day we taught Ana to ring it to go out to do potty. We would praise her profusely with "good tell me". So far she has only rang to actually do potty.

- Praise. Give Maximus lots of praise every time he lets you know that he needs to go out and does his business. We're teaching Ana the command "get busy" for when we may have need for her to pee on demand, such as when we need to leave in the car; then hopefully we will get a positive response.

- Summary. Patience, praise, and the willingness to accept accidents even when you're "sure" he is fully house trained are the keys in my humble opinion.

Best of luck and I hope your little boxer guy gives you many years of happiness. As an ex-military myself (Canadian) I "salute" your decision to own a boxer. They're the best!