Peeing In Crate

[Urismom]

First - a brief history of Uri's house-accident problems. I've had Uri for almost 2 years. He is left alone for 9 hours most workdays while I am at work. For the first 6 months, I crated him - which he hates - and he was always good, so I gradually let him stay outside of the crate and things were fine. For about 4-5 months, he had the run of the house when I was gone, with no bathroom problems.

 

One week, he started peeing in the house when I was gone, in remote rooms, and once when I was home...since he had no history of this, I immediately took him to the vet for urinary tests. The vet said he was fine, and it must be behavioral. With limited success, I tried to curb the behavior by putting his food dish in the places he had peed, so that he would start to identify them as part of his extended "crate"...spraying pee deterrent spray around, etc. For the last year or so, this problem has come and go - he goes through phases where he has accidents...then he'll be ok for a few weeks, then maybe have problems for another 2 weeks...then be good again. Gradually, I have been restricting his roam when I am gone....keeping him downstairs first, then restricting to two rooms only...then finally gating him in the living room only.

 

He had been good for about 3 months...then two weeks ago, we had a thunder storm (which he hates) and I came home to a #2. I can sympathize, since he was anxious. That kicked off a trend where he peed in the living room twice during the rest of that week. So, I crated him for a few days, and he was good. So, I let him have the living room again. More pee. So, back into the crate.

 

Everything I've read assures me that greyhounds will not, under any circumstances other than illness, mess their crate. Well, yesterday, he peed in his crate. Soaked his bedding (and himself) in pee. So upsetting for us both.

 

So, first let me say - of course, I am going to take him to the vet immediately this week. I am praying that the vet will find something medical that can be fixed that will stop these accidents. But I was curious - if nothing medical is found - has anyone had a grey that was so un-potty-trained that he would pee in the crate? Because I harbor this suspicion that it may not be medical or urinary. Uri is a very simple, not-so-bright dog, that sometimes has strange anxiety issues. Also, he is not peeing like crazy - I've been home with him today and there is nothing out of the ordinary, so the problem is not every day, all day. Since the vet previously said there were no medical issues, I just chalked his intermittent accident-prone phases to not quite internalizing potty-training. But to pee in his crate, I dunno....

 

As far as any other symptoms of illness, the only thing I'll say is that he has been unenthused about eating for the past few weeks. He gets so excited when I'm preparing his food, but sometimes (not every time) when I put it down for him, he looks back at me like "I don't want to eat this...." but he does eat, with some coaxing. And he's been leaving a quarter cup or so of kibble behind. But, since he does eventually eat it all, and is not changing weight, I haven't been overly concerned.

 

So - has anyone had a grey that messed the crate for a non-medical reason? I really hope there is a medical reason.

[Beckylpa]

My boy Sam got into a "habit" of peeing in his crate. After we first got him he was able to stay dry in his crate for the first 5 or 6 months. Then one day he had a pee accident. After that day he started to pee in the crate a couple days a week, even if left for short times. After a few months he was peeing at least once a day (I come home at lunch time to take him out). Numerous vet visits and testing revealed no reason for the peeing. We even had him on antibiotics a couple times just to be sure. Then one day I bought him a soft sided crate and placed it in a different area of the house than his old crate. I placed a nice soft bed in the crate and gave him lots of treats. He also started on Prozac as my vet believed the peeing was behavioral. I am happy to say since the change to the soft crate Sam has been dry! No pee accidents in 6 months!

 

Although a soft crate is not for all dogs. Dogs who chew when left alone or really hate being confined would not do well as they are obviously not as strong as a wire crate. If you try a soft sided crate I would definately monitor him at first.

Edited May 23, 2010 by Beckylpa

[Guest 4dogscrazy]

Hmm, just throwing this out there...you mentioned he's gone off his food. I *think* some people have said before that their dogs that have incontence (which is not really what you said, but) going grain free seemed to help. I use Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream, and my dogs do great on it. Just pitching ideas out there...maybe someone else will chime in with more specific facts.

[Walliered]

Do try changing his food as there may be something wrong with his current bag of kibble that only he would know.

[Batmom]

Full bloodwork and another urine test first. How old is he now? 9 hours would be too long for my hounds to reliably hold it. Some days they'd do fine, others they would not. Any way you can have a midday dog walker?

Edited May 24, 2010 by Batmom

[Urismom]

Full bloodwork and another urine test first. How old is he now? 9 hours would be too long for my hounds to reliably hold it. Some days they'd do fine, others they would not. Any way you can have a midday dog walker?

 

Uri is 5 1/2 years old. I can consider a mid-day walker, although it makes me very nervous to have a stranger with access to my house when I'm not home. I know 9 hours is long. He has done so well with it for months at a time, I really hoped he'd continue to do well with it. It seems like a rather abrupt change after several months of no accidents. :-(

[Guest 4dogscrazy]

Missed the 9 hours...yes my dogs would not be able to hold it that long either. I know some do, but I don't think mine could reliably either.

 

And I have heard of people getting "bad" bag of food, for whatever reason.

 

I would rule out medical too first and foremost.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

It doesnt sound to me that your hound is 'un potty trained' but rather may be reacting to some outside stimulus that you arent aware of. Of course the food issue is a very big flag to rule out as well as the medical, but if those are both settled and you still have this issue, I would re-examine alone training as well as be hyperaware of what happens during the days he has accidents, such as, is it garbage day (some hounds freak out from the pounding noise from a garbage truck), has something as simple as your a/c started comming on, etc.

 

Chad

[arandomchic]

I was thinking along the lines of what Chad mentioned.

 

When we first brought Molly home we had to do some Alone Training, and we used our webcam from the laptop to see what she was doing while we were gone (it helped us to know when we could add more time). You can even set it up to view remotely (someone posted instructions here awhile ago on how to do that if you search for it). You might be able to see if there's something specific that's setting him off.

[Batmom]

something as simple as your a/c started comming on, etc.

 

Good thought. My own new girl -- who was Chad's foster -- thought the AC coming on was the garage door opening, which is a time for excitement (and excitement ==> pee). A day's worth of AC coming on and nobody else reacting, and she's used to it. But yeah, sounds can do those things.

[Urismom]

Thank you all for the suggestions. The vet said that Uri's urine showed no signs of problems...but that we will do a course of antibiotics anyway just in case there is something operating that flew under the radar, so he will start that tonight.

 

I picked up a fresh bag of kibble and started that last night, and he downed it with no complaints, so I wonder if his last bag was bad...it would be great if that was the source of his trouble and this was an easy fix, but we'll see.

 

I gave him a melatonin pill this morning to see if it would help him to chill out a bit, although I'm not sure if anxiety is the cause. The vet said to try giving him the homeopathic anxiety drops before work too. I can't think of any stimuli that would be making him nervous, other than the obvious of if there was a thunder storm, I know that freaks him out...but we haven't had thunder in the last few days. I do have a webcam that I can set up, although there is no audio on it.

 

You know what's weird? Uri has always hated the crate - even when lured with a kong and treats, I often have to push him in. Well...these last two times I've crated him since he's started peeing in there....well, he goes right in! It's like now that he's given himself the freedom to pee in there, he doesn't dislike it as much....which is (I think) counterintuitive...since he ends up laying in bedding soaked in pee.

[arandomchic]

Just an FYI --- I had read that one of the potential side affects with Melatonin can be increased urination. Which in your case might hurt the situation more than help it.

 

It affected Molly that way. Since side affects are so particular for every dog, you may want to just keep that in mind for Uri.