How To Stop Peeing In Crate

[Acadianarose]

We adopted our 3 year old male retired racer about 4 weeks ago. He is having occasional accidents during the day while I am at work. He usually goes into his crate at around 8:00 am and out by 4:00. Some days he doesn't have an accident. Some days he does. How do I house break him before he gets in the habit of wetting in his kennel?

[Brandiandwe]

Are you feeding him differently the days he pees? Are you exercising him more or less on those days? Are you taking him out to empty out before he goes into the crate and does he go and truly empty? (One of mine needs two pees to empty, the others only one).

[Batmom]

Mid-day dog walker for a couple months. Most dogs will get used to and can handle the longer schedule; a few can't and won't.

[MaryJane]

Mid-day dog walker.

 

It sounds like he is already getting used to "going in the crate" so I would get him out mid-day or it will become a constant.

[Acadianarose]

Thanks for the help. I will try to find someone. I have never had an adult dog to go in a crate.

[grey14me]

Well, he doesn't necessarily have to stay in a crate, does he?

[Acadianarose]

Well, he doesn't necessarily have to stay in a crate, does he?

No but if he is peeing in his crate, what stops him from peeing in the house?

[Sambuca]

It's really one of 2 options. He either doesn't have the bladder capacity to hold it for 8 hours or he has some separation anxiety. It's very rare for a dog to willingly pee in its crate, so chances are he can't help it. A dog walker would definitely help. Also try filming him while you're gone to see if he's showing signs of anxiety, if so, you need to work on alone training.

[Tallgreydogmom]

Have you had him checked for a UTI? Leave a radio or TV on, maybe he will not wake up while you are gone. He probably takes a nap and has to go out when he wakes up. They leave something on with music in the racing kennel, they keep it dark and cool.

 

Can the adoption group ask at his racing kennel if he was a crate wetter? Might have a small bladder.

Edited September 12, 2013 by Tallgreydogmom

[Sambuca]

No but if he is peeing in his crate, what stops him from peeing in the house?

It could be anxiety from being in the crate and if he's no longer crated he may no longer be anxious.

[NeylasMom]

It could be a number of things. If he's not having accidents at other times, it's less likely it's a UTI, but not impossible. You could consider taking a sample in for analysis.

 

Second consideration, how much is he peeing before you leave? My male is a marker and he needs an actual walk of 10-20 minutes to empty out before I leave for a full day. Dogs will also sometimes pee before they poop when they have the urge to do the latter, so making sure he has time to empty his bowels as well may help.

 

The other consideration is SA. He may just have mild SA - Zuri does and tends to bark intermittently (so you might not necessarily know he's doing it unless you set up a camera or listen outside for prolonged periods) and on days he gets really worked up, peeing. A DAP collar and plenty of exercise help us tremendously. I would set up a webcam and see what you see. If you have a newer laptop, you probably have one built in and then you can just use Ustream.com to stream and watch it live (either from another computer or from an app on your smartphone).

[Guest KPS915]

Do you have the ability to record him when you're not home? We did this for the first few months we had Lila. It helped us to understand her triggers and make adjustments. We had a similar crate peeing issue, but she did have a uti so antibiotics cleared that up quickly. If he's still new, I would try and make a midday trip home or bring in a dog walker for a potty break. GL!

[AEB]

It could be anxiety from being in the crate and if he's no longer crated he may no longer be anxious.

Kevin did this- peed and even pooped in his crate. Sometimes he was alone for as little as half an hour. ANd we emptied him. It wasn't every time but often enough. He was anxious. Gave him the run of the house and started with a few minutes and worked up. No damage. No accidents. He is fine when not confined. I'm not saying that's what's going on but it could be.

[Guest RMarie]

It could be that he's not emptying out enough on certain days. Or, he's like my boy, and has a small bladder. We use a dog-walker.

[Acadianarose]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. He may not empty in the morning on some days. I will be more careful and see if that helps. He is able to hold it at night. I do know his foster crated him during the day while she was working, but I don't know how well he did.

 

He doesn't seem to have SA, but I can't be 100% sure. I am going to try to set up my laptop and try streaming video.

 

I am also going to bring him out more times before I leave. We get up at 5 am so we have time.

[NeylasMom]

I am also going to bring him out more times before I leave. We get up at 5 am so we have time.

My suggestion - longer walk at some point to totally empty out. 20 minutes is probably good, I wouldn't do shorter. Then take him out for a last pee before you leave (a "go potty" cue will help facilitate this). That should definitely make a difference.

 

I've also taught my dogs a "last chance" cue. I just started saying it about one block before we would go inside on every walk and eventually they learned what it means and both of my markers will usually go one last time after I say that and often, it's a longer pee.

[RedHead]

 

My suggestion - longer walk at some point to totally empty out. 20 minutes is probably good, I wouldn't do shorter.

Agreed! If my guy peed in the backyard in the morning he would probably empty about 1/4 of his bladder judging by the number of pees he does on our morning walk.

[GeorgeofNE]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. He may not empty in the morning on some days. I will be more careful and see if that helps. He is able to hold it at night. I do know his foster crated him during the day while she was working, but I don't know how well he did.

 

He doesn't seem to have SA, but I can't be 100% sure. I am going to try to set up my laptop and try streaming video.

 

I am also going to bring him out more times before I leave. We get up at 5 am so we have time.

 

Don't just "bring him out." WALK HIM.

 

It'll be good for both of you, and it'll be great for bonding.

 

Male does love to mark new things. The more you walk, the more most of them pee!

 

My boy gets a 45 minute walk every morning before work.

 

Are you leaving anything for him in the crate? I recently found, after giving my dog a Kong with peanut butter in it every work day for six years, that peanut butter apparently makes it more difficult for him to hold it! He hasn't had an accident in the house since I stopped his peanut butter! And I cannot believe it took me so darn long to try that--since I had proclaimed "I've tried everything!" a hundred times!

[racindog]

Minny peed a large quantity everyday in his crate when I first got him (as a foster). He also drank a lot. I recognized both as exactly the way they are when on steroids. After about 3 months it stopped and he didn't do it anymore. IMO he had been given steroids before I got him and it took that long for them to wear off. But that's just my opinion. And take heart because whatever the cause it did stop and wasn't a problem ever again.

[Acadianarose]

 

Don't just "bring him out." WALK HIM.

 

It'll be good for both of you, and it'll be great for bonding.

 

Male does love to mark new things. The more you walk, the more most of them pee!

 

My boy gets a 45 minute walk every morning before work.

 

Are you leaving anything for him in the crate? I recently found, after giving my dog a Kong with peanut butter in it every work day for six years, that peanut butter apparently makes it more difficult for him to hold it! He hasn't had an accident in the house since I stopped his peanut butter! And I cannot believe it took me so darn long to try that--since I had proclaimed "I've tried everything!" a hundred times!

 

He won't really go when he is on the leash. He may mark a little here or there, but that is it. I did talk to the adoption group and she said that he was trained not to potty while on the leash. Eventually, he can learn to go on the leash, but since we have a fenced yard, he goes outside. He will generally wait until we get home after a walk to potty in the yard.

 

Also, I don't believe he is very heat tolerant. After about 25-30 minutes (about a mile), he refuses to go any further.

 

I do leave a peanut butter kong in his crate! Yogurt maybe instead?

[Tallgreydogmom]

We have had greyhounds that would not potty on lead. Give them time and they will change. It may be a long time but be patient. Our boy finally went on lead when he was with a group of other greyhounds taking a potty break at an event.

[Guest SugarFire]

It could be a number of things. If he's not having accidents at other times, it's less likely it's a UTI, but not impossible. You could consider taking a sample in for analysis.

 

Second consideration, how much is he peeing before you leave? My male is a marker and he needs an actual walk of 10-20 minutes to empty out before I leave for a full day. Dogs will also sometimes pee before they poop when they have the urge to do the latter, so making sure he has time to empty his bowels as well may help.

 

The other consideration is SA. He may just have mild SA - Zuri does and tends to bark intermittently (so you might not necessarily know he's doing it unless you set up a camera or listen outside for prolonged periods) and on days he gets really worked up, peeing. A DAP collar and plenty of exercise help us tremendously. I would set up a webcam and see what you see. If you have a newer laptop, you probably have one built in and then you can just use Ustream.com to stream and watch it live (either from another computer or from an app on your smartphone).

 

I went onto the ustream website as I may be interested in filmimg my grey when I get her to monitor her behavior while I'm at work during the day. I don't understand how this works. You create your own livestream "channel" and connect to it through your phone remotely but other people have access to watch your channel as well? Sorry for the "stupid question" but I'm more or less technically savvy, just never used a service like this.

[NeylasMom]

 

I went onto the ustream website as I may be interested in filmimg my grey when I get her to monitor her behavior while I'm at work during the day. I don't understand how this works. You create your own livestream "channel" and connect to it through your phone remotely but other people have access to watch your channel as well? Sorry for the "stupid question" but I'm more or less technically savvy, just never used a service like this.

Yes. I just give my channel some dumb random nonsense name so it isn't likely to turn up in anyone's searches.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

He was trained to not potty on leash...

 

Never heard that one before.

[grey14me]

Are you leaving him crated and letting your lab run loose?