Please help. Running out of laundry detergent & patient

sterlingsmom

Sterling is now 11 1/2 weeks old. She has learned not to whine and howl in her crate FINALLY, but she pees in her crate every single time I leave her in there. It doesn't matter how long/short of a time! I've never had a dog that pees in their crate like this! I'm wondering if I'm taking her outside too often, and she's not understanding that that's where she's supposed to go or what. she's had a couple of accidents (number one only) in the house since I brought her home two and a half weeks ago, so catching her in the act hasn't happened very often. I just don't know what to do about the peeing in the crate. I thought dogs wouldn't go where they sleep??? I have a life-stages crate, and it's just big enough for her to lay down comfortably in...I tried putting different kinds of bedding in there, and I ALWAYS clean her crate after she has an accident with Nature's Miracle. What can I do??

anne · Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 11:39 am Post subject:

You should probably rule out a medical condition. Get her checked for a UTI....

sterlingsmom · Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 12:58 pm Post subject:

Thank you. I'm taking her to the vet in a couple of days for her boosters. I'm going to get them to check her then. I tried today to leave her for a little bit on just the pan in her crate. (I FELT HORRIBLE! Plus, she looked at me with puppy dog eyes like, "uh, helloooo....I'm the princess...where is my nice, soft, fluffy bed???" It was heartbreaking!

sterlingsmom · Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 12:59 pm Post subject:

Oh, and she peed anyway! So I had to come home to the smell and give her a bath and everything....UGGGG!!!

Mabbate · Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 8:26 am Post subject:

Let me know if you find out a solution. Bailey has done it the past two days in a row! It's weird because she sleeps in the bed with us and never once has peed in the bed (knock on wood). I don't know if she is doing it out of spite or she just freaks herself out in her cage. Hopefully she will just stop.

anne · Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 1:00 pm Post subject:

Sterlings mom
If she does have a UTI, do NOT get her boosters. Only health dogs are supposed to get shots and somtimes vet ignore that advice on the package insert.

Bailey's mom
I personally don't believe that dogs have the mental capacity, nor the evil planning ways <g>, to do anything out of spite.... JMHO.
I believe you have had some trouble with the crate, so I'd be more likely to think that it has somethign to do with anxiety in the crate?

Mabbate · Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 1:17 pm Post subject:

I think it is anxiety as well. And not even 10 mins after I posted the comment about her peeing in the crate, did my fiance not call me and tell me that Bailey pooped all in her crate. She smeared it everywhere and even managed to get some out of the crate?!?! It was disgusting. She doesn't seem to be sick at all, very energetic and playful. I guess we'll have to keep at the crate training and hopefully she will get used to it soon.

sterlingsmom · Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 7:27 pm Post subject:

Anne,
Thanks for the heads up on the vaccines. I wouldn't have thought about that! I'm going to take her to the vet tomorrow and get them to test her for a UTI. She still goes in her crate when I leave, but she'll sleep all night in there and not move....I think it may be anxiety as well. I'm going to keep at the crate thing too and hope that she gets better.
I also read about if you are going to be gone for more than a couple of hours, you should confine the dog somewhere else besides the crate. I was going to try this in the bathroom with a baby gate, but I am so scared that Sterling will chew the door or the cabinets...or worse, the tile!
Any suggestions about this? She's almost three months, and I thought the rule was one hour longer than their age in months for puppies is how long they can hold it.....but she will go in her crate if I leave her in there for 10 minutes or an hour after I leave...she did it AGAIN today Sad

What's a safe shampoo to use since I'm having to bathe her every day?
Boy, is she stinky Wink

josie · Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 6:32 am Post subject:

Hi sterlingsmum

Sometimes it happens that a puppy decides the crate is a toilet place. Often this starts when the owner hasn't taken it outside often enough, so it is forced to go in the crate. Sometimes it can be because a breeder didn't provide the litter with a different area for the pups to toilet on, or if their hygiene standards were low.

Once it has happened in the crate a few times, the puppy can begin to see the crate as a toilet place. Dogs are creatures of habit and once they have started to frequently toilet in the crate it is v hard to break them of it, especially if she is toileting as soon as put in there. Most dogs won't toilet where they sleep, but think of this like a mental barrier and once it has been broken down, it is hard to go back.

I don't know what Natures Miracle is, but make sure you are cleaning the crate and bedding thoroughly every time it is soiled, including wiping down the plastic. If she can smell that it is a toilet place, she will continue to toilet there. Be sure you are not cleaning it with a detergent that has bleach in it, because bleach has ammonia in it (as does pee) and can mean the puppy smells it as a toilet place.

Take her out at least every hour. If you are having problems toilet training, try putting a pot of treats by the door to take out with you and giving a treat to the pup within 1 second of her finishing toileting. If she gets a treat every time she toilets outside and nothing when she goes inside, she will begin to save it up to do outside for your added incentive. HTH. Good luck.

sterlingsmom · Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:23 am Post subject:

Hi guys,
All of this is wonderful advice, but I'm sorry to report that I have done every single thing suggested. I take the puppy out about every 20-30 minutes. She pees AND poops on command outside....She doesn't have a UTI either. I just don't know what to do anymore. I THOROUGHLY clean that crate with Nature's Miracle, put down new bedding and even spray white vinegar and water and whipe it clean. I am beginning to think that she's doing it out of behavior issues because she will sleep in there at night for 5-6 hours at a time without going. It's only when I am gone, even though I don't leave her there for very long.
I am at a loss for what to do.

josie · Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:20 am Post subject:

If it's only happening when you are gone, you are right it is probably anxiety-related.

Do you leave her with stuffed kongs and interesting food puzzles in her crate when you go out?

Here is a link you might find helpful:

http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002/sa.htm

sterlingsmom · Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 4:39 pm Post subject:

twice now I've left a four hour tape recorder running when I leave the house to listen for sounds of any anxiety thinking maybe this was the problem....it's not. She does a little whining for less than three minutes (only one time) and is quiet the rest of the time. She's still peeing in the crate. My guess is she thinks that's where she's supposed to go. Should I try to confine her in another space somewhere in the house? She doesn't have a UTI and I make sure she goes out before I leave. I'm at a loss....I might add that she's only had a couple of accidents in the house in the four and a half weeks we've had her, and she's NEVER had a poo accident. She KNOWS she's supposed to go outside for that. I just don't know what else to do. Any suggestions? I leave a KONG filled with yoghurt and her food sealed with p'butter and frozen. All my dogs LOVE that treat. They all RUN to their crates to get it...even her...so I don't think it's anxiety related...what do you do when your dog learns how to live in a dirty crate..... Evil or Very Mad

josie · Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 11:18 am Post subject:

Well, there are a few things to try.

What sort of crate do you have and do you have access to/able to borrow a different sort? I mean - if you use a wire crate, could you borrow a more solid flight-crate and vice versa. I would also then put it in a different place in the house to the first one, and wash all the bedding even if not soiled - make it all as new and different as possible. The thinking behind this would be that her learnt behaviour of toileting in the crate is specific to that crate/location and if you can make the context different enough, she won't generalise it to another crate in another location.

If that doesn't work, I would place the crate in a confined, puppy-proof area - either a room or if you don't have a suitable room, a puppy playpen. So you have the playpen, and inside that, the crate. Put down somewhere in this playpen something which can be a toilet place - perhaps use those puppy toilet training pads or newspaper. If you can dab some of her wee on the place you want her to use as a toilet you will increase her chances of choosing it as a toilet spot.

The role of this is to break the cycle of toileting in her crate by encouraging her to toilet outside of it. Once you have her 110% toileting outside of the crate, on the puppy pads or newspaper, and not in her crate, then you can try removing the playpen and pee pads/newspaper and taking her outside frequently instead.

I don't usually think puppy pee pads or newspaper is a good idea for puppy owners as then they have to toilet train twice - once onto the pads and once outside. Better to have it outside from the beginning - but in this sort of situation it is probably the only way to break the pattern of toileting in the crate.

sterlingsmom · Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:50 pm Post subject:

Thank you, Josie. I was thinking I'd try the crate in another room...I'll try that first, then the wee pads, since I'm with you. I don't want to have to toilet train twice, but I can't take this anymore. The advice is MUCH appreciated!

josie · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:12 am Post subject:

I forgot to say - when you use the puppy playpen idea, obviously the crate door is open all the time, so when she wants to toilet she comes out and goes on the puppy pads or newspaper, instead of in the crate.