Potty/Crate Training Issues! - Page 1

We have a 4 month old GSD that's having some potty training/crate training issues.  Overall he's been doing great with each... he's at the point that he knows to go to the door to go outside and he'll go right into his crate if we tell him too.  We aren't having any accidents in the house anymore, so from that standpoint, he's got it.  However, lately, whenever we have him in his crate he's peeing in it.  It's like clockwork, when he's in his crate during the day (while we're at work) or even now when he's in it overnight, he's peeing in his crate.  Before at night, he was easily making it all night without a problem.  We've never had this problem with any of our other GSD puppies, so we're pretty puzzled on how to get him to hold it longer and not pee in the crate.  One one hand, we are thinking we should reprimand him for peeing in his crate, but on the other hand, we don't want to create a conflict with the crate.  I know I can fix any potential crate issues down the road if we decide reprimanding him is the best route to take.  I would really appreciate any thoughts or ideas on how to get him to stop peeing in his crate because constantly having to clean him up and his crate, it's getting very old quickly.

Any thoughts or ideas are greatly appreciated.

Thanks-

Waldo

I have a young dog myself that was doing fine (she's older than your dog, she was already out of her crate all day while I worked and all night) but then she had some accidents so now we're just taking a step back and she's in the crate again while I'm not home.  I would do the same in your case, take a step back.  If he soils the crate at night, get up once in the middle of the night to let him out.  If he can't make it all day, stop home on lunch or see if someone can pop in and let him out.

Waldo, you're not, by any chance, putting any kind of puppy pad or towel inside the crate, are you? 

I had a co-worker w/a Rottie pup who kept leaving work in the middle of the day to let the dog out. One day I asked what the hell was wrong that the dog still was peeing in her crate. Incidentally he mentioned that he needed more puppy pads. I found out he was putting them in the crate. I told him to knock it off, that he was teaching her to pee in her crate and he thought I was nuts. I bet him that if he took the pad out that day and went home for lunch tomorrow, she'd be dry. Needless to say, I won the bet. Problem solved. 

Reprimanding a pup for relieving itself is way beyond a dogs ability to comprehend why it is being 'reprimanded'. How would one go about 'reprimanding' a puppy for peeing in it's crate...if he could open the crate door, he would not willingly pee where he is sleeping.
Perhaps the pup is tired of spending most of it's life in a crate. Not trying to be snarky, but put yourself in the pups place for a moment.

Take the pup out more often and start over. Set pup up for success instead of devising a plan to reprimand. Stand alongside outside until mission accomplishment. Get up in the middle of the night more often to prevent mistakes. Congratulate the pup. I would not reprimand though, unless you catch her in the act. Even then not harshly. We pissed our cribs as babies too, and pissed ourselves when the diapers first came off.

>4 hours alone in the crate might be too much to expect for this specific pup although mine was pretty much housebroken by 4 months and using the dog door. Always had a crate on hand, but rarely used it after housebreaking.

Housebreaking is simple natural process if you allow it, as these proud animals instinctively don't live in their waste. 

 

Aside from the sound advice you have been given... Do you have the pup in a large crate? If the pup thinks there is room to go to one end and take care of business then sleep at the other end they will. The crate size has to match the dog. If they have the room they will make the mistake.

 

I have a similar problem with my soon to be 1 year old male.  He started lifting his leg very young and since the crate i had him in was big enough for him to turn and lift his leg he would shoot it out through the door.  Then as he got older he would just lift and then sit in his pee.  Didn't bother him at all but drove me crazy!  I had to go to smaller crates and back to letting him out more frequently- make sure that he goes and relieves himself completely as I found he would go twice - 1 then get too excited and start chasing something.  If i wait he will go again. In addition during the night I was still getting up 2x a night up until he was 10 months old. Now he will sleep until 5:30 and hold it,  so the night time problem seems to be solved, although i would really love it if i could sleep in occassionally to 6:30.   On my long work days I have a dog sitter or friends let him out 2 x per day as he still doesn't seem to be able to hold it longer that 4/5 hours. 

Good suggestions noted above, as a few months ago I didn't think he would ever stop peeing in his crate.  It is not 100% solved as every 3 weeks or so I come home and he has peed, but it is getting less frequent and really hoping in the near future it is solved.

Cheryl

How long do people use thhe crates now while *at work*? We only use for short time frames or travel as that is what they were intended to be used for not as a *kennel* A kennel allows a dog a house area and area away to go relieve themselves and a safe escape prooof area... a crate is a box and depending on the *work* shift duration is not what is intended for ..especially if they are *crated* at night?  Its a long duration for some dogs to hold it or not have the liberty of being able to go relieve themselves. Perhaps it is just too long a time frame especially at this age? 

Posting these 2 comments from duplicate thread in the GSD forum, now deleted.

Crate/Potty Training Issues! by dragonfry on 18 October 2013 - 12:10	dragonfry Posts: 547 Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2011 12:21 am
One of two things come to mind. He just either had a growth spurt, which means he grew and his muscle tone may have been lost due to the sudden growth. or he's got a UTI. So i think you should rule out the UTI first, it's not expensive. if he doesn't have an infection then try restricting water about 2 hours before bed time or reduce the amount of water available during the day. It should clear itself up fairly quickly as his body recovers muscle tone. In the mean time don't get mad at something he can not control. Frustrating as it is. He's still a tiny baby. humans don't potty train for 2 or 3 years. Pups can be the same, 6 to 8 months before they can truly hold it for a long time. Good luck Fry

 

Crate/Potty Training Issues! by Spooks on 19 October 2013 - 04:10	Spooks Posts: 140 Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 06:43 am
I wholeheartedly agree with dragonfry but please do not reprimand him, he won't have a clue what he's being told off for.Don't forget dogs live in real time.

Thanks for the responses and thoughts, I appreciate the comments.

Like I said, he was doing fine for two weeks or so and then he started having some problems.  We did take a step back since I originally posted this and started really rewarding him for going potty outside...no accidents in his crate since this past Thursday.  He doesn't have any potty pads in his crate and his crate is big enough for him to stand, lay down and turn around, that's it.  We'll keep doing that for now and slowly take the reward away.  We also are withholding water right before he goes to bed, so he's not fully loaded when he goes into his crate.  This isn't our first time with a puppy, but just hadn't had this problem before where he was good, then regressed. 

Waldo